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Read MoreCategory: General News
SCOTUS: Justices weigh whether sex offenders should be tracked worldwide
Members of the Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared skeptical of the federal government’s argument that a registered sex offender should be required to notify authorities when moving to another country. Full Article Oral Argument Transcript Case History Related Justices Target Unclear Sex Offender Registration Rule – Criminal Law Reporter Argument preview: When a sex offender moves out of the country, does he have to tell anyone? – CA RSOL
Read MoreThe media is making parents hysterical
If you watched the Oscars on Sunday night, you learned that there are two very scary things in the world. (Three if you count Heidi Klum’s dress.) 1. Grizzly bears. 2. Men. Full Article
Read MoreFAC Files UN Human Rights Complaint over International Megan’s Law
The Florida Action Committee today has submitted a complaint to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of our members and registrants in the State of Florida who are now subject to the new requirements of the International Megan’s Law. If you are interested in filing a complaint on your own behalf, please contact [email protected] to request instructions. FAC Statement
Read MoreInjured U.S. vets now hunting child predators
Largo, Florida (CNN)Ret. Sgt. Tom Block is sitting in the classroom, looking restless. He and 23 other highly specialized, highly coveted candidates are all vying for a job where they will be exposed to horrifying images of child sex abuse and the worst humanity has to offer. Full Article
Read MoreInternational Megan’s Law: Bad Public Policy
On Monday, February 8, 2016, President Obama signed HF 515, and it became Public Law 114-119, known casually as “International Megan’s Law” (IML). The very next day, Janice Bellucci, a civil rights attorney and President of CA-RSOL, filed a legal challenge in Federal Courts in California, citing constitutional violations of the First and Fifth Amendments, and the Ex Post Facto Clause. After careful review of the intent and apparent effect of this new Public Law, and the arguments raised in the legal challenge, it seems IML is not only unwarranted,…
Read MoreProtecting every child / Sex offenders, schools and safety / At a safe distance [UPDATED with Part 3]
Editor’s note: This is the third story in a three-part series regarding sex offenders and the ongoing need to protect children. PRINCETON — Illinois State Rep. Andy Skoog (D-76th) commented on the current laws surrounding registered sex offenders and the residency restriction limits they must follow as a way to cement community safety. Current Illinois legislation states a registered sex offender must remain at least 500 feet from a school, nursery, playground or essentially any place where adolescent activity might take place. Skoog agrees with the notion increasing the restriction…
Read MoreArgument preview: When a sex offender moves out of the country, does he have to tell anyone? [UPDATED]
UPDATED with Oral Argument – When ____ ____ ____, a federally convicted sex offender, left Kansas in 2012 to go live in the Philippines, one might have thought the United States government would be happy to see the back of him. Not so. Federal authorities tracked him down in Manila and escorted him back to Kansas, where he was convicted in federal district court of failing to notify Kansas authorities that he had left the state. On March 1, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear his argument that his move…
Read MoreGoing Nowhere
On February 8, President Obama signed an unnecessary, cruel, and dangerous law. Passed by a unanimous Congress, International Megan’s Law requires the State Department to mark with a “unique identifier” the passport of anyone ever convicted in the United States of a sex crime against a minor. The offense could be sexting or consensual teen lovemaking. It could have happened decades ago or even have been expunged from the person’s record. Full Article Related HR 515 Article Collection
Read MoreMotion Filed to Stop Implementation of International Megan’s Law [updated with Motion for Preliminary Injunction]
A Motion for Preliminary Injunction was filed on February 19 asking the U.S. District Court to stop implementation of International Megan’s Law (formerly HR 515 and now Public Law 114-119). If granted, the motion would temporarily prohibit the federal government from both adding a conspicuous, unique identifier to the passports of registrants and notifying foreign countries of registrants’ plans to travel internationally. Six declarations were Included with the Motion, including declarations from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), Dr. Tom Tobin of Sharper Future and criminal defense…
Read MoreI Married a Sex Offender
In 2001, about six months before Gretchen met her husband, David, he was charged with sexual assault. After a night of drinking, police found him and a friend drunk and half-dressed on the side of the road; she was passed out, and he fled when the cops arrived. Gretchen (names have been changed) says that initially, David thought he would be getting a DUI. In fact, he was ultimately charged with “sexual penetration by foreign object/victim unconscious” — the “foreign object” being HIS HAND1. Full Article
Read MoreWe’re Rethinking Prisons. Is It Time to Rethink Sex Offender Registries?
“Despite their failure to prevent or interrupt injury to children, registries are resilient. People want to feel safe, and policy makers are invested in delivering these feelings.” When police arrived at her house to arrest her on May 8, 2013, Tammy Bond turned to her niece and said: “Aunt Tammy did something wrong.” At age 45, she had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old. She was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and, like 26,000 others in Illinois, required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her…
Read MoreCollateral damage: hearth and home and dreams of Paris
In spite of strong opposition on the part of advocacy groups and from a significant number of very credible journalists and media outlets, the legislation known as International Megan’s Law passed and was signed by the President. For all who have ever been convicted of a sexually based offense, this has serious implications for any future plans regarding an overseas business trip or a far away beach vacation. Full Article or National RSOL
Read MoreHappy 20th Birthday, SORA, may you die soon.
Friends, New Yorkers, Countrypersons! Lend us your ears! We come not to praise SORA but to bury it. For the courts say its purpose is not to punish, but to protect public safety. And courts are honorable persons, otherwise they wouldn’t have “Hon.” in front of their names. SORA was enacted in 1996 to create a class of persons permanently labeled “sex offenders,” based on scientific proof that anyone who commits a sex offense is an incurable, murderous pedophile. Therefore, they have no constitutional right to be let alone even…
Read MoreSext Offenders
By Bill Maher – A school in Newtown, Connecticut is in the news, but this time not for a tragic shooting. At least not with a gun. Some kids at the high school there got to texting and Snapchatting each other naked pictures of themselves, as kids of that age will sometimes do, and some of the nudey photos got circulated, as pics of that type always seem to do. And now there’s been some arrests. Full Article
Read MoreIML Lawsuit Media Articles (updated 2/19)
Added 2/19 http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/19/21st-century-public-shaming/ http://www.downtownexpress.com/2016/02/18/dont-brand-sex-offenders-passports/ http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/news-sex-offenders-megans-law-obama/Content?oid=4486073 Added 2/12 https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/02/12/civil-rights-group-files-lawsuit-questioning-constitutionality-of-international-megans-law/ http://kron4.com/2016/02/10/sex-offenders-to-be-identified-federal-passports-law/ Added 2/11 https://pcjc.blogs.law.pace.edu/2016/02/11/international-megans-law-h-r-515-necessary-constitutional/ http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2016/02/11/u-s-passports-of-sex-offenders-to-be-marked/ http://nationalrsol.org/blog/2016/02/09/first-lawsuit-challenging-intl-megans-law-filed-in-ca-federal-court/ 2-10-16: International Megan’s Law Conference Call (National RSOL) https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-authorized-create-angel-watch-center-expand-child-protection-efforts-following Added 2/10 http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/10/lawsuit-says-scarlet-letter-passports-fo http://www.courthousenews.com/CNSNEWS/Story/Index/86768 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/02/09/civil-rights-group-opposes-law-identifying-sex-offenders-on-passports/ http://www.newsweek.com/civil-rights-group-sex-offender-passports-marking-state-department-424754 http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sex-offender-passport-20160209-story.html http://fox40.com/2016/02/09/sex-offenders-challenge-new-federal-passports-law/ http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/obama_signs_international_megans_law.html
Read MoreObama Just Signed a Really Bad Criminal Justice Law
Is this really the best Congress can do? – After months of hype about the historic bipartisan consensus that we must make the American criminal justice system less harsh, President Obama finally signed a justice reform bill into law Monday. There’s only one problem: Instead of making the justice system more fair and less punitive, the new law will make it more vindictive and petty. Specifically, it will require people who have been convicted of sex crimes against minors to carry special passports in which their status as registered sex…
Read MorePresident Signed HR 515, International Megan’s Law
President Obama signed HR 515 into law on February 8. The law will require federal agencies to notify destination countries that registered citizens are coming to visit as well as to require the Secretary of State to add a “unique identifier” to the passports of some registered citizens. “The President’s decision, if unchallenged, would require the Secretary of State to add a Scarlet Letter to the passports of hundreds of thousands of American citizens,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “Therefore a lawsuit has been prepared and will be filed on February 9 challenging…
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