I would like to clarify that there are actually two, nearly identically-named (and destructive) bills entitled, more-or-less, “International Megan’s Law” originating in both Houses of Congress. This has been the source of some confusion. The House bill has an estimated 15% chance of passing and the Senate bill 9%. These estimations are provided by the GovTrack website (and I hope they are correct). [But do keep in mind that we are being prevented from traveling, right now, without those bills.] They are: H.R. 515 in the U.S. House and sponsored,…
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OH: Sex-offender registry requires reboot in Ohio and the nation: editorial
Title 1 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 created an all-inclusive state-by-state registry of convicted sex offenders. Known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Title 1 also attempted the impossible: to protect the public, particularly children, from convicted sexual predators who had done their time and were now back on the street. Full Article
Read MoreOpaque military justice system shields child sex abuse cases
WASHINGTON (AP) — More inmates are in U.S. military prisons for sex crimes against children than for any other offense, an Associated Press investigation has found, but an opaque justice system prevents the public from knowing the full scope of the crimes or how much time the prisoners spend behind bars. Of the 1,233 inmates confined in the military’s prison network, 61 percent were convicted of sex crimes, according to the latest available data, obtained through the federal open records law. Children were the victims in over half of those…
Read MoreStates Slowly Scale Back Juvenile Sex Offender Registries
After years of establishing and strengthening sex offender registries, some states are rethinking policies allowing juveniles to be placed on them. In states such as Oregon and Delaware, lawmakers have given judges more power to review who goes on the registry. In Pennsylvania, courts have ended lifetime registration for juveniles. Full Article
Read MoreThe sex offender industry
How often has this advice been given, and how often has the heeding of it led to the unraveling of an enigma or a crime. The sex offender industry is both, and following the money trail reveals what lies at the heart and continues to drive this occasionally well-meaning but more often self-serving complexity of businesses, individuals, and motivations that comprise this billion dollar industry. Full Article
Read MoreSNL Fauxmercial Helps Non Violent Sex Offenders Get Work
Saturday Night Live aired a fauxmercial last night advertising inexpensive help around the house, because Angie’s list is great, but it’s much too expensive. If you’re looking for help around the house and want a real bargain, you might like Aron’s list. That stands for the American Registry of Non Violent Sex Offenders, you know, not the bad kind. Streaking, public urination, missed the cutoff on statutory stuff… Article Video Clip
Read MoreSympathy for the Deviant
The intense stigma surrounding child sexual abuse clouds an already misunderstood subject—and may ultimately prevent potential abusers from getting help before they commit harm. One convicted offender shares his story. Full Article
Read MoreTeen sexting is definitely a problem, but a felony?
True or false: Your teen could be convicted of a felony and be labeled as a sex offender — for life — if he or she has sexted photos of classmates? The answer is “True” if your kid lives in one of the many states, like Colorado, that doesn’t have laws specifically addressing teens who sext. Why bring up the Rocky Mountain state? Earlier this week, it was revealed that an unspecified number of Cañon City High School students had been suspended for using their smartphones to share explicit photos of…
Read MoreThe Four “P’s” of the Anti-Registry Movement
Registered Citizen Activists are well aware of the use of the three “P” words often misused and intended to dehumanize us (pervert, predator, and pedophile), but at the Anti-Registry Movement, we have four “P” words that Registered Citizen Activists across the country should embrace. Full Article
Read MoreEarly release saves money and redeems lives
About 20 federal prisoners from Massachusetts serving time for drug-related crimes are newly free after having their sentences reduced. They’re among the first to benefit from a revision of sentencing guidelines for drug offenses that, on average, shaves two years off qualified inmates’ jail terms. About 6,100 prisoners nationwide are affected, the majority of them African-American and Hispanic men convicted of dealing drugs. Over the next few years, thousands more could gain their freedom. Full Article
Read MoreTide turns against U.S. residency restrictions on sex offenders
Nearly two decades have passed since Josh Gravens, then 12 years old, was playing with his 8-year-old sister and touched her body in an inappropriate way, landing himself on a sex offender registry. His sister forgave him long ago but Gravens still worries that the incident could force him out of his Dallas home. Concerns about sexual predators have led communities in 30 U.S. states to adopt laws limiting where registered sex offenders can live, typically keeping them away from schools, parks or other places where children congregate. Full Article…
Read MoreNC: First Amendment woes in North Carolina
As most VC readers know, First Amendment law is dominated by a single question, the 800-pound constitutional gorilla that’s always in the room: What “level of scrutiny” will the court apply to the challenged government action? How much will it demand from the government by way of justification for whatever it was that it did? How high will it set the bar? … I’ve said it many times before — these sex offender cases are of the deepest importance, not because of any special concern we might have for convicted…
Read MorePA: Gun rights for sex offender lands in Idaho Supreme Court
BOISE – A former Idaho man’s problems convincing the state of Pennsylvania he should have the right to bear arms landed in the Idaho Supreme Court Tuesday. ____ ____ was convicted of rape in Idaho in 1992, a felony that carries a permanent loss of gun rights. That conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor in 2004 through a sentencing agreement, but he was still required to register as a sex offender. That kind of arrangement couldn’t happen today; Idaho changed its laws in 2006 to prevent a conviction on a felony…
Read MoreSex offender info often should be shared by buyer’s agents: NAR, attorneys
A Florida real estate agent recently said that a client had fired him, in part, because he hadn’t disclosed that the property the client was interested in was next to the home of a sex offender. The agent said he regularly advises buyers to visit neighborhoods in person, to check in with police departments and to review websites. He said he told the buyer, however, that he wasn’t legally able to reveal that a sex offender lived near the property. But as of June, that appears to only have been true in New Jersey and…
Read MoreSCOTUS to Decide Reach of Sex Offender Registry
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider whether the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requires sex offenders who move to a foreign country to notify their prior home state of their change of residence. At issue is are the cases of two men who lived on opposite sides of the Missouri River in the Kansas City Metropolitan area, were both convicted of sex crimes in unrelated cases prior to the enactment of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and later moved — again separately — to…
Read MoreThe Fate Of This Sex Offender May Lie In The Hands Of Justice Scalia [updated]
***Supreme Court Justice Scalia dies at 79; fiery conservative fought liberalism’s tide*** WASHINGTON — A man convicted of possessing child pornography wants the Supreme Court to read his offense under federal law narrowly — and in the process, to give him a break from a very long prison sentence. Whether he’s successful may depend on the voice and vote of Justice Antonin Scalia. Full Article
Read MoreWas the trigger point for John Roberts’ appointment based upon Smith v Doe?
One of the most influential appointments in the history of the United states has turned out to be John Roberts, Chief Justice and Price Club Manager of the United States Supreme Court. I am in the process of researching how judicial appointments were made in the United States, including both the historical records as well as political gamesmanship in making those selections. Full Editorial on sosen.org
Read MoreThe Community Notification Registry is More than a Hit list for just Murderers.
Everyone quotes the Department of Justice study done in 1997 that looked at offenders released in 1994. The government has rehashed the study and done their best to make sex offenders look bad.This study was reevaluated in 2001, 2002, and again in 2003 for the governments part. They like to point to the fact that 5.3% (517) of the 9,691 sex offenders released in 1994, were rearrested for a new sex crime, then they grudgingly admit that 3.5% (339) are reconvicted in a new sex crime since the government is been so kind…
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