A motion for preliminary injunction has been filed in the pending challenge to SORNA regulations that became effective in January 2022. The motion was filed on June 3 by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) in federal district court. The motion requests a hearing date of July 18. If that request is granted, the hearing will take place in Riverside county. “The Pacific Legal Foundation is to be commended for filing this important motion,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “If the motion is granted, it could stop the enforcement of…
Read MoreCategory: General News
Bahamas may change legislation after sex offender dies days after being released from prison
NASSAU, Bahamas, Jun 1, CMC – The Bahamas government says it is likely to re-examine the measures under which sex offenders are publicly released from prison after one man died in hospital a few days after his release. The authorities said that Alden Scott was found unresponsive on a dirt road while bleeding through the nose, but it is not known if he was attacked or the origin of his injuries. Scott was released last Friday after being added to the sex offender registry. He served nine years in prison…
Read MoreNC: Petition started to ban musician, registered sex offender from headlining Burke Co. festival
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/05-24-2022/t_153366d4f5aa4a5687fb177901ad84da_name_df_530pm_morganton_festival_lklv_frame_2007.jpeg)
BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Organizers of the largest festival in Burke County are responding Tuesday after allowing the Artimus Pyle Band to headline one of the nights. Channel 9 spoke with Pyle who denies the allegations. The Historic Morganton Festival in September attracts tens of thousands of people each year, filling the streets of downtown Morganton. This year, an online petition is trying to keep the band from performing because Pyle is a registered sex offender in North Carolina. He’s also a former drummer for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. According…
Read MoreNumber of CA Registrants Continues to Decrease
The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decrease, according to the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). During the past two months, the total number of individuals required to register decreased by 532 and the total number of registrants who are homeless decreased by 422. “It appears that the Tiered Registry Law is having the desired effect, that is, it is leading to the removal of registrants who do not pose a current danger,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. In addition, the California Department of…
Read MoreLawsuit Filed Challenging SORNA Regulations
Nearly 20 years ago, Congress passed a law requiring people convicted of certain sex offenses to register with their states. But Congress also left it entirely up to the U.S. Department of Justice, a part of the executive branch, to write the rules governing who must register, how often, what information they must provide, and when they have broken the law. But the DOJ’s job is also to criminally prosecute people who fail to follow the same rules the agency has written. It is unconstitutional for the nation’s chief prosecutor…
Read MoreSex offender registration continues for ranch manager near Idyllwild
A judge ruled Keith Harper, 72, must register until at least 2025. MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — The former boyfriend of Dia Abrams, the woman who went missing almost two years ago from her ranch near Idyllwild, will have to continue to register as a sex offender. Keith Harper represented himself in court Tuesday in San Juan County, Colorado, where he was convicted 10 years ago of misdemeanor sexual contact for groping two women on snowmobile tours. “I did a year in jail. Misdemeanors are not meant to be a life…
Read MoreRegisterants address county commission after rule changed to allow them
Registered sex offenders had their day to be heard before Brevard County commissioners and explain how an ordinance banning them from certain locations in the county has negatively affected them. In their statements to commissioners on Tuesday, petitioners pleaded with the commission to reverse an amendment to an ordinance passed in 2020, barring them from entering within 1,000 feet of businesses where children typically congregate. Their comments included examples of barriers they face because of the county regulation, and the negative impact that is having for their families and other loved…
Read MoreOK: Oklahoma woman busted for planting lewd images on husband’s phone
Over the years, we’ve criticized cops for disregarding the rights of innocent people. But it’s equally important to applaud cops for doing the right thing and remembering that they are supposed to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty. One such example comes from Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where a woman reported her husband for having hundreds of child sex abuse images on his phone. But her story didn’t pass the smell test with police and Garvin County sheriff’s deputies. After further investigation, the woman is now in jail herself, and faces charges that could…
Read MoreUCLA Study Identifies Similarities, Differences Between Straight and Gay Registrants
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law has completed a study regarding registrants focused on the similarities and differences between straight registrants and registrants who are members of the LGBTQ community on a variety of issues, including but not limited to, employment and housing. A webinar was conducted today regarding the study and a full report will be issued next week. The study includes data received from 965 individuals of whom about 20 percent self identified as members of the LGBTQ community. The average age of the…
Read MoreBuilding a Forgiving Society
by: Joseph Margulies I am hard at work on a new book. It begins at the end. It imagines we have created a world that is considerably more forgiving than our own. Where society has neither the right nor the inclination to treat a human being as a monster, indelibly branded as unworthy of membership, and where no transgression, no matter how severe, permits society to dissolve the bonds that all humans share, simply because they are human. A world where punishment proceeds from the premise that wrongdoers were, are,…
Read MoreTeacher charged with sex assault of 18-year-old student. First case under NH’s new law
BRENTWOOD — A former New Hampshire teacher of the year finalist is facing felony charges, accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old student last year in what is the first criminal case brought under a new state law. Bridgette Doucette-Howell, 38, of Merrimack, was indicted on three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault for allegedly engaging in intercourse, and one count of felonious sexual assault for allegedly kissing the student between April 26 and May 13, 2021, in Kingston and Exeter. The criminal case tests a new legal provision, known as the…
Read MoreCA Stops Registration of Juvenile Offenders
The State of California has stopped the registration of juvenile offenders, according to the CA Sex Offender Management Board. This change applies to individuals tried as a juvenile, not as an adult, who were convicted of a sex offense or sentenced for a sex offense on or after July 1, 2021. The change does not apply to individuals convicted or sentenced of a sex offense prior to July 1, 2021, however those individuals may petition for removal from the registry after 5 years or 10 years depending upon the convictions…
Read MoreNumber of CA Registrant Continues to Decline
The number of persons required to register in California continues to decrease according to a report from the CA Department of Justice (CA DOJ) presented during today’s meeting of the CA Sex Offender Management Board. Specifically, the number of registrants has decreased by 108 persons during the month of February to a new total of 108,432. “Although the reason for the smaller number of persons required to register was not disclosed during the meeting, it is believed that the decrease is due to an increase in the number of petitions…
Read MoreALI Council Approves Most of Model Penal Code
The Council of the American Law Institute (ALI) has approved most of the model penal code (MPC) adopted by its members. The Council’s approval took place during its meeting held this week following a decision in January to delay consideration of the model penal code. The most significant portions of the MPC include: (1) significant reduction in the number of offenses that require registration, (2) maximum registration period of 15 years, (3) elimination of all public registries and (4) prohibition against many collateral consequences. “The American Law Institute is to…
Read MoreLawsuit Challenges Tiered Registry Law Provision
A lawsuit was filed this week in Sacramento Superior Court challenging the application of a tiered registry law provision that has resulted in individuals being assigned to Tier 3, the highest tier, even though their felony conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor. Specifically, the lawsuit is seeking relief for an individual convicted of a felony violation of Penal Code Section 288.2 that was later reduced to a misdemeanor. According to the lawsuit, the individual should not have been assigned to Tier 3 or to any tier, but instead should have…
Read MoreInternational Travel 2022
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number] Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Read MoreMichigan ACLU Attorney Miriam Aukerman will be in The Room!
Michigan ACLU Attorney Miriam Aukerman will be in The Room! Please pre-register here to receive your link to engage with others in the WAR Room. Hopefully, our members and supporters have opened and read the blast received yesterday regarding the on-going saga of the war being waged in Michigan between their ACLU and the state ‘powers-that-be’! We will have as our WAR Room guest on Tuesday, February 8th at 7 PM central time / 5 PM Pacific Time, Michigan ACLU Senior Attorney Miriam Aukerman. She will…
Read MoreFL: OUTCASTS Inside the community where hundreds of pedophiles live surrounded by gator-infested waters
HUNDREDS of sex offenders live in a 24-acre private, isolated community along a miles-long Florida road lined by gator-infested waters and surrounded by thousands of acres of sugar cane. The community has been self-described as a safe haven for sex offenders who need a place to live because of the state’s laws that requires anyone on the registry to live between 1,000 and 2,500 feet from anywhere children might be. It started as a pastor’s vision to help recently released inmates convicted of sex crimes in 2009 and…
Read More