Studies show that while public sex offender registries sound like a good way to keep a community safe, the numbers tell a different story. And widely held beliefs turn out to be myths — among the more prevalent is that most sex offenders are pedophiles who might snatch a child from a park or bus stop. Here are the myths, and the research that debunks them. Full Article Related from the Detroit Free Press MI: Does Michigan’s sex offender registry keep us safer?
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The most prestigious legal body in America is considering changing the Model Penal Code to criminalize holding your girlfriend’s hand on a date
The American Law Institute is the most important and most prestigious organization of legal scholars and prominent attorneys in the United States. The ALI drafts model laws that become statutes and Restatements of the Law that are widely cited as authority in judicial opinions. Full Article
Read MoreUtah A.G. Sean Reyes urges Congress to pass international Megan’s Law
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes urged Congress on Thursday to get tougher on human trafficking worldwide, particularly by passing an international Megan’s Law to protect children from predators. Human trafficking, he said, is one of the most insidious but least understood and recognized crimes. “As a father of six children, I want to change that,” Reyes told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Victims are forced into hard labor, military servitude and suicide bombings, recruited for terrorism or…
Read More50-state survey of relief from sex offender registration
We have prepared a new 50-state chart detailing the provisions for termination of the obligation to register as a sex offender in each state and under federal law. This project was inspired by Wayne Logan’s recent article in the Wisconsin Law Review titled “Database Infamia: Exit from the Sex Offender Registries,” discussed on this site on April 15. The original idea of the project was simply to present Professor Logan’s research in the same format as the other 50-state charts that are part of the NACDL Restoration of Rights Resource,…
Read MoreCarson mayor Albert Robles sued for sexual harassment
The mayor of Carson is being sued for sexual harassment by a former fellow member of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California Board of Directors. Lynn Dymally, daughter of the late Democratic politician Mervyn M. Dymally, alleges Albert Robles, who is still a member of the WRD board and became mayor of Carson last month, harassed her during a district-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C., in November 2013. The Los Angeles Superior Court suit filed Tuesday alleges sexual battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and…
Read MoreBob Dyer: Sex offender statistics surprising
How are sex offenders different from you and me? They just are, says a college professor who not only has multiple degrees in psychology and sociology, but also worked for 30 years in Ohio’s prison system. Full Article Related Bob Dyer: Are sex offenders ruined for life? Bob Dyer: Sex-crime punishments incredibly inconsistent
Read MoreThese 10 Questions Can Mean Life Behind Bars
A short checklist called the Static-99 weighs facts about a sex offender’s past in order to predict the likelihood of future crimes. Many legal and scientific experts worry that the way the test is often used — to make high-stakes decisions about an individual’s liberty — is critically flawed. Full Article
Read MoreFacing the system: Former UB student struggles as Level 2 sex offender
____ ____ just had heart surgery and was lying on a mattress set up in his living room when officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security brought his son Daniel through the front door. His damaged heart raced. What had happened to his shy, socially awkward son? Had he done something or had something been done to him? Full Article
Read MoreBob Dyer: Sex-crime punishments incredibly inconsistent
We seem to have no trouble differentiating between a minor fistfight and an assault with a crowbar that turns someone into a vegetable. But for some reason, we tend to lump all sex crimes into one big category. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreGeneral Comments May 2015
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of May 2015. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MorePrediction of dangerousness, length of treatment, and psychological damage
As many of you might realize from my writing that I have a real problem with the pseudoscience of psychiatry and psychology. Especially when it comes to constitutional values and allowing the government to control the thinking of the populace through the questionable methods of mind control, which is in fact, what behavior modification programs are. It’s one thing if someone goes into these programs of their own free will, because they want to make changes. It’s another thing for the government to force them into them. This is especially…
Read MoreWhy You Can’t Trust the Nation’s Frequently Inaccurate, Terribly Organized Sex Offender Registries
Just in time for the all-important May sweeps period, a local television anchor somewhere is bound to open a newscast with a question specifically designed to simultaneously titillate and scare the crap out of you. “Does a pedophile live on your block?” the menacing voice will intone. “Are your children safe?” The answer, invariably, is “probably” and “probably not.” If you tune in, you’ll confront a terrifying graphic that the station’s self-glorifying “investigative reporter” has cooked up showing a map crowded with dots. Each one, you’ll be told, represents a…
Read MoreBob Dyer: Are sex offenders ruined for life?
Well, here’s something new. How about an 85-year-old woman from a small Wayne County town rushing to the defense of a convicted sex offender she doesn’t even know? And how about that same sex offender agreeing to sit down for an interview with the Beacon Journal just days after a thorough public shaming? Full OpEd Piece
Read MoreSecondhand Pariah: A Plea for Empathy from the Girlfriend of a Sex Offender
One morning in January of 2014 my life changed forever. Out of nowhere, seven highly militarized FBI agents wielding guns and a search warrant raided the home that I shared with my partner. Barely awake, I couldn’t believe what was happening. Then we discovered his charges: possession and distribution of child pornography. He is not a monster; he is not even attracted to children. While he was on a torrent site looking for music to download, he came across pornographic images that he thought he’d check out, against his better…
Read MoreHow We Will Take Down Public Registries (RSOL)
Although many of our constituents would love to see some sort of silver bullet to end public sex offender registries once and for all, realistically, this is a long-term war. It will take many more battles across many different fronts to win. Those fronts include our legal system, our legislatures, and the general public. It also includes… ourselves! EVERY battlefront is important, and EVERY soldier is needed The Legal Front We have many legal “soldiers” out there challenging various aspects of public registration, sometimes for individuals, sometimes for entire groups.…
Read MoreSenate passes amendment closing military sex offender loophole
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to close a legal loophole that enables military sex offenders to evade registering with civilian law enforcement. On a 98-0 vote, Senators adopted the Military Sex Offender Reporting Act as an amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which the Senate passed later Wednesday afternoon. Full Article
Read MoreLA: AL sex offender files suit challenging LA registry laws in federal court
A New Orleans man convicted in Alabama of transmitting obscene material to a minor is challenging the constitutionality of recent Louisiana sex offender registration statutes in federal court. … The suit claims two state laws illegally intend to dissuade convicted sex offenders in other states from moving to Louisiana. Full Article
Read MoreWomen Against Registry (W.A.R) Lawsuit
The WAR (Women Against Registry) Admin Team AND our Class Action Core Team are proud to announce that we will begin work this week on two law suits to be filed at the federal level this fall. That’s right – two of them! The first is on behalf of registered sex offenders and the second on behalf of families and friends of registered sex offenders. The challenges will be against SORNA and the impact to the registrant families, which has been verified and documented by researchers. Also, the public impact…
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