The global system designed to track paedophiles is failing as nations refuse to share information following the Edward Snowden spying revelations, child protection experts have warned. Suspicions of government “snooping” and potential privacy breaches have meant that countries have proved unwilling to hold and disseminate information on known and dangerous child abusers. Full Article Related: International Travel – China / Thailand International Megan’s Law / RSO Travel Issues International Travel – Mexico International Travel (Main Page) International Travel (Tag)
Read MoreCategory: General News
Man who went to prison as a juvenile sex offender: Lena Dunham is lucky
As so many have done recently, Josh Gravens wrote an open letter to Lena Dunham. It read, “Many children around the country did the same thing you did.” But this was not just another defense of Dunham’s childhood behavior as innocent exploration. The letter continued, “A 9-year-old in South Carolina is now on the sex offender registry for life, and he also must wear a GPS monitor everywhere he goes. In fact, many states have no minimum age to be placed on the sex offender registry,” he wrote. “I myself…
Read MoreTyrant’s Foe: Josh Gravens Fights Criminal Justice Policies that Hurt Children
When I met Josh Gravens, he was 25 years old, unemployed and living with his older sister in Dallas. He’d most recently worked at a stand that sold Christmas trees and firewood, but his paychecks often bounced, and since then he’d applied for hundreds of jobs. That was March of 2012, when Gravens and his wife and four children were getting by one day at a time. Full Article
Read MoreEven Republicans are Changing their Mind on “Tough on Crime”
“One of the things that’s happening with mass incarceration is that it’s hollowing out [communities], it’s destroying generations. It’s just devastating.” Sounds like something a liberal might say, right? Actually, it’s a quote from Mark Early, a former Republican lawmaker from Virginia, a state notorious for its tough on crime laws. Full Article
Read MoreFCC Reverses ALJ’s Decision, Revokes Convicted Sex Offender’s Amateur Radio License
The FCC has reversed the decision of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who ruled in 2010 that ____ ____, of Seattle, Washington, could keep his Amateur Radio license in the wake of his conviction for a sex-related crime 17 years earlier. … The FCC said that given “known risks of Amateur Radios in the hands of sex offenders, such misconduct is prima facie disqualifying, and has resulted in the loss of licenses in past cases.” Full Article
Read MoreTo Lena Dunham: From A Person Placed on the Sex Offender Registry as a Child
Dear Lena Dunham, You have been taking some heat for a passage from your book outlining what most psychological and developmental experts would call childhood sexual curiosity, if not just plain curiosity. I am glad you have defended your actions as a child as just that—childhood exploration. While the behavior might be considered by a puritanical society as taboo, it should not be a criminalized behavior. Ms. Dunham, many children around the country did the same thing you did. For example, a 9-year-old in South Carolina is now on the sex…
Read MoreCars kill more kids on Halloween than Registered Sex Offenders, so we should ban Trunk or Treat
Over the past few years, we see the barrage of Halloween stories designed to scare the people in a different way. There was no shortage of news stories warning parents to check the registry before they send their kids out trick-or-treating. Still, there has not been a “stereotypical kidnapping” of a child by a “Registered Sex Offender” on Halloween so long as the registry has existed. In 2014, no child was murdered by a Registered Sex Offender. Full Blog Item
Read MoreDeadly Halloween Across the Nation
Halloween took a deadly turn for trick-or-treaters, paradegoers and party guests across the country, on a holiday that federal safety regulators say is one of the deadliest on America’s roadways. At least 15 people were killed and nine others were injured in accidents and a fire connected to the festivities in the past few days, in states from California to New York, and Washington to Maine. Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments November 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of November 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreShaming Employers Willing To Give A Registrant An Opportunity
As registrants, we know how difficult it is to find employment. Irrespective of how educated, professional or qualified you are, the scarlet letter infects you, your family, your friends, your employer. There are kind-hearted people out there who are willing to give someone a second chance and help them support their families and themselves. In exchange they get a hard-working, dedicated, loyal employee, who will value their job more than you can imagine. Full Editorial
Read MoreCollateral Consequences: Why Bar Sex Offenders From Business Loans?
February 2012 – The principals of a small business seeking government-backed loans expect to be asked about their commercial backgrounds and credit histories. They probably do not expect to be asked whether they are former sex offenders. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreAre Sex Offenders Unfairly Persecuted on Halloween?
On Halloween night, Andrew will celebrate the holiday the way most married fathers do: He and his wife will go trick-or-treating with their two kids, who are nine and 12; maybe afterward, they’ll head to their church to finish off the night with games and snacks. But Andrew’s family isn’t like other families, because Andrew is a registered sex offender. … “Just because you’re on the registry doesn’t mean the Constitution doesn’t apply,” said Janice Bellucci, an attorney and president of California Reform Sex Offender Laws. Full Article
Read MoreHalloween & Sex Crime: Myth vs. Reality
It is almost Halloween, and as we begin to feel a chill in the air in the northern hemisphere, we also feel the excitement of that annual ritual of trick or treating. But while children look forward to a night of ghouls, ghosts, goblins and goodies, parents ponder the presence of real-life demons in the neighborhood: registered sex offenders. States, municipalities, and parole departments have adopted policies banning known sex offenders from Halloween activities (or, in some jurisdictions, from even leaving their homes on Halloween), based on the concern that…
Read MoreThis is getting boring, but it’s Halloween again
I really thought this year was going to be different. Last year the “big, bad sex offender at Halloween” hype started as early as August and was in full swing in September. This year, all was quiet on the scare tactics front through the end of September and was slow going into October. However, the past few days have picked up speed, and some of the articles are so self-righteously infuriating about how they are making Halloween safer for children by–take your pick–visiting all registrants in their district on Halloween/not…
Read MoreProf. Alan Dershowitz: “Harvard’s policy was written by people who think sexual assault is so heinous a crime that even innocence is not a defense.”
It’s a great quote, and it appears in this week’s Time Magazine in a story about the letter published last week in the Boston Globe signed by 28 Harvard law professors voicing strong objections to the school’s one-sided, feminist-inspired sexual misconduct policies. But when Dershowitz continued and said that people accused of rape should have a full and fair opportunity to defend themselves, Time pooh-poohed it: “It’s a noble idea, but . . . .” Full Article
Read MoreFear the Bogeyman: Sex Offender Panic on Halloween
It can be said that sex offenders are the new bogeymen, mythical monsters invented to scare children into social order. People convicted of sex offenses, and subsequently placed on the public registry, are transformed into a concept of evil, which is then personified as a group of faceless, terrifying, and predatory devils. It would appear that this strategy is used to keep sex offenders at a distance, in turn keeping our children and families safe from harm. But in reality, such fantasy does just the opposite: ignoring the realities of…
Read MoreJacques: Could your teen face child porn charges?
Michigan teens beware. An indiscreet photo on your phone or computer could land you in court as a felony sex offender. Sex has always preoccupied teens. With the broad proliferation of cellphones and social media, however, young people have a wealth of new ways to make bad decisions. Full Article Related Teens Still Sending Naked Selfies
Read MoreAustralia: Should sex offenders be allowed to fly?
LAST week the shocking case of a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted while trapped in a plane’s bathroom emerged. … The horrifying case has prompted calls from an Australian aviation law expert for sex offenders to be added to the “do not fly” list. Shine Lawyers Aviation Law Solicitor Joseph Wheeler wants the airlines to have access to public sex offender lists, and have the power to ban them from flying. Full Article
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