Three decades after they were introduced as a crime-fighting tool, electronic ankle bracelets used to track an offender’s whereabouts have proliferated so much that officials are struggling to handle an avalanche of monitoring alerts that are often nothing more sinister than a dead battery, lost satellite contact or someone arriving home late from work. Amid all that white noise, alarms are going unchecked, sometimes on defendants now accused of new crimes. Full Article
Read MoreCategory: General News
SexOffenderMap.org Lists Top Ten States with Highest Rate of Offenders
Los Angeles, CA — (SBWIRE) — 08/08/2013 — Sex Offender Map, a free service providing information to parents and concerned citizens about the sex offender rates in their states and neighborhoods, announces its 2013 list of the top ten states with the worst sex offender rates. The three states that top the list are Delaware, Wyoming and Oregon. Using demographic profiles of each state combined with sex offender data from the Parents for Megan’s Law website, the list highlights the top ten states with the highest amount of sex offenders…
Read MoreOnline Predators Not Distinctively Dangerous Sex Offenders
A new University of New Hampshire study challenges the view that online predators are a distinctly dangerous variety of sex offender, requiring special programs to protect youth. The study from the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center finds that sex offenders who target teens increasingly use Internet and cell phone communications to lure teens into sexual relationships. In crimes that involve such communications, offenders who meet and recruit youth online operate in much the same way as offenders who meet and know youth in ordinary offline environments. Full Article
Read MoreSex Offender Registries: Fear without Function? A Study
Abstract: I use three separate data sets and designs to determine whether sex offender registries are effective. First, I use state-level panel data to determine whether sex offender registries and public access to them decrease the rate of rape and other sexual abuse. Second, I use a data set that contains information on the subsequent arrests of sex offenders released from prison in 1994 in 15 states to determine whether registries reduce the recidivism rate of offenders required to register compared with the recidivism of those who are not. Finally, I…
Read More2011: A Quiet but Growing Judicial Rebellion Against Harsh Sentences For CP Offenses
Federal criminal sentences should be “sufficient, but not greater than necessary.” They should fit the crime, provide for “adequatedeterrence,” “protect the public,” and promote rehabilitation. Since the Supreme Court decisions in Booker and Kimbrough, federal courts again have great discretion, within certain limits, to decide appropriate federal sentences. Congress, however, has taken pains to limit that discretion with regard to child pornography offenses, and the federal courts, in a series of judicial decisions across the country, including recent Second and Third Circuit decisions, are firmly rebelling. The questions arise: Are the courts right?…
Read MoreInt’l Megan’s Law Amendment to Protect More Kids
Washington, Aug 1 – A legislative effort by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) to restrict the passports of U.S citizens who have been convicted of sex crimes against children took a leap forward today when it was unanimously approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Smith wrote an amendment which is now part of the U.S. State Department authorization bill, H.R. 2848, which is expected to be on the House floor in September. It grants the Secretary of State discretion to limit the valid duration of passports for convicted sex offenders…
Read MoreGeneral Comments August 2013
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of August 2013. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreOpinion: Place focus on worst sex offenders
State legislators should review laws regarding our sex offender registry in order to allow law enforcement to focus on the most dangerous. We have no empathy for those individuals who committed violent sexual acts against any adult or minor. But the requirements of sex offenders to register keeps local law enforcement officers checking up on some people who pose little risk to the public. Full Article
Read MoreSome Ankle Bracelet Alarms Go Unchecked
Three decades after they were introduced as a crime-fighting tool, electronic ankle bracelets used to track an offender’s whereabouts have proliferated so much that officials are struggling to handle an avalanche of monitoring alerts that are often nothing more sinister than a dead battery, lost satellite contact or someone arriving home late from work. Amid all that white noise, alarms are going unchecked, sometimes on defendants now accused of new crimes. Full Article
Read MoreOpinion: Sex Is Different, Under The Law
By Norm Pattis – I’ve been practicing law just long enough to know that I will never make sense of it all. It’s not that I am stupid, although my shortcomings are certainly an issue. The larger truth is that the law is irrational. It bumps, grinds and gyrates in ways that simply make no sense. This is especially true in criminal cases alleging sexual misconduct. Suppose a man is accused of rape. He is, of course, presumed innocent, but the details of his arrest are made public. In the eyes of…
Read MoreCA RSOL Challenges El Dorado County Ordinance
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) filed a lawsuit today challenging the El Dorado County ordinance that prohibits all registrants from entering the county’s parks, schools and other areas where children congregate. The lawsuit requests that the court declare that the ordinance is unconstitutional and prohibit the county from enforcing that ordinance. “It is important to stop the El Dorado County ordinance as it prevents all California registrants from visiting most recreational areas at or near Lake Tahoe,” stated Janice Bellucci, President of CA RSOL. “The ordinance also prohibits…
Read MorePetition: Albany Times Union newspaper and Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann: Remove addresses of family members of sex offenders
It is against Pinterest’s terms of use to post personal information of another person – yet they are blatantly ignoring this policy by ignoring multiple reports of the four Pinterest boards owned by the Albany Times Union, which post the photographs and personal information of people on the registry and by proxy, their family members and children. There is no evidence to suggest this type of notification is effective at protecting the public – in fact, it may increase recidivism by making it impossible for registrants and their families to…
Read MoreOrange County Ordinance Legal Battle Continues
The Court of Appeal will hear oral argument in the Hugo Godinez case on July 22 in Santa Ana. At issue in that case is whether the Orange County ordinance which prohibited all sex offenders from entering public places such as parks, beaches and hiking trails is preempted by the state constitution. The court’s decision is expected within 30 days. The Orange County ordinance, which was passed in April 2011, is currently not in effect due to a decision by a three-judge panel of the Orange County Superior Court. If…
Read More“Sexting”: From bad judgment to a registered sex offender
The technological phenomenon of “sexting” has seen such a dramatic increase in popularity that it is now defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary: “the sending of sexually explicit messages or images by cell phone.” Moreover, if you ask a high school student to describe sexting, you may be surprised to hear it is a social norm. In a 2009 survey conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy, twenty percent of teens said they had sexted. That number has since increased to over twenty-five percent. What these students and many others do…
Read MoreKnowing the Numbers: How Bad Sex-Offender Data Could Cause More Harm
Guest Columnist Jill Levenson of Lynn University criticizes the reliance of the Supreme Court and others on inaccurate sex offender data… In the US Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding sex offender registration requirements (SORNA) under the Adam Walsh Act [PDF], the Court’s opinion [PDF] included the following statement: “SORNA’s general changes were designed to make more uniform what had remained “a patchwork of federal and 50 individual state registration systems … with loopholes and deficiencies” that had resulted in an estimated 100,000 sex offenders essentially disappearing off law enforcement’s radar. Full Article
Read MoreScapegoats and Shunning (2006)
Progressives in America are rightly concerned about increasing signs of fascism in this country, such as a so-called war on terrorism thatallows massive invasion of privacy and wholesale imprisonment without charge; such as state manufacture of propaganda for its ownpeople; such as the assertion that anyone who challenges government policies on these matters is a traitor; such as a “great leader” who puts himself clearly above and outside the law. They ought to be concerned also about another sign of the demise of American justice and human decency: scapegoating. One…
Read MoreGeneral Comments July 2013
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of July 2013. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MorePetition: Outlaw “Mugshot” Websites, Online “Reputation Management” firms and other Online Extortion Websites
“Mugshot” websites post arrest data, then demand a “Removal Fee” to have the mugshots/personal profiles removed. I have seen extortion fees of these websites range from $79 – $1,700 or higher. Often after the extortion fee is paid, they do not remove the info. or pass it along to another mugshot website. These websites display mugshots/profiles of people who were arrested but never convicted of any crime, people who were convicted then had their conviction overturned, or had their records expunged and even people who are now deceased. Currently Georgia,…
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