The controversy surrounding city elections in a town in the Texas Panhandle continues. That’s because one of the newly elected city council members has a checkered past. A pair of two-year terms on Skellytown’s city council were up for grabs Saturday. The results are in now and not everyone is happy. That’s because one of those spots is now being filled by a man who is a former mayor forced to resign. He is also a registered sex offender. Full Article
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IL: Charges Dropped Against Man Who Served 20 Years for Rape
Lake County prosecutors on Tuesday dropped sexual assault charges against a man accused in a decades-old Waukegan rape. “I’m feeling great,” said Bennie Starks. “The fight is not over yet. We still have one more hurdle, but it’s a great day.” Starks, convicted in 1986 of assaulting a 68-year-old woman, had served 20 years of a 60-year sentence when DNA evidence was retrieved that excluded him from the crime. Full Article
Read MoreMissouri House passes sex offender bill
JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House is sending a bill to the Senate that could drastically cut back the state’s sex offender registry rolls. After giving initial approval Tuesday night, the chamber took a second vote on the issue Thursday, advancing it to the other chamber. House Bill 1700 received near unanimous and overwhelmingly bi-partisan support in the Republican-controlled House. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/missouri-house-passes-sex-offender-bill/article_4353f458-789d-11e1-a594-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1v6k7D0Hk
Read MoreApartment Manager Found Dead In National City
NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — The nude, bloodied body of a South Bay apartment manager — reportedly a registered sex offender — was found early Tuesday on the doorstep of his residence, where he’d been stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant. A tenant of the complex in the 300 block of Norton Avenue in National City reported discovering the body at about 1 a.m. Full Article
Read MoreNew protections for job seekers with criminal records
It’s estimated 65 million Americans with criminal records face barriers when looking for work. Some of those barriers are within the law, but new federal guidelines want to prevent unreasonable screening out of job seekers. — Includes a call from a registrant offering a relevant perspective. Full Article / Audio
Read MoreLet Them Live With the Other Large Reptiles: The Failure of Residency Restrictions
America has a lot of harsh laws against sex offenders that shame and banish this unpopular group. Miami sends them to live in the swamps with the poisonous snakes and boa constrictors. Georgia bars them from living or working within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. Pretty much the whole state is off limits for employment or domicile. California bans them from living in just about any of the cities. Those laws are under serious legal challenge, and the Georgia bus stop code is on hold pending the outcome…
Read MoreMothers of sex offenders share responsibility, burden of label
(CNN) — Christine Smith will never forget the moment she watched her 21-year-old son being led out of a Florida courtroom in handcuffs. “This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening,” she recalls thinking at the time. “Take me instead.” She sobbed because there was nothing she could do. Matthew, the second of her three children, was going to prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of possession of child pornography. A judge in Duval County sentenced him in April 2010 to 18 months in state…
Read MoreMI: ‘Romeo’ not cleared, gets life on list
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – He was a poster child for what was wrong with Michigan’s sex offender registry — a teen on the list for a one-night stand with an under-age girl. Then, the state passed sweeping reforms to the sex offender list, and it appeared Rick McQuillin’s name would be erased, and his life would change. A year later, Target 8 found his life has changed — for the worse. Full Article
Read MoreViewing child porn on the Web ‘legal’ in New York, state appeals court finds
Viewing child pornography online isn’t a crime, the New York Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday in the case of a college professor whose work computer was found to have stored more than a hundred illegal images in its Web cache. Full Article
Read MoreSex Offender at 12, Punished For Life
When Kevin was 12 years old he was slapped with a felony. His school’s principal caught him and his 10 year old friend sexually experimenting in the boy’s bathroom. He says it was consensual, that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but Kevin was branded as a Level Two sex offender. His name and photo went up on Lewis County’s sex offender website and his life became a living hell. Full Article
Read MoreWant to Undermine Science in Public Policy? Start With Sex
The Huffington Post: For thousands of years, every reasonable person knew that the sun revolved around the earth. After all, people could see it happen with their own eyes. And when Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler used science to show otherwise, people laughed at them. It took a century for the idea that the earth revolved around the sun to even begin to catch on. Full Article
Read MoreEl Dorado County bans sex offenders from public parks
February 8, 2012: The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors gave initial approval Tuesday to a law that will make it a crime for registered sex offenders to frequent public parks. Full Article – County Ordinance [hana-flv-player video=”https://all4consolaws.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Movie-El-Dorado-County.flv” width=”400″ height=”330″ description=”” player=”4″ autoload=”true” autoplay=”false” loop=”false” autorewind=”true” /]
Read MoreLA Times: O.C. sex offender law picks up support but few convictions
Nearly half of the county’s cities have adopted the ‘child safety zone’ law that bans sex offenders from parks, beaches, playgrounds and hiking trails. Critics say it’s an ineffective feel-good measure. LA Times article mentioning California RSOL. Read more and comment.
Read MoreCalifornia Registrant’s Bill of Rights
CALIFORNIA REGISTRANTS’ BILL OF RIGHTS – October 2015 U.S. Constitution Freedom of Speech, Right to Assemble, Petition Government (1st Amendment) Freedom from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures (4th Amendment) Freedoms of Life, Liberty, Property, Due Process and Equal Protection (14th Amendment) California Constitution Total of 31 Articles enumerating rights (Section 1) Includes freedom to fish in public waters (Section 1, Article 25) CA Penal Code §290.46, Subsection L (2) Except as authorized under paragraph (1) or any other provision of law, use of any information that is disclosed pursuant to this…
Read MoreJustice Dept. says predator law covers non-violent offenders
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is asking federal courts to let it cast a wider net in its effort to indefinitely lock up accused sexual predators, urging judges to detain men who have never been convicted of sexual assaults. Read the article on USAToday
Read MoreWI: Church Conducts ‘Adults Only’ Services for Sex Offenders, Others
A Wisconsin church has recently begun holding biweekly church “adults only” services, in part as a way to allow convicted sex offenders to worship. Article on The Christian Post – Read More
Read MoreTN: Bill would define holding hands, kissing as “gateway sexual activity”
Tennessee senators approved an update to the state’s abstinence-based sex education law that includes warnings against “gateway sexual activity.” Full Article
Read MoreCity of Cypress Adopts Punitive Ordinance
The Cypress City Council unanimously adopted a punitive ordinance that would deny the civil rights of registered citizens despite a recommendation from the City Attorney to delay further consideration in order to conduct further research. The City Attorney’s recommendation was consistent with a request from California RSOL that was submitted in writing as well as addressed during the City Council meeting on March 12. In its letter and oral testimony, California RSOL questioned the constitutionality of the proposed ordinance as it pertains to residency restrictions, park bans, hotel stays and…
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