Source: ACSOL A federal district court in Missouri has granted a permanent statewide injunction that prohibits the enforcement of a Halloween sign requirement in that state. As a result of this injunction registrants in Missouri will not be required to post a sign on their home on Halloween. The permanent injunction does not apply, however, to the remaining Halloween restrictions that prohibit registrants from giving candy to children, decorate or their homes or leave on porch lights that day. Any registrant who violates those prohibitions could be convicted of a…
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MI: Federal judge rules on ACLU lawsuit over Michigan’s sex offender registry
Source: detroitnews.com 10/1/24 A federal judge in Detroit has ruled parts of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act are unconstitutional, ACLU officials of Michigan said Monday. It said the decision will affect tens of thousands of people and follows two recent rulings by the Michigan Supreme Court, as well as numerous federal court decisions dating back to 2013. Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled on a lawsuit the ACLU filed in February 2022 on behalf of several Michigan sex offenders over the state law, which was first passed in…
Read MoreNJ: N.J. S. Ct. Will Decide Whether Journalist May Publish Police Chief’s Home Address
Source: reason.com 9/26/24 The N.J. intermediate appellate court held such publication wasn’t protected by the First Amendment law; the state high court just agreed to reconsider that. The question presented is, Is Daniel’s Law, N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1 and N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1, which prohibits disclosing the home addresses of certain public officials, including judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel, unconstitutional as applied to plaintiff? Here’s an excerpt of the lower court opinion, Kratovil v. City of New Brunswick: Read the full article
Read MoreKS: Kansas Supreme Court affirms police conduct allegedly ‘akin to a psychological rubber hose’
Source: newsfromthestates.com 9/23/24 The Kansas Supreme Court reversed a Saline County judge’s decision to suppress a confession despite exaggerated claims by detectives that a computer voice stress test was 100% accurate and proved a defendant lied about his innocence in an alleged sexual abuse case. A split state Supreme Court affirmed the 2022 conclusion of the Kansas Court of Appeals that an earlier decision by Saline County Judge Jared Johnson incorrectly ruled Phillip Jason Garrett’s confession was coerced by Salina Police Department detectives in violation of 5th and 14th amendments…
Read MoreCyber Technology in Federal Crime
Source: United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) 9/18/24 There has been little analysis on the individuals sentenced for a federal offense who used cyber technology for illegal purposes. In developing this report, the Commission collected information on individuals sentenced for offenses using cryptocurrency, the dark web, and hacking for fiscal years 2014 through 2021. This report provides demographic and sentencing information for those individuals who used at least one of three types of cyber technology during their offenses—hacking, cryptocurrency, and the dark web—along with the types of offenses committed using these…
Read MoreAppeals court upholds sex crimes conviction of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
Source: abc7.com 9/17/24 A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday upheld the sex crimes conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associated of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Ghislaine, in March, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and grooming the underage girls who Epstein sexually abused, arguing she was immunized by an agreement federal prosecutors in Florida arranged with Epstein in 2007. On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that Maxwell was not covered by…
Read MoreTX: The ‘Lights Out’ program makes trick-or-treating safer by rounding up sex offenders
Source: msn.com/KTXS Halloween is rapidly approaching and a top priority for parents is keeping their children safe. For over 20 years Taylor County has hosted a program called Lights Out to make trick-or-treating safer. “Everyone that’s on probation who is a sex offender they have to come that night from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.,” Rikki Flores said. “Doesn’t matter what day Halloween is on they are required to be here during those hours.” The licensed sexual offender treatment provider said approximated 140 sex offenders will be at the Taylor…
Read MoreWA: Washington Prisoner’s Sentence Vacated After Attorney Calls and Visits Were Recorded
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 8/15/24 On January 23, 2024, the Washington Court of Appeals sent the case of a state prisoner back to the trial court that convicted him of second-degree domestic violence rape and assault, finding the counts must be dismissed or retried because officials at the jail where he was detained pretrial eavesdropped on his privileged communications with his attorney. In its ruling, the Court reaffirmed that when a state actor violates a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel by breaching the attorney-client privilege, prejudice is presumed and the state…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona DOC Agrees to Pay $2,650,000 in Legal Fees and Costs in Long-Running PLN Censorship Suit
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 8/15/24 On May 3, 2024, Arizona’s Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a federal censorship lawsuit brought by PLN’s publisher,the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC). Under the agreement, DOC paid $2,650,000 to cover HRDC’s attorneys’ fees and expenses in connection with the successful litigation, the largest such award in a prison censorship case in U.S. history. Until 2014, DOC prisoners routinely received issues of PLN. That year, however, DOC began to censor numerous issues for “sexually explicit material” that violated its mail policy; the articles in question, however, merely…
Read MoreSextortion Scammers Try to Scare People by Sending Photos of Their Homes
Source: 404media.co 9/3/24 A new email-based sextortion scheme is making the rounds recently, claiming to have evidence of its targets “venturing into the darker corners of cyberspace” and threatening to release videos of you jerking off. The emails 404 Media has viewed—from readers and friends who’ve been targeted—contain the person’s full name, address, and phone number in the body of the email, an attached PDF that contains a photo of the person’s street (likely screenshotted from Google Maps), and a lengthy letter claiming that they’ve been watched through their webcam.…
Read MoreGA: Newton Sheriff’s Office Debuts QR Code for Sex Offender Registry
Source: rockdalenewtoncitizen.com 8/30/24 COVINGTON — The Newton County Sheriff’s Office has introduced a new way for the public to access the Newton County Sex Offender Registry. The NCSO debuted the new feature Aug. 22 at its annual meeting with the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. The meeting is held each year to discuss updates and strategies related to sex offenders. This year’s meeting focused on monitoring homeless sex offenders and strengthening communication between law enforcement agencies. The NCSO presented a QR code system that will be available on all physical…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota Sex Offender Program marks 30 years of failure and injustice
Source: minnesotareformer.com 8/30/24 As Minnesota marks 30 years of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this week, let’s think of its true impact: a waste of vast resources under the guise of public safety. MSOP supposedly provides residential treatment after prison for those convicted of sex crimes deemed too dangerous to release into the public, but it is actually an unconstitutional nightmare — a life sentence based on what someone might do. MSOP was never meant to be a permanent solution, but the reality is most of the more than 700…
Read MoreAL: Bill would prohibit sex offenders from serving as first responders
Source: aldailynews.com 8/29/24 Convicted sex offenders could not be first responders under legislation pre-filed in the Alabama Legislature. State law already prohibits sex offenders from working in schools, child care centers or other businesses that cater primarily to children. Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, said the law needs to be amended to cover first responders, including those at volunteer fire departments. “Without (this legislation) for that particular offender, we are basically opening the door and saying, you’re a first responder, if there’s a medical need, you can go into this day…
Read MoreWatchdog: FBI continues to fail child sex abuse victims despite reforms after bungled Nassar investigation
Source: kcra.com 8/29/24 WASHINGTON —The FBI has continued to mishandle allegations of child sexual abuse in the years after the bureau’s notorious bungling of the investigation into disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, according to an audit by the Justice Department’s inspector general released Thursday. Because of those failures, allegations of sexual abuse against children were left unaddressed for months while minors continued to be victimized, the audit found. The audit followed up on issues that the department’s top watchdog identified as part of its scathing investigation into how the…
Read MoreOR: Accused child molester’s conviction overturned because judge wouldn’t remind jury that he was innocent until proven guilty
Source: oregonlive.com 8/26/24 A Washington County judge’s attempt at saving time by declining to read aloud a lengthy set of legal principles to a jury — including that the defendants are presumed innocent unless they are proven guilty — has prompted the Oregon Court of Appeals to throw out a man’s convictions for repeatedly sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl. In reversing the convictions and 50-year prison sentence of 35-year-old Derek ___, the Appeals Court said it was recognizing the “Extreme importance” that jurors understand the “fundamental constitutional” rules at play…
Read MoreAZ: I sent an Arizona man to prison for 290 years. His case still haunts me
Source: azcentral.com 8/26/24 I sent plenty of people to prison during my career as a judge. Now I’m working to get one man out, and not because I think he’s innocent. I participated in hundreds of sentencing hearings in my 44-year career as a prosecutor and as a judge. Most of the sentences imposed were within the range I thought reasonable given the crime committed and the defendant’s background. Occasionally, the law mandated an excessive sentence, which I had to impose. By far the most egregious example of an excessive…
Read MoreACSOL National Action Alert: Lend your support to H.R.2899 Second Chance Reauthorization Act
Source: bop.gov [from p2a.co:] For formerly incarcerated individuals, reentering society is filled with uncertainties. Those include gaining access to life’s basic needs like housing and a career, proven ways to ensure they don’t return to prison. But too often, they are unable to take advantage of what is offered to others without a criminal record and end up back behind bars, adding more costs to taxpayers. The Second Chance Reauthorization Act aims to give those who have served their time a leg up. It would extend vital reentry grant programs…
Read MoreNY: Third County Sex Offender Registration Decision Overturned
Source: observertoday.com 8/20/24 A third designation of a sexually violent offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act in Chautauqua County has been reversed upon appeal. Fourth Department Appellate Division judges reversed their third such case in three months in late July. Once again, the case cites precedent the court set in a June case involving a decision made by Judge David Foley – though similar cases haven’t yet begun to spring up from other courts in the Eighth Judicial District. In the July case, a person pleaded guilty in a…
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