Category: National

IN: Sex offender questions meaning of ‘obscene’

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[tribstar.com – 11/25/18] When community corrections officers went to check on Nathaniel Bennett, who was serving an in-home sentence for sexual misconduct with a minor, they found a cellphone with videos of a couple having sex. The phone also had what was described as “selfies” of Bennett and about 10 pictures of a nude woman. The contents of the phone violated a court order which barred Bennett from possessing obscene material, prosecutors maintain. Bennett also reportedly failed to make court payments. Marion County Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges removed Bennett…

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UT: Most sex offenders will be released from prison – What Utah corrections is doing to keep you safe

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The sex offender population at the Utah State Prison continues to grow at a staggering pace. In 1996, there were 248 sex offenders incarcerated by the Utah Department of Corrections. Today, there are 10 times that number, in the neighborhood of 2,500 at both the Point of the Mountain and the prison in Gunnison, making it by far the fastest-growing population at the prison. … A Pew study in 2014 found that 31 percent of all inmates in Utah were serving time for a sex offense — a 42 percent…

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TX: Inmate claims God, dead mom, gave him ‘go ahead’ to beat sex-offender cellmate to death: report

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[foxnews.com – 11/17/18] An inmate who allegedly beat to death his cellmate, an accused child molester, earlier this month in a Texas jail said “God and his mother” told him to do it because the man was “Bin Laden,” authorities said. David Faustino Flores, 42, was charged earlier this month with the murder of 76-year-old kiddie-train operator Clinton Don Simpson. Flores allegedly bashed Simpson’s head with dozens of blows against the cell floor and with his fists, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. “My mom said, ‘That’s Bin Laden, so you…

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NC: Process for adding out of state convictions to state registry is unconstitutional

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[floridaactioncommittee.org – 11/23/18] In an opinion entered earlier this month. A North Carolina District Court Judge found the state’s process for adding people to their sex offender registry who had been convicted out of state, was unconstitutional. In this case, the plaintiff’s case was out of Washington State. He moved to North Carolina, where he was originally told he did not have to register, but after moving within North Carolina, was told he did. The decision to place someone on the registry is not made by a judge. It’s made…

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One Criminal-Defense Attorney’s Lament: Scott Greenfield argues that innocents are being sacrificed in the name of utopian causes

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[theatlantic.com – 11/21/18] For more than a decade, the criminal-defense attorney Scott H. Greenfield has been writing about American law and culture at Simple Justice. Among the site’s readers are lawyers, law professors, judges, civil libertarians, and advocates of criminal-justice reform. What keeps me coming back is his zealous advocacy for a consistent set of principles no matter how unpopular their application might be in a given instance. Whether I agree or strongly disagree with where he comes down on a given matter, I can count on his steadfast commitment…

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OK: Some law enforcement worry new, stricter law will discourage sex offenders from registering

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A new law that further tightens restrictions on where sex offenders can live has some law enforcement agencies concerned it will discourage people from registering as offenders. The law, which went into effect on Nov. 1, added home daycares to the list of locations sex offenders cannot live near. Prior to that, state law already prohibited offenders from living near child-friendly areas, ordering them to live 2,000 feet from public and private schools, churches, playgrounds, parks or daycare centers. The law did not apply to home daycares, of which Oklahoma…

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CO: Judge Matsch On SORA: Cut The Crap, It’s Unconstitutional [UPDATED]

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UPDATE: Oral Argument – Thursday, November 15, 2018 – Courtroom III https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/clerk/oral-argument-recordings 9/2/2017: In Millard v. Rankin, an as-applied challenge, Colorado Senior District Judge Richard Matsch rejected the pretty ribbons the legislature wrapped around the Sex Offender Registry Act. Applying the “intents-effects” test to the law, the court held that it was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Full Article

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Is a Categorical Denial of Bail for Accused Sex Offenders Constitutional?

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The Supreme Court will soon consider whether to grant a certiorari petition filed by Arizona, which involves a voter-approved amendment to the Arizona Constitution rendering a defendant categorically ineligible for bail if “the proof is evident or the presumption great” that he committed sexual assault. In a 4-3 divided opinion, the Arizona Supreme Court concluded that this amendment was unconstitutional. Arizona has sought review of that decision. Full Article

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NC: High court weighs if tracking sex offenders reasonable

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North Carolina’s Supreme Court is re-evaluating whether forcing sex offenders to be perpetually tracked by GPS-linked devices, sometimes for the rest of their lives, is justified or a Constitution-violating unreasonable search. The state’s highest court next month takes up the case of repeat sex offender Torrey Grady. It comes three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his case that mandating GPS ankle monitors for ex-cons is a serious privacy concern. Full Article

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Dirty Landlords Openly Discuss How to Remove a Registrant Tenant during a Property Takeover

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[sosen.org –  10/20/2018] One of my associates has recently joined the boring world of land brokerage and has been training for a few months. A couple of days ago she contacted me to notify me of this public forum for the real estate industry called “Bigger Pockets”. A discussion began on October 9th entitled “Inheriting a ‘sexually violent predator against children’ tenant” was stated by a woman buying an apartment complex in IN. A picture with the “#IBelieveSurvivors” slogan was found on her social media page along with links to…

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GA: Georgia sheriff’s office places ‘No Trick-or-Treat’ signs in sex offenders’ yards

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[fox11online.com – 10/30/18] ACKSON, Georgia (WSYX/WTTE) — A Georgia sheriff’s office is placing “No Trick-or-Treat” signs in sex offenders’ yards in an effort to keep children safe. “As Sheriff, there is nothing more important to me than the safety of your children,” said Butts County Sheriff Gary Long. “This Halloween, my office has placed signs in front of every registered sex offender’s house to notify the public that it’s a house to avoid.” Long said Georgia law forbids registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween. That includes decorating their property…

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