A Springfield Township man filed a federal lawsuit challenging Ohio’s sex offender parole law as unconstitutional because it forbids him from seeing his 14-year-old son. Full Article Related https://reason.com/blog/2018/07/30/sex-offender-status-prevents-dad-from-se
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HI: Dozens of sex predators registered as living in Oahu parks
Hawaii’s sex offender registry is meant to keep people safe by requiring convicted sex criminals to submit their address to an online database. On the site, the public can check to see if a sex offender lives nearby. But a Hawaii News Now investigation has revealed some alarming gaps in the system, including vague addresses and dozens of convicted sex predators living places where you hope children can be safest. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Critics say pardons will give sex offenders access to schools
[timesunion.com – 7/24/18] ALBANY — Schools are generally off-limits for sex offenders, but not when it comes times to vote. A carveout in the state’s criminal trespass laws allows sex offenders to enter a school for the specific purpose of voting, including school district votes and other government elections, where the school is the polling site. The issue has jumped into the public’s consciousness as the result of outcry by some Republicans about conditional pardons recently issued by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that could speed up the restoration of voting…
Read MoreICE arrests 2K child predators, skit compares it to ISIS
[onenewsnow.com – 7/23/18] ICE arrests 2After comedian Michelle Wolf compared the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Islamic terrorist group ISIS on a parody video, former ICE Director Thomas Homan condemned the skit and pointed out how the agency has “arrested over 2,000 child predators,” along with thousands of other depraved criminals. Joining the ICE attack bandwagon Wolff – who hosts her weekly Netflix show The Break with Michelle Wolf – mocked ICE while impersonating the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in the mock recruiting…
Read MoreHouse Judiciary Committee Falsely Claims Credit For Stopping 90% Of All Sex Trafficking Because Of FOSTA
[techdirt.com – 7/24/18] For no clear reason at all, the Republicans* on the House Judiciary Committee released a video on YouTube earlier this week praising themselves for stopping online sex trafficking via FOSTA/SESTA. It’s… quite something. The video makes a number of blatantly false claims from various members of the House Judiciary, but let’s focus mainly on the claims of Ann Wagner, whose original bill kicked off the process that became FOSTA/SESTA. She’s been spreading moral panic nonsense about sex trafficking and the internet for ages, so it’s no surprise…
Read MoreMA: Board wants Cosby deemed a sexually violent predator
[bostonherald.com – 7/25/18] Disgraced comic icon Bill Cosby will have to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts if he returns to his sprawling Shelburne Falls estate — and state and local authorities say they will be watching for him, the Herald has learned. Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board recommended to a judge yesterday that Cosby be declared a “sexually violent predator.” But the 81-year-old comedian’s conviction April 26 on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in Philadelphia is sufficient for Massachusetts authorities to require him to register here if…
Read MoreME: Strong board grapples with sex-offender housing limits
[sunjournal.com – 7/21/18] STRONG — Selectmen are facing a request from townspeople to prohibit registered sex offenders from living in specific areas of town. The request was made after a group of people alerted town officials that a resident at Valley Brook housing on Main Street is a lifetime registrant on the Sex Offender Registry. The housing complex is next to Strong Elementary School. “I had some members of the public with some concerns that there’s no sex offenders ordinance here in town,” Selectman Rodney Spiller said at a recent…
Read MorePA: Judge upends sex offender registration
WEST CHESTER >> A Common Pleas Court judge has ruled that a West Goshen man convicted of forcing himself sexually on a sleeping woman will not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In an order signed July 10, Judge Anthony Sarcione found that the law that defendant ____ ____ was required to report to state police as a sex offender was unconstitutional. He said the law, the Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), violated the fundamental right to reputation under the state…
Read MoreMO: Is your neighbor a convicted sex offender? Hundreds are missing in Jackson County
Jackson County has more convicted sex offenders than any county in Missouri. And hundreds of them are unaccounted for, posing a serious threat to public safety. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Detectives track down unregistered sex offenders
In a subterranean office at the Charles “Bud” Meeks Center for Justice, a small band of Allen County Sheriff’s Department detectives spend hours tracking convicted sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Aging sex offenders on McNeil Island needed 557 medical trips last year
Serving the medical needs of an aging population civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island means more doctor appointments and costs. The off-island trips for care, for a time, were starting to mean a decline in actual sex-offender treatment. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Sex offender residency restriction dropped by council
An ordinance that would have banned convicted/registered sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school or child care facility in York was given a second public reading and then dropped for good. Full Article
Read MoreAR: Convicted Sex Offenders: Serving Full Sentences Rather Than Getting Out Early on Parole
[nwahomepage.com – 7/17/18] BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KFTA) — Benton County detectives say more convicted sex offenders are choosing to serve their entire sentences than get out early on parole. “We have more people going flat now in prison than coming out so they’re not on paper,” said Detective Paul Newell. Two detectives at the Benton County Sheriff’s office dedicate their time solely to tracking and checking up with sex offenders. Detective Newell says many sex offenders are eligible for parole after serving 1/6 of their time in jail, but now many…
Read MoreIs it an unconstitutional taking of property without just compensation to require sex offenders to move away from their home if a school, etc is established near their home after their initial occupation?
In Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections,653 S.E.2d 740 (Ga. 2007), the Georgia Supreme Court held that a state statute prohibiting registered sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of any facility where minors congregate, see Ga. Code Åò42-1-15, constituted a taking of property as applied to a sex offender who was forced to move after a child care center opened a facility within 1,000 feet of his home. … The Seventh Circuit just came to the opposite conclusion in an opinion written by Judge Diane S. Sykes.…
Read MoreWI: Here’s why it’s time to reconsider sex offender residency restrictions
[kenoshanews.com – 7/12/18] Nicholas Fitzpatrick is now homeless. After serving time for sexual assault — he pleaded guilty to having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend when he was 17 — Fitzpatrick hoped to move into a home in Trevor. However, that home is less than 1,000 feet from a tiny park known as Jason’s Pond, and that runs afoul of Salem Lakes’ sex offender residency rules. So he appealed to the Village Board for an exemption. Several relatives and residents spoke on his behalf. Fitzpatrick told the board he earned…
Read MoreOH: Ohio House bill offers 2nd chance to teenagers caught sexting
[wcpo.com – 7/14/18] CINCINNATI — The punishment for teenagers caught sharing sexually explicit images could be lessened in Ohio. A House bill would allow first-time offenders who are 18 or younger a chance to have their charges dismissed upon completion of a program that explains the impact of sexting. Through the program, teens would review relevant laws, examine how sharing explicit material affects personal relationships and learn about the longevity of content posted online. Such diversion programs already are in use in some counties, but the proposed legislation would require…
Read MoreMI: Courts deemed Michigan’s sex offender registry unconstitutional. Two years later, nothing’s changed
[michiganradio.org – 7/14/18] The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the state of Michigan over its handling of the state’s sex offender registry. In 2016, the 6th Circuit Court ruled that aspects of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry Act, SORA, were unconstitutional. The court’s opinion specifically noted portions of the act which allowed the state to retroactively impose punishments on individuals without due process. The state of Michigan appealed the circuit court’s ruling, sending Does vs Snyder to the U.S. Supreme Court. In October 2017, the Supreme Court decided not to…
Read MoreIL: 7th Circuit Upholds Illinois Residency Restrictions
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld residency restrictions adopted by the state of Illinois that prohibit anyone convicted of a sex offense involving a minor from living within 500 feet of a school, playground, child-care center, child day-care home and group day-care home. According to the decision, which was issued on July 11, the restrictions can even be applied to individuals who are no longer required to register as a sex offender. The circuit court rejected arguments in the case that the residency restrictions violated the ex post…
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