[Forbes] In Washington as in life, certain roads may be paved with good intentions, but critics of a purportedly well-meaning new bill warn it would lead to major suffering for the very people it’s meant to protect: U.S. teenagers. Last week, the House of Representatives approved H.R.1761, also known as the “Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2017,” which builds on current law that makes teen-to-teen sexting a crime. Reportedly aimed at closing “loopholes” in child pornography legislation, the bill received support from all but two Republican congressmen, Reps. Justin…
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Column: Sex offender restriction about school proximity unnecessary
I applaud the members of the Lewiston City Council for tabling their decision on a sex offender restriction zone to give the matter more thought. This is the kind of issue for somebody who has no stake in the matter that seems obvious. Disallowing sex offenders to live within 750 feet of a school or daycare appears, on the surface, to be a smart move but, upon closer inspection, has no basis in history or science. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Sex offender treatment taking place at Phoenix resort hotel
A Valley behavioral counseling organization announced it will stop holding treatment sessions for sex offenders at a resort hotel, following a CBS 5 Investigation. CBS 5 hidden cameras filmed sex offenders wandering the halls of the Sheraton Crescent Hotel, sitting in the courtyard by the pool and surfing the web on the hotel lobby computers during the counseling session lunch break. Full Article
Read MoreTX: The Cost of Texas’ Sex Offender Registration Program
As of September 1, 2017, the State of Texas had 90,616 registered sex offenders. Sex offender registration has been around a long time in Texas—since 1991, in fact. The state legislature has continually amended or tweaked these programs ever since. For example, the legislature mandated that the public be notified about registered sex offenders in 1995 following the 1993 abduction/murder of seven-year-old Ashley Estell in Plano, Texas. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Sex offender sues ECSO over ‘defamatory’ billboard calling him sexual predator
An inmate is suing the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, claiming one of its billboards mislabeled him as a sexual predator, instead of a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Mass. has lost track of nearly 1,800 sex offenders, audit says
Nearly 1,800 Massachusetts sex offenders did not have a current address on file with the state’s registry, and close to 1,000 of those convicted criminals had not been classified by their likelihood to reoffend, according to an audit released Tuesday by state Auditor Suzanne M. Bump. Full Article
Read MoreMN: The legal fight over Minnesota’s sex offender program could have ramifications throughout the country
A battle started by a handful of sex offenders in Minnesota has mounted into a constitutional debate that could set a new precedent for civil commitment programs across the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide early next week if it plans to dive in and hear a case arguing that the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is unconstitutional. Whether or not they decide to take on the case, the justices’ decision will have ramifications for the 19 states that have similar programs, some of which are dealing with…
Read MoreWhat To Do With Violent Sex Offenders
[themarshallproject.org] If someone finishes a prison sentence for a violent sexual crime, but might still be dangerous, should he be released? How do you know if he’s dangerous? And when does it violate his rights to hold him? On Monday, the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a case that stems from these questions, a challenge to a Minnesota “civil commitment” program that holds people convicted of sexual crimes long after their sentences, ostensibly for treatment. Roughly 20 programs have arisen around the country since 1990, and at first…
Read MoreVA: Virginia Supreme Court wants to hear from lawyers in innocence claim in 40-year-old rape case
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] The Virginia Supreme Court wants to hear from both sides in a DNA-based innocence claim filed by a Chesapeake man who pleaded guilty to a rape that happened 40 years ago. In a brief two-sentence order, the court placed the already unusual and long-running case on its January docket to apparently hear arguments and/or ask questions in the case of Roy L. Watford III, 58, convicted of the Sept. 14, 1977, rape in Portsmouth of a then-12-year-old girl. DNA testing in recent years failed to identify the genetic…
Read MoreWA: Water at sex offender center violates health standards, state records show
Water at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island has repeatedly exceeded standards for various chlorine-related chemicals and been cited for violations dating back to 2006, according to an Associated Press review of state Department of Health records. Full Article Related APNewsBreak: Sex offenders blame island’s water for deaths
Read MoreTX: New law keeps sex offenders out of college dorms
State Rep. John Raney, R-College Station, represents a district flush with college students and considers higher education one of his legislative priorities. So it was “shocking” for him to learn that no Texas law prevented sex offenders from living in campus dorms — and even more upsetting when a constituent came to his office to tell him that at her out-of-state college, she had been forced to live down the hall from a student who had sexually assaulted her the year before. … For one thing, it targets a small…
Read MoreSex offender laws and the 6th Circuit’s Ex Post Facto Clause ruling
I wanted to add a few words to co-blogger Jonathan Adler’s posting about the recent 6th Circuit decision in Doe v. Snyder, in which the court voided application of the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) on the grounds that it imposes retroactive punishment on previously convicted sex offenders in violation of the constitutional prohibition against Ex Post Facto laws. Full Editorial ***this article is from September 2016. Sorry. Moderator*** Snyder v. Doe
Read MoreCO: Weld officials discuss constitutional questions surrounding sex offender registry
From the outside, Robert’s life looks stable. He’s a private contractor who works in equipment financing. He has a home and a dog in Littleton. He dates regularly. In his spare time, he mountain bikes competitively and travels — most recently, he went to Iceland. But he believes his life is fragile. So fragile, in fact, Robert is not his real name; he was so concerned about widespread publicity he only agreed to speak with The Tribune on condition of anonymity. Not long ago, he made a shorter trip, this…
Read MoreWA: Cowlitz County has the highest rate of sex offenders per capita in the state
As the number of registered sex offenders in Cowlitz County grows — and the state rate drops — the county’s rate per capita has become the highest in the state. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Lawmakers keep piling on those convicted of sex crimes
How much is too much? ____ ____ must be asking himself that very question. The on-again, off-again Youngstown State University football player is embroiled in a controversy of his own making. ____ served about 10 months in a juvenile detention facility after he and a high-school teammate were convicted in 2013 of raping a 16-year-old girl. In January, he joined the YSU football team as a nonscholarship walk-on. In August, ____ was informed by university officials that he would be required to sit-out a season. Full Editorial
Read MoreRI: Assembly OKs Bill Alerting Parents to Sex Offenders Living Near Bus Stops
The Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick) and Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) that would mandate the notification of parents of schoolchildren when sex offenders are living near school bus stops. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Why One County Took Its Sex-Offender List Offline
Montrose County, on Colorado’s Western Slope, has pulled its sex-offender list offline, reportedly because of a recent court ruling in which U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch found that such registries constituted cruel and unusual punishment in the case of three plaintiffs. The action was taken despite the fact that the ruling is specific to the complainants in question, rather than everyone on the roster, and Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has announced her intention to appeal. Full Article
Read MoreThe Politics of Defending the Sex-Offender Registry
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch recently ruled that Colorado’s sex-offender registry violates the due-process rights of three plaintiffs, thereby amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. Boulder attorney Alison Ruttenberg, who’s kept the case going for the past four years, lauded this decision because it acknowledged that treating every person on the registry like a violent child predator was patently unfair. But she’s not surprised that Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has announced her intention to appeal the decision, especially given rumors that she’s weighing a run for Colorado governor in 2018. Full Article
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