Category: National

WA: He spent 9 years on McNeil Island without his day in court

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____ had spent more than a year in the Yakima County Jail when he filed an Alford plea — not admitting the crime but conceding he likely would be convicted — on a second-degree attempted kidnapping charge. “I was told that I was going to be released the day I was processed,” he said. Instead, he spent the next nine years at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, without ever having a civil commitment trial or being convicted of a violent sexual offense. Full Article

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OK: Closing sex offender loophole

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Legislation has been filed seeking to close a loophole in Oklahoma statutes allowing sex offenders to live next door or near their victims. House Bill 1124, by Rep. Kyle Hilbert and Sen. James Leewright, seeks to change Oklahoma statutes to include the residency of the victim of a sex crime to the list of places that have a “zone of safety” around them. In Oklahoma law, the “zone of safety” is a 500-foot area around places that sex offenders are not allowed to loiter. However, the zone around a victim’s…

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AL: As some states reconsider sex-offender registries, an Alabama resident argues the state’s for-life requirements are too much

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A lawsuit before a federal appeals court may have broad implications for Alabama’s sex offender laws, which some critics claim are the harshest in the United States. Montgomery resident Michael McGuire is suing the state of Alabama for relief from the residency restrictions, travel limits, sex offender registration and other punishments that accompany a conviction of a sexual offense. The case is before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Full Article

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OH: Overhaul could drop thousands from sex offender registry

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Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an expensive effort with little benefit to the public. Full Article

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OR: New law means life sentences for second-strike sex offenders

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Repeat rapists and certain sex offenders can now be given a “two strikes and you’re out” ticket to life in prison under a bill recently passed by the Oregon Legislature. Senate Bill 1050 imposes presumptive sentences for those convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy or first-degree unlawful sexual penetration if the defendant has been previously convicted of those crimes or an equivalent federal offense. Full Article

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