Last weekend, legislation that allows smaller cities to enact the same regulations as larger cities on where sex offenders can reside, finally passed both houses of the Texas Legislature. Full Article
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Today’s scarlet letter — the sex offender registry — is risky justice for youth (Commentary)
It was heartbreaking to read recently about Naperville 16-year-old Corey Walgren, who committed suicide following being threatened with sex offender registration for allegedly audiotaping a consensual sexual encounter with a classmate. For those of us who regularly work with youth on the sex offender registry, it also highlighted a truth that we know too well: Placement on the registry is a modern scarlet letter that can lead our young clients to want to take their own lives. Full Commentary Related http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-naperville-north-suicide-lawsuit-20170524-story.html
Read MoreWI: Sex offenders challenge Milwaukee residency restrictions
Six registered sex offenders are suing the City of Milwaukee over an ordinance that virtually bans them from living in the city, arguing the rules violate their constitutional rights. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Brandon middle school students facing felony child pornography charges
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies put the cuffs on two boys and two girls on Friday. All four are facing various child pornography charges. Full Article Corporal Larry McKinnon explains a 12-year-old boy took video of a juvenile victim performing a sex act on him. That defendant then shared the video with a 14-year-old boy who posted it on Instagram. Two other 12-year-old girls also received the video and are also now facing charges.
Read MoreMA: Our view – SJC ruling makes sex offenders ‘invisible’ to the public
____ had already served a lengthy prison sentence for rape when, police say, he posted a fake apartment listing on Craigslist earlier this month, luring a woman to his Swampscott apartment, where he beat and sexually assaulted her. The victim of ‘_’_’s alleged May 3 attack should have been able to learn of his criminal past before meeting him. And his neighbors in Swampscott deserved to know a sexual predator was living nearby. However, thanks to a highly questionable ruling two years ago by the Supreme Judicial Court, no one…
Read MoreNY: Sex offender’s future home goes up in flames amid neighborhood outcry
Residents of a Long Island neighborhood were so afraid that a kiddie-perv teacher was about to move in that someone posted fliers alerting everyone — and on Tuesday, his family’s under-construction home was burned to the ground. Full Article
Read MoreID: Lawsuit over Idaho’s sex-offender registry laws expands to 134 plaintiffs
A lawsuit filed last year by 104 sex offenders challenging Idaho’s laws that require registration and community notification of sex offenders has been expanded to 134 sex offenders. They say the laws violate an array of constitutional rights, from the prohibition on double jeopardy to freedom of religion. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Missouri to remove hundreds of GPS monitoring devices recently put on sex offenders
Hundreds of sex offenders will soon have GPS monitoring devices removed from their ankles after Missouri officials recently required that they wear the bulky devices, according to a preliminary injunction filed in Cole County Circuit Court on Monday. Full Article
Read MoreMN: sex offenders seek to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court
A group of Minnesota sex offenders has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to examine whether the state is violating the Constitution by confining people indefinitely in prison-like treatment centers after they have already completed their criminal sentences. Full Article
Read MoreWeiner will bear weight of sex offender laws he helped pass
… Do you remember those committee hearings you attended on the Adam Walsh Act (a failed attempt to standardize the complexities of sex offender registration)? Hopefully you paid attention, because sex offender registration laws and compliance with such laws are far more complex than simply avoiding sending nude pics via the wrong phone app. You helped make sure that, over the past decade, registration laws became some of the most draconian laws known to man. Full Article Related http://abovethelaw.com/2017/05/anthony-weiner-pleads-guilty-will-have-to-register-as-a-sex-offender/
Read MoreEditorial: Shackling sex offenders for life is no way to administer justice.
Many sex offenders in Missouri are finding themselves shackled for life to the state’s criminal justice system, even though some pleaded guilty or were convicted before a law tethering them to GPS monitoring ankle bracelets existed. The law took effect Jan. 1 but is being applied retroactively to crimes committed on or after Aug. 28, 2006.Full Article
Read MoreMO: Hundreds of Missouri sex offenders now required to wear GPS monitoring devices for life
A sex offender from St. Charles County thought he had moved on with his life after successfully completing five years probation for sending web cam photographs of his genitals to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. Now he’s among hundreds of people in Missouri who are finding out they must attach GPS monitoring systems to their ankles for life, even though such a requirement wasn’t part of their sentencing agreement. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Sex offender castration bill a priority for 2018
State Representative Kevin Skulczyck confirmed on Tuesday that he would like to see chemical castration performed on convicted sex offenders as a form of punishment. He said that the proposal will be on his “Top 5” list of priorities going into next year’s legislative session. Source
Read MoreNC: Rep. Davis co-sponsors bill to charge sex offenders registration fees
Convicted sex offenders would be required to pay a fee to be listed on North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry, under a bill co-sponsored by a New Hanover County lawmaker. Full Article
Read MoreNY: The troubling question of sex offenders driving for ride services (Editorial)
It’s a serious question, and one that deserves serious consideration: With the proliferation of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, and the isolated and unsupervised environments in which they do business, what should be the policy on sex offenders as drivers? Full Article
Read MorePA: Police warning of fake sex offender notification letters
Police in Lawrence County are telling residents to be on the lookout for fake sex offender warnings being circulated. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Pricey polygraph testing of sex offenders under fire as critics target accuracy, expense
Colorado has spent more than $5 million to administer polygraph tests on convicted sex offenders over the last seven years, despite concerns that the results are so unreliable that they can’t be used at trial. Polygraphs, often called lie-detector tests, are used to determine which prisoners convicted of sex offenses are suited for release by probing their sexual history, attitudes about their crimes and whether they are committing new offenses. They also guide how offenders on parole or probation are supervised. But a bipartisan group of legislators has joined offenders…
Read MoreMT: Man receives pardon for 1995 rape conviction against his now wife
A Glasgow man spent years of his life behind bars for a crime even his “victim” says he didn’t commit. ___ ___ met his now wife, ____, back in 1995 when he was 19 and she was 15. Full Article
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