A U.S. Supreme Court justice has rejected Michigan’s request to halt a lower court decision that found the state unconstitutionally put additional restrictions on sex offenders long after their convictions. Justice Elena Kagan denied Tuesday the emergency appeal for a stay. In August, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said changes to Michigan law in 2006 and 2011, which included retroactively restricting sex offenders’ movements near schools, penalize offenders as “moral lepers.” The appeals court denied Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request to block the decision during appeal. So…
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FL: Why are sex offenders allowed online?
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL — More than 70,000 sex offenders live and work in the state of Florida. They are restricted by law as to where they can reside and where they can physically go. This includes being no closer than 1,000 feet to a playground, daycare or school. What many may find surprising is that while sex offenders are restricted in many aspects of their lives, they have essentially free access to roam the Internet. “I don’t think that’s right,” mother Jacqueline Josephs told CBS12. “It’s a shame and parents…
Read MoreOH: Proposed sex offender registry changes would be based on risk
Eight years after Ohio tightened its sex offender registration laws to comply with federal standards, a state committee is considering changes that could make it easier for sex offenders to get off the registry if they no longer are a threat to society. Full Article
Read MoreIA: ACLU to Represent Knoxville Teen in “Sexting” Lawsuit
The ACLU of Iowa announced that it will represent a 14-year-old Knoxville, Iowa, girl who was threatened with criminal charges after texting suggestive photos of herself to a boy. As a result, a local county attorney is threatening her with sexual exploitation of a minor—herself. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Patty Wetterling Speaks at Birchwood City Council Meeting
Submitted by “Robert” – Like most of us registrants here, I come here daily and a select few other websites in the country for my daily news and updates. Yesterday, Florida Action Committee posted (November 10, 2016): Must Watch: Patty Wetterling Speaks at Birchwood City Council Meeting with the comment “It’s incredible to hear Patty Wetterling speak with such tremendous insight and empathy for human-kind (victims and offenders).” This is an incredible video clip because there is so much going on here. As noted by FAC, Patty Wetterling is an…
Read MoreAL: Sex offender billboard raised in ‘Hatfield and McCoy’ neighborhood feud
A feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys is brewing in one Jefferson County neighborhood, where a giant billboard now stands as the latest volley in a battle between a mother of six and a convicted sex offender who lives across the street. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Court upholds decision in Quincy indecent assault case
The state’s highest court has denied the request of a man who sought to withdraw his plea in a Quincy indecent assault case because he wasn’t told about the consequences of having to register as a sex offender. Full Article Decision
Read MoreOH: More than 70 sex offenders are registered to vote at Cleveland schools
While registered sex offenders in the state of Ohio are prohibited from living with 1,000 feet of a school or daycare facility, they are not prohibited from actually entering schools. A News 5 investigation revealed that at least 77 Cleveland sex offenders are registered to vote in the city’s elementary and high schools. Full Article
Read MoreTN: Lawsuit challenges Tennessee sex offender registry
Retroactive enforcement of Tennessee’s sex offender registry law is being challenged in a federal court lawsuit that mimics a separate, successful appeal that led to the nullification of retroactive laws in Michigan. Full Article Complaint
Read MoreTX: A Residence Ban Forced This Family into Homelessness for Almost Two Years
Legislators who advocate restrictions on where those on sex offender registries can live often admit that their real purpose is to get registrants out of town altogether. One city has come closer than any other to making permanent exile a reality: Lewisville, Texas. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Rethinking Nebraska’s sex offender registry
Do all the people on Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registry really need to be there? Do you think we should know the whereabouts of every sex offender in the state? Some people don’t think so. Groundbreaking research at UNO found that most sex offenders do not reoffend. Research showed that putting every sex offender on a public website can lead to harassment and may contribute to conditions that make reoffending more likely. Full Article
Read MoreWA: State Dept. of Corrections finds the term ‘offender’ offensive
OLYMPIA —The state Department of Corrections plans to stop referring to the men and women serving time behind bars as “offenders.” Acting Corrections Secretary Dick Morgan told agency employees in a memo Tuesday the word will be replaced in policies and programs with terms such as “individuals,” “students” or “patients” depending on the circumstances. … The term won’t disappear completely as registered sex offenders will still be identified in that manner. “That won’t change. They will be known as a registered sex offender,” Barclay said. “That is codified in law.”…
Read MoreIL: A setback for First Amendment protection for anonymous speech
Continuing the one-step-forward, one-step-backward pattern that has characterized the cases examining the constitutionality of state sex offender registry statutes, the Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the provisions of the Illinois sex offender statute compelling disclosure of all “Internet identifiers” just a few weeks after the district court in Florida struck down, on First Amendment grounds, a virtually identical provision in the Florida statute. Full Article
Read MoreThree men tried to kill a registered citizen, killed an old lady instead. Tell me again why PFML wants to expand the registry?
Parents For Megan’s Law wants the info of level 1 registrants in NY state to register for longer than 20 AND they publish level 1 info in violation of state law. Here is why this is a bad idea– three vigilante thugs killed an elderly woman and left 13 people homeless by starting a fire in an attempt to kill someone on the registry. None of these killers will be on PFML’s website. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Official – Halloween child sex attacks unlikely
With Halloween only a few days away, Law Director Gregory Hicks made it clear there is not an increased likelihood of registered sex offenders accosting children during this holiday than any other time of the year. A nine-year study released in 2009 in the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers found there is no significant increase in the risk for non-familial child sexual abuse during this holiday period, Hicks said. The vast majority of child sexual abuse cases — more than 80 percent — are done by persons related…
Read MoreMO: State Rep. wants death penalty as option for repeat sex offenders
It’s the one issue in Jefferson City that State Representative Randy Pietzman says nobody likes to talk about. “This is not a popular topic to talk about if you’re just trying to get re-elected,” he said. But that’s not going to stop him from tackling it head on because he says it concerns the safety of every Missouri child. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Sex Offender Registration After Does v. Snyder
The Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in Does v. Snyder, __ F.3d __, 2016 WL 4473231 (6th Cir. 2016), has significant implications for the representation of current registrants who are charged with violating Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), current registrants seeking removal from the sex offender registry or exemptions from certain SORA provisions, defendants currently charged with sex offenses, and defendants in “recapture” cases. While every case is obviously unique, this memo seeks to provide some general guidance to Michigan’s criminal defense bar in the wake of the Does decision.…
Read More“One strike for sex offenders should be enough” – change.org Petition
“The system failed me and my family and I’m going to do whatever it takes to put an end to the psychos running the streets.” – Shasta Groene For anyone living in the Pacific Northwest in May of 2005, the survival story of Shasta Groene is one you could not turn away from. It has now been almost 11 1/2 years since ____ ____ , a sex offender with a long record of assaults on children, abducted Shasta and her brother Dylan from their Idaho home where another brother, Slade,…
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