On the morning of July 5th, a white van left Fox Lake Correctional Institution. In the back, ____ ____, a Milwaukee man with a history of sex crimes. As a young man in the late ’80s, he had sex with two teenage girls; in the mid-’90s, forceful sexual assaults on adult women. After 22 years in prison, he’s getting out, his time served. No one wants a sex offender like ____ ____ living next door to them, and it’s certainly understandable. Municipalities across the state have codified this with ordinances that restrict where…
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FL: Sex Offender Fights Removal From Hospice
A Florida city’s sex-offender law faces scrutiny in litigation over whether a wheelchair-bound former doctor, convicted of patient abuse in the 1980s, should be forced out of a hospice due to its proximity to a school. A Palm Beach County court petition filed Aug. 31 claims ____ ____, a hospice patient with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease, has been threatened with arrest if he does not move out of Heartland of Boynton Beach, a nursing home near a local preschool. The City of Boynton Beach purportedly issued a notice to ____ and the…
Read MoreNC: New law bans sex offenders from fairs
Friday, the Cabarrus County fair celebrates it’s opening night. The fair runs through September 17 featuring rides, fair foods, a petting zoo and exhibit hall. But one thing you shouldn’t see this year: registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Supreme Court asked to reinstate no-bail law for some sex offenses
Prosecutors are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to reinstate a law that allows some people accused of sexual abuse of minors to be held without bail. Deputy Maricopa County Attorney David Cole said the constitutional provision limiting access to bail was adopted by voters in 2002. He said the state Court of Appeals, in overturning the law enacted by lawmakers to implement that amendment, failed to give “due consideration to the overwhelming will of the people.” Full Article
Read MoreMA: Judge says sex offender’s right to due process trumps public safety
In a recent ruling, a Superior Court judge said that concerns for public safety cannot trump a sex offender’s right to due process, FOX25 Investigates has learned. On Aug. 16, Salem Superior Court judge Timothy Feeley, found the Sex Offender Registry Board violated one sex offender’s constitutional right to due process. His status as a level two sex offender was published on the internet on the same day he was classified, before he could file an appeal. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Sex offender laws and the 6th Circuit’s Ex Post Facto Clause ruling
The Volokh Conspiracy: 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 Related MI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
Read MoreCO: Three sex offenders lose round in court
U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore on Aug. 30 denied a motion for a temporary restraining order, meaning Englewood can continue to enforce its sex-offender residency restrictions for now. However, he did agree to hear evidence in a Sept. 28 court session on the request for a preliminary injunction that would halt enforcement of the residency restriction. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Homeless sex offenders still face 72-hour reporting despite 2006 rule change
PHOENIX – A court ruling says an Arizona law intended to make it practical for homeless people to register as sex offenders only goes so far. Full Article
Read MoreJacob Wetterling, Found at Last – R.I.P.
The remains of Jacob Wetterling have been found in Minnesota. Jacob was abducted in 1989 at age 11 in a case that scared, scarred and deeply saddened people around the globe. As his mother Patty texted to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Saturday: “Our hearts are broken. We have no words.” Full Article
Read MoreMO: Doniphan men accused of killing sex offender, burning his body
DONIPHAN, Mo. — Two Doniphan men were charged Tuesday night after authorities say they admitted they shot a sex offender to death and burned his body in April. Matthew Brandon Bruce, 29, and Michael G. “Mick” Harris, 59, were charged Tuesday with the first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse. Full Article
Read MoreNC: North Carolina Kicks Sex Offenders Out of Libraries, Parks, and Fairs
A new sex offender law took effect in North Carolina on Thursday, restricting offenders’ freedom of movement and association by barring them from libraries, recreational parks, pools, and fairs. The law is designed to replace a previous measure that a federal court ruled unconstitutional in April. It will do nothing to stop sex crimes while continuing to isolate, penalize, and ostracize fully rehabilitated offenders who are attempting to rejoin society. Full Editorial
Read MoreMI: Politics & Prejudices – How about a financial offender list?
How’s this idea: The government starts a financial offenders’ list that includes every slumlord who has ever been convicted of code violations. We add to that all the subprime mortgage scum who almost destroyed our economy. Full Editorial Related MI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
Read MoreJudges Are Starting to Question Overzealous Sex-Offender Laws
There’s a stark divide between lawmakers and experts when it comes to laws which restrict where registered sex offenders can live. Cities and states all around the country have enthusiastically banned offenders from living too close to schools — and introduced other, similarly oriented restrictions — on the grounds that such legislation is a common-sense way to help keep kids safe. Experts, on the other hand, have insisted that these laws at the very least don’t reduce recidivism, and could have the opposite of the intended effect, increasing the odds…
Read MoreThe 6th Circuit Finally Said The Magic Word: Punitive
Of the many legal fictions enjoyed by judges, few have done as much damage to as many people as calling sex offender registries “regulatory.” The trick is that if it’s characterized as regulatory, then it’s not punitive. And if it’s punitive, then it opens a whole slew of constitutional rights that would render the concept unlawful. But if legislators squint and write the “r” word instead of the “p” word, and judges squint and agree, problem solved! Full Editorial
Read MoreMN: 26-year-old is cleared for unconditional release from MSOP
A Minnesota court has ordered the first-ever full and unconditional discharge from Minnesota’s sex offender treatment program, choosing a young man who has spent the past six years in state confinement solely for sexual acts he committed as a child. Full Article
Read MoreNC: Gap in N.C. law allows sex offenders near schools, day cares
On Sept. 1, a registered sex offender will be breaking the law if he continues to work at a car repair shop that sits within 300 feet of the Boys & Girls Club of Cumberland County and a day-care center. A state law takes effect that day prohibiting sex offenders from being near places where children “frequently congregate” – including schools, parks, arcades and day care centers – when minors are present. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
UPDATED with media links – Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit held that recent amendments to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) are unconstitutional because they impose retroactive punishment on sex offenders in violation of the Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws. Among other things, the plaintiffs argued that amendments to Michigan’s SORA increased the severity of its requirements after their convictions imposed retroactive punishment. In John Does #1-5 v. Snyder, the Sixth Circuit agreed. Full Article Decision Statement of Facts Oral Argument Related Media Articles Federal…
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade Sex Offender Homeless Encampment Reaches 250 People
The shame of Miami-Dade has reached a new level. The encampment of homeless sex offenders living alongside the railroad tracks on the street corner in a warehouse district in Miami-Dade county has reached two hundred fifty people. Full Article
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