A federal appeals court has granted a full stay of a judge’s order requiring changes to Minnesota’s sex offender program. Full Article
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SCOTUS declines to hear Ex-Post Facto case
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a registered citizen the opportunity to further challenge whether a registration law applied to him retroactively violates the Constitution. As a result, the Court will not hear the case and his legal challenge to that law has ended. At issue was whether the retroactive application of a sex offender program violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution where the program imposes numerous onerous obligations and restrictions upon a registrant for life, with no opportunity to terminate registration even upon a…
Read MoreTX: A first – visiting judge in Texas frees violent sex offender
HOUSTON (AP) — A visiting judge in Conroe has ordered, for the first time, the full release of a violent sex offender from the Texas civil commitment program. Reiter ruled that keeping May in the program would be unconstitutional. The state plans an appeal. Full Article
Read MoreNC: Officials say Brunswick sex offender court, while controversial, works
BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Southeastern North Carolina became the home of what officials there think is the first sex offender accountability and rehabilitation court program in the state after Ola Lewis noticed a trend in her Superior Court courtroom. Lewis, the senior resident Superior Court judge for Brunswick County, considered starting the court after several sex offenders came into her courthouse for violating the terms of their probation — namely not attending court-mandated treatment, which can cost about $40 a week. Full Article
Read MoreCO: DA – No charges in school sexting scandal
CANON CITY — The district attorney will not file charges against 106 students identified as participating in swapping 351 nude or questionable photos of their classmates following a month-long investigation into a sexting case. Full Article
Read MoreOR: Law could make sex offender data more accessible
There are 115 sex offenders registered in Baker County but only one will show up in a search of the Oregon State Police’s website. … The reason for the lack of information about registered sex offenders online is the result of Oregon law that prior to January 2014 limited OSP’s authority to list sex offenders on public websites to only those deemed “predatory” by the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision. The new system, which will evaluate and place sex offenders at Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3…
Read MoreAZ: Valley couple opens home to sex offenders, neighbors
MESA, Ariz. – A valley couple is opening their home to registered sex offenders and it’s an idea that has many of their neighbors up in arms. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: GV prison designated for sex offenders
KINGMAN — One of two units at the privately run prison in Golden Valley will house only sex offenders in the near future. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Older teens not the only ones caught sexting
The young couple had dated a year and a half when their relationship was exposed. He was 15 and she was 14, and they were exchanging nude pictures and videos of themselves through their cellphones. But the private exchanges would not stay confidential. Earlier this year, Bellevue school officials found images on the boy’s phone. Then Bellevue police got involved, carrying out a search warrant to go through the teen’s phone over a concern about Child Pornography. Full Article
Read MoreFlorida Sex Offender story moves to New York stage
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Travis Russ says his decision to come to the tiny town of Pahokee draws a common response from natives. “Why would you come to Pahokee? Who comes to Pahokee?” It’s a legitimate question. And the answer is: mostly sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreNH: Sex offender at center of Supreme Court case accused of failing to register online account
A Manchester man with disabilities who has petitioned for years to get off the state’s public sex offender registry, and who won the chance this year to argue his case in court, has been arrested, accused of failing to disclose an online account. ____ ____, 66, was detained Wednesday and charged with one count of failure to register, a felony. A police detective told the Union Leader he had created a Facebook account, but did not elaborate. Full Article Related NH: 850 convicted sex offenders eligible to petition to get…
Read MoreMN: Reforms to state sex offender program suspended by appeals court
The state of Minnesota won a round in court Thursday, when a federal appeals panel suspended a judge’s order that would have required prompt changes to the state’s troubled sex offender program. In October U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ordered the state to revamp the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), including changes that could lead to the accelerated release of sex offenders. On Thursday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative stay of Frank’s order; it remains in effect while the appellate panel considers the state’s request…
Read MoreFL: 40 people have no place to go after homeless camp vacated
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — After it was discovered a handful of sex offenders were among about 40 people living in tents on a piece of property in Kissimmee, the property owner told them they had to leave. Most of the homeless people evicted from the property along Old Vineland Road have no place to go, and the city of Kissimmee and Osceola County have no help to offer. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Supreme Court Rules Amended Sex Offender Registration Law Ex Post Facto
On July 12, 2013, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a bill requiring the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) to amend registry requirements for defendants classified as level two and level three sex offenders, under G.L. c.6, §§ 178D and 178K. Level two offenders are deemed only a moderate risk for reoffending, and prior to the new law, the Board was barred from publishing those offenders’ registry information online. Lawmakers deliberately sought to change that policy, and enacted a law that allowed the Board to retroactively post on…
Read MoreFL: FATSA Recommendations on the Florida Registry
The Florida Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers submitted a report to the Florida Legislatures Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) making several evidence-based recommendations for Florida’s Sex Offender Registry System. Full Article
Read MorePA: Kane appoints special prosecutor to unravel PornGate
Pennsylvanians have already suffered the indignity of learning that judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials have used state computer systems to exchange pornographic, racist and misogynistic emails. Now, state taxpayers will pick up the bill for a team of special prosecutors hired to sort out the sordid details of PornGate. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Proposed law would require sex offender signs [updated with approval]
GONZALES — The Gonzales City Council approved an ordinance at Tuesday night’s regular monthly meeting requiring registered sex offenders within the city limits to post signs in their yard alerting everyone to their crime. Though councilmen were quick to move forward with the motion, it took several more minutes to explain what the law could actually do. City Manager Allen Barnes started by stating that several cities in the area have passed similar ordinances and said the law has been upheld by the courts. The ordinance would require registered sex…
Read MoreMA: State lawmakers consider changes to the sex offender registry
BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The state legislature’s Committee on the Judiciary is taking a closer look at the Sex Offender Registry Board. Right now, the public only has access to information on level two and level three sex offenders. State Representative Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) wants to make information on level one sex offenders available to those who request it from their local police stations. Full Article
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