The Missouri Constitution currently bars testimony that past acts show propensity — that the accused is likely guilty of the same crime again. Amendment 2 would alter that rule in cases involving child sexual abuse, including allowing testimony about crimes that were never charged. Full Article
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PA: Megan’s Law mandate unfairly punishes offenders, court rules
[Updated with Decision] Some of Pennsylvania’s latest sex offender registration requirements run afoul of a constitutional ban on laws that create new penalties for people who have already paid for their crimes, the Commonwealth Court has ruled. The panel of seven Commonwealth Court judges also found, however, that requiring sex offenders to reveal their email addresses and other online aliases is not a violation of the First Amendment right to anonymous speech. Full Article Decision: http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/214MD13_10-14-14.pdf
Read MoreMaking money off sex offender information
NEW BLOOMFIELD — How much money would you pay to know if any sex offenders live in your area? Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Kids Live Safe charges its subscribers $29.97 per month, or $59.88 per year, to tell them where registered sex offenders live in relation to their houses, schools or other places they frequent. Users can set up email alerts for up to four addresses, install filters to monitor their children’s online activity, and create profiles of their children to give to law enforcement if their children ever disappear. Full…
Read MoreNY: Judge rules on difficulty for sex offenders to live in Brooklyn
Forcing sex offenders to stay 1,000 feet away from schools, playgrounds and daycare centers if they were convicted before that state law was enacted is unconstitutional, a new Brooklyn Supreme Court ruling has found. Full Article Also see: Devine v Annucci (decision)
Read MoreIA: Change to Custody Law Regarding Sex Offenders
2012 – A new law tells judges in custody cases to consider if a parent let a child be around a sex offender. The change in Iowa custody law took effect July 1, 2012. It adds to the long list of factors a judge can consider to decide what custody arrangement is in the best interest of a child. The new law allows the judge to consider if a parent let someone have custody, control or unsupervised access to a child while knowing the person is required to register as…
Read MoreKS: Wichita school district completes installation of visitor security system
By Monday, all Wichita public schools will have the new Hall Pass security system, which scans visitors’ driver’s licenses and checks them against a sex-offender database. This summer, the Wichita school board voted to spend up to $200,000 to install scanners and related equipment at all 91 school buildings and train employees to use them. Schools have been installing the system at a rate of about one high school feeder pattern per week. Full Article
Read MoreAnti-Airbnb Coalition Creates Map to Find Nearby Sex Offenders in NYC
ShareBetter, the anti-Airbnb campaign in New York City, launched a tool Monday that allows short-term renters to search neighborhoods in the city for sex offenders and building code violations. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Judge Finds State Limits on Sex Offender Moves Illegal
A judge has found the state’s 2005 restrictions on sex offender movement violate constitutional bans on retroactive punishment when applied to a man convicted of sexual abuse in 2002 and effectively banished him from many parts of Brooklyn as a result. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Lewis determined that Executive Law §259-c(14)—which forbids sentenced offenders from “knowingly entering into” publicly accessible areas within 1,000 feet of school grounds and other institutions where minors are present—violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution in the case of ____ ____, convicted…
Read MorePA: ‘Deplorable’ sex offender’s crime could be considered worse than murder, prosecutor says
With a sentence of 23 to 46 years in prison, sex offender ____ ____ will be incarcerated longer than some murderers. But in a sense, his crime is worse than murder, according to a prosecutor. … “I say involuntary deviate sexual intercourse is worse than murder because you’ve got to live with it,” (Assistant District Attorney Pat) Broscius said. “When you’re murdered, you’re dead.” Full Article
Read MoreNY: Editorial – Monitoring sex offenders
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli fears municipalities across the state are not insistent enough that convicted sex offenders follow post-release laws about notifying police where they are living. In our specific region, this does not appear to be a valid complaint. Once convicted, most felons serve their time and generally are released with the understanding that they’ve paid for their crime. Not so with sex offenses, however. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Landlord Bucks Trend, Offers Housing to Sex Offenders
Laws that restrict where sex offenders can live when they are released from prison leave many homeless, but one south Florida apartment manager is providing housing opportunities by leasing apartments to offenders on liberal terms. “I just believe that everybody deserves a second chance,” said Pamela Eaton, the manager of Fairfield Apartments in south Fort Myers. She indicated her goal is to help sex offenders become independent and productive citizens, “because everybody makes mistakes.” She considers post-release housing one step in that direction. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Mom Upset Sex Offender Allowed Near Kids in Pee Wee Football League
SHEPHERD, TX (KTRK) — A San Jacinto County mother says she couldn’t believe it when she saw a man she considered an assistant coach on her five-year-old son’s pee-wee football team listed online as a sex offender. “I was shocked. I was very upset, very angry. There’s really not a word for it,” she says. “My son’s five years old, this man’s out here on the field with my son, and for no one to notify me of it before I sign my son up or before they sign the…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona’s Naked Photo Law Makes Free Speech a Felony
Which of the following could land you a felony conviction in Arizona? Showing images of naked prisoners tortured at Abu Ghraib; Linking to the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of “Napalm Girl,” showing an unclothed Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack; Sharing a close-up photo of a woman’s breast with a breastfeeding support group; Waving a friend over to see a cute naked baby pic — like the one you see on this page. Unfortunately, the answer is all of the above. That’s because Arizona recently passed a law that…
Read MoreMA: Outraged Mom, Allegedly Assaults Neighbor Who Faces Child Porn Charges
A Massachusetts mom faces felony charges after she admitted to assaulting her neighbor, who had returned home after being arrested on child porn charges. According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, Nicole Pelletier, 42, entered Gary Spring’s condo through an unlocked door the evening of Sept. 22. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Sex offenders back at Marysville home
MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Sex offenders have moved back into a church-run home, just a few months after the City of Marysville forced them out. The home in the 15300 block of Smokey Boulevard is located in a light industrial area in Marysville. The city said that it was being used illegally as a residential facility for sex offenders and ex-cons. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Judge Rejects Sex Offenders’ Challenge to Residency Laws
The claims of nine convicted sex offenders that New York state, county and town sex offender registration requirements and residency restrictions are unconstitutional have been dismissed by a Brooklyn federal judge. But Eastern District Judge Pamela Chen (See Profile) also dismissed without prejudice their claim that state residency laws preempt more restrictive local laws. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Norm Pattis – Courts create special rules for sexual misconduct cases
A future historian might one day write the following of our time: “Despite a generally permissive culture in which sexually suggestive photographs were used to advertise products ranging from toothpaste to cars, 21st century Americans nonetheless harbored draconian and puritanical laws involving sexual misconduct. It is almost as though they were afraid of the very desire they relied upon to entertain and to titillate themselves.” Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreNJ: Supreme Court – Sex offenders who served their time can’t face penalties under new laws
Sex offenders can not be subjected to punishments under newly created laws if they committed their offense and served their time before the legislation was passed, the state Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Monday. In 1986, ____ ____ was convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a minor and given a 20-year sentence. About six months after his release in 2009, when ____ was under no form of parole, the parole board said he would have to comply with the 2007 Sex Offender Monitoring Act meaning that he would have to…
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