____ ____ ____ arrived at Norfolk Circuit Court on a cold December morning, guilty and worried. On his mind was a pink slip buried in his mailbox for days – maybe weeks. The small piece of paper was a receipt for a registered letter from the state. His freedom depended on it. ____, 68, is a convicted violent sex offender. The letter represented his remaining debt to Virginia. Every month, he is required to return it to the Virginia State Police with his fingerprints and signature. For the past 14 years, his…
Read MoreCategory: National
Georgia private probation companies expand sex offender industry
In 1994 the Jacob Wetterling Act established the first national sex offender registry law, and Indiana’s “Zachary’s Law” placed their state registry online. In 1996 “Megan’s Law” was passed at the federal level, forcing states to maintain publicly accessible registries and allowing all levels of community notification. In 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld civil commitment in Kansas v. Hendricks, and a year later, Delaware passed the first law requiring registrants to carry a special ID card. In 2005 strict mandatory minimum laws were created with the Jessica Lunsford Act…
Read MoreNE: Norfolk man gets chance to be free of the label ‘offender’
LINCOLN — ___ ___ stands before two rare opportunities that could change the course of his life. One could restore his reputation. The other could revive a dream. The 25-year-old Norfolk man recently participated in a free-agent tryout for a chance to punt in the National Football League. His odds of making it, though slim, would improve if not for three words that turn up on the background check: registered sex offender. So when ___ isn’t punting, he’s working toward a pardon. He took a step closer Thursday when the Nebraska Board of Pardons…
Read MoreMI: Sex offender fee change is an idea whose time has come (Op-Ed)
Beginning April 1, registered sex offenders in Michigan will be required to pay an annual fee. Last year, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation requiring the state’s more than 40,000 registered sex offenders to come with a $50 per year registration fee. The fee, which is applicable to registered sex offenders who are out of prison is not meant as an additional punishment to those who’ve already paid their societal debt, as much as it is intended to help defray the $600,000 a year cost to the Michigan State Police who…
Read MoreMN: Federal judge calls Minnesota civil commitment program “draconian”
Three weeks ago, a federal judge issued his long-awaited ruling in a civil rights case brought by civil detainees over the constitutionality of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP). Although stopping short, for now, of declaring the program unconstitutional, the judge ordered new procedures to make release attainable for the 700 detainees. He warned that he may ultimately find the program to be unconstitutional if he determines that it is essentially punitive or if it confines men who are no longer dangerous. “The time for legislative action is now,” wrote US District Judge Donovan Frank.…
Read MoreIL: Agency proposes to remove convicted juveniles from sex offender registry
(KMOV) –A new report from an Illinois agency recommends removing juveniles from the state’s sex offender registry, but law enforcement officials have concerns. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission was assigned by the General Assembly to study the laws and remedies for juvenile sex crimes and released its report Tuesday saying, “Illinois should remove young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry and end the application of categorical restrictions on collateral consequences”. The study sites that there’s “no evidence that subjecting youth to registries improves public safety or reduces the…
Read MoreMA: Court Says Sex Offender Law Not Retroactive
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court has ruled that Massachusetts cannot retroactively post information about thousands of registered sex offenders on the Internet. Full Article Related: July 2013 Ruling / Preliminary InjunctionAppellant’s Brief SJC ruling keeps 6,000 Level 2 sex offenders off state web registry
Read MoreHere’s Why It’s ‘Counterproductive’ To Put Juveniles On The Sex Offender Registry
CHICAGO — Requiring juveniles to register as sex offenders can hinder rehabilitation efforts and have significant, long-term negative consequences for young perpetrators who are statistically unlikely to re-offend, according to a study released Tuesday. Among the most significant outcomes of the new 150-page report released by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission is a recommendation that the state end its “counterproductive” practice of requiring juvenile offenders to add their names to sex offender registries. “Automatic, categorical registries do not protect public safety,” George Timberlake, a retired chief circuit judge who chaired the commission,…
Read MoreIL: Bill would bar sex offenders from fairs
STERLING – Three Whiteside County officials are headed to Springfield today to testify for a bill that could prevent registered sex offenders from attending county fairs. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Sex Offender Fee Changes Take Effect Next Month
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Registered sex offenders in Michigan are required to pay an annual fee starting April 1. Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation in November requiring Michigan’s more than 40,000 registered sex offenders to pay an annual $50 fee. The new fees are intended to cover the $600,000 a year cost to state police to operate the sex offender database. The bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Rick Jones replaces the system under which sex offenders paid a one-time $50 fee. The law only applies to registered sex offenders who are out…
Read MoreSupreme Court turns away woman’s challenge to Virginia sex offender registry law
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of a Virginia woman who claims the state’s sex offender registry law is unconstitutional. The woman was reclassified as a violent sex offender 15 years after being convicted of unlawful sex with minor in a case that did not involve any violence. The reclassification subjects her to a ban on entering her children’s schools without first seeking permission from state courts and the local school board. The woman was identified only as Jane Doe in court records. She…
Read MoreMN: Our View – Reform state sex offender program
Barring a stunning change of heart and hefty dose of political courage, Minnesota’s legislators and governor appear content to dodge the unpopular-but-necessary task of reforming the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this session. Voters need to remember that on Election Day. Equally important, they need to remember it anytime they hear state candidates criticize opponents who advocate reforms as being “soft on crime.” The truth is a decade of failure by 201 legislators and two governors to change this inhumane, incredibly expensive and likely unconstitutional program is the real crime. Full Op-Ed…
Read MoreOH: ‘Let me live my life’: Registered sex offender shares his side of story
NEWARK — ____ ____ is a registered sex offender. He’ll admit to that, no problem. He is not, however, a pedophile. He is not a child molester, and he has no interest messing with anyone’s kids, he said. “A lot of people don’t know the story,” said ____, 44, from his West Main Street home. “They figure, because someone’s a sex offender, ‘Oh, he likes little kids.’ But that’s not always the case. “Before you go judge someone, do your homework.” Full Article
Read MoreRI: Law aims to prevent sex offenders from working near kids
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A bill put forward by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office would punish certain businesses if they “knowingly” hire a sex offender whose victim was a minor. The proposed law would fine the entity $1,000 a day for every day the employee worked there unless the worker lied about his status as a sex offender when they apply. “The only onus on the business is to ask the question, there is no fiscal cost unless the business hires the person knowingly,” Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said. “If…
Read MoreFL: ACLU Holds Forum on Sex Offender Registry Restrictions
This past Saturday, the ACLU of Florida held a forum on the efficacy of sex offender residency restrictions. The event, moderated by CBS 4 Reporter Jim DeFede, sought to answer the question of whether the residency restrictions imposed on sex offenders are based on evidence or politics and, more importantly, whether they are actually making our communities safer. Full Article
Read MoreFL: How Many Convictions Are Questionable in Light of Sting Exposure
Imagine someone offers you a cigarette, you accept and about halfway through smoking it they tell you the cigarette contains marijuana and they are arresting you for possession. The cigarette never actually contained marijuana and you never sought out drugs, but you get arrested anyhow. That’s how many who were arrested in sex offender stings feel. Last Friday, Tampa’s CBS affiliate, WTSP, had the courage to report on something that victims had been screaming about for years; Sex Offender stings. Only in this case it’s not an abused child who…
Read MoreTN: Sex Offender Notification Bill Advances In Tennessee Legislature
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn.(WHNT)-A push for tougher sex offender notification laws in Tennessee came one step closer to reality Tuesday, part of an ongoing effort that originated in Lincoln County several months ago. A committee in the Tennessee Legislature approved HB 1860, a bill that would allow municipal and county governments to mail written notices and post flyers in communities that convicted sex offenders move to. … “This gives parents the knowledge of who is in their community,” said Blackwelder. “It doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime…In this bill there is an additional…
Read MoreMA: Lawmaker wants to ban sex offenders from lottery winnings
UXBRIDGE — A veteran lawmaker said Tuesday he is working on a bill that would ban convicted sex offenders from payouts by the state lottery. State Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, was reacting to the recent arrest of a convicted Level 3 sex offender in his hometown. Full Article
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