Source: wgme.com 10/9/23 An Orrington Select Board meeting last month devolved into an explosive half-hour debate between residents and officials about where sex offenders should be allowed to live within the town. Residents assumed that restrictions on how close registered sex offenders could live to places such as schools and parks were set statewide. But it wasn’t until an offender moved to Orrington this summer that many realized the town does not have those laws in place. … residents were surprised to learn that Maine does not have a state-wide…
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Action Alert for Illinois: Take action now to reduce and repeal registries, decriminalize housing, and let people live in available homes
Source: Illinois Voices for Reform and Chicago 400 A message from Adele Nicholas, Executive Director, Illinois Voices for Reform: Illinois residents, please click here to support SB2158 now! Everyone needs a place to live. People who’ve done their time should have the opportunity to establish stable homes for themselves and their families. Illinois’ wasteful and counterproductive registry and residency laws too often prevent people on the registry from building a foundation for a positive future. It’s time to stand up for real change. You can help us get there! Our…
Read MoreMO: Hazelwood man’s Halloween displays were lavish. A sex offender law forced him to quit
Source: stltoday.com 10/9/23 ST. LOUIS — Thomas Sanderson’s Halloween festivities were a neighborhood tradition. For more than two decades, the Hazelwood resident put together a “lavish display” featuring animatronic figures and creatures, lights, music, fog machines, a bonfire and — of course — candy. But on Halloween in 2022, a half-dozen police cars descended upon Sanderson’s property and asked to search his home. Sanderson had been convicted of a sex offense in 2006, and police argued he had violated a state law that prohibits people on the sex offender registry…
Read MoreACSOL News Alert: Federal Lawsuit Challenges Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement
A lawsuit was filed in a federal district court this week challenging a state law in Missouri that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The plaintiff in the case, Thomas J. Sanderson, was arrested last year for violating that and other requirements of the state law at issue. The basis of the legal challenge is the First Amendment that not only allows citizens to speak but also protects citizens from compelled speech which has been defined as a requirement to utter…
Read MoreWA: Portland man arrested in Clark County sting acquitted of child sex abuse in new trial
Source: columbian.com 10/2/23 A Portland man was acquitted last month after being granted a new trial on appeal, nearly five years after he was convicted in connection with an undercover child sex sting. A Clark County Superior Court jury Sept. 8 acquitted Jace Hambrick, 27, of attempted second-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He was one of several people arrested in February 2017 after responding to an advertisement posted by an interagency task force posing as minors online. In Hambrick’s case, he responded…
Read MoreIN: County to increase fees for out-of-county sex offenders
Source: wkkg.com 10/3/23 Convicted sexual and violent offenders who come in to Bartholomew County to work or for other activities would now pay more to be entered into the county’s sex offender registry under a change being considered by the county commissioners. Under the existing rules those who lived outside Bartholomew County, but travelled here for various activities were only paying $5 annually to be added to the registry, while in-county residents had to pay $50 annually. Read the full article
Read MoreIL: Illinois legislator tells prison agency ‘do your job’ on sex offender notification
Source: thecentersquare.com 10/3/23 A Republican state legislator says she has no interest in the idea of changing the state’s sex offender notification system that was the subject of a recent audit finding with the Illinois Department of Corrections. The compliance audit released last week looks at IDOC for two years ending June 30, 2022. In total, there were 46 findings and 40 repeat findings. The findings include a failure to notify victims and local law enforcement after releasing sex offenders, including those who committed a predatory criminal sexual assault of a child,…
Read MoreFL: County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable
Source: mainstreetdailynews.com 9/26/23 The Newberry City Commission is looking for… … Currently, Newberry’s code does not allow sexual offenders to reside within 1,000 feet, and predators 1,500 feet, of a state-defined “protected place,” defined to be schools, childcare facilities, parks, playgrounds and any other gathering place for children. The city of Williston limits both to live 2,500 feet away from protected places, while state statute limits both sexual offenders and predators to a minimum of 1,000 feet from protected places. Courtesy city of Newberry Newberry’s existing code-specified 1,500-foot perimeters around…
Read MoreWA: State panel in damage control after confusion about eliminating sex offender notifications
Source: komonews.com 10/2/23 KING COUNTY, Wash. — A state advisory panel is doing damage control after recommendations regarding sex offenders stirred outrage in the community. The recommendations are for community notifications to be eliminated when convicted sex offenders are released from prison and return to society. … The MPC has found that community notification actually undermines public safety. It also recommends that sex offender registries should be reserved for law enforcement and not be made available to the public. The reasoning is that the attention notifications and registries bring can…
Read MoreMT: Montana decision that Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA) is punitive and cannot be applied retroactively
Source: law.justia.com 6/14/23 The THE STATE OF MONTANA Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss the State’s felony charge against him for failure to register as a sexual offender, holding that the Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA), as amended since 2007, was punitive in nature. Defendant was convicted of sexual assault in 1994 and served and discharged his sentence. At the time, SVORA, known then as Montana’s Sexual offender Registration Act, required Defendant to maintain registration for ten years. When the legislature amended…
Read MoreMI: Police arrest 2 men in killing of Pontiac man known for fooling sexual predators Kylie Martin Detroit Free Press
Source: freep.com 9/30/23 Police have arrested two men in the Friday killing of a 40-year-old Pontiac man who often posed as a minor on social media in attempts to catch sexual predators. Robert Wayne Lee, who ran a popular Facebook page with 11,000 followers using the moniker “Boopac Shakur,” confronted two males, ages 17 and 18, seated in a Pontiac restaurant near the corner of North Perry and MLK Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s office. Lee accused one of the men of being a…
Read MoreWA: Washington panel considers outlawing community notification of sex offenders
Source: thecentersquare.com 9/28/23 (The Center Square) – Earlier this year, a decision to house convicted sex offenders in cities such as Enumclaw without notifying the community drew outrage from local residents. Now, the State Sex Offender Policy Board is considering recommendations to the Legislature that could include making it illegal to notify communities when a sex offender moves into the area on the grounds that such policies undermine public safety. Created in 2008, the Sex Offender Policy Board is composed of 13 members appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Its role…
Read MoreFL: Death penalty in child rapes among new Florida laws soon to take effect
Source: orlandosentinel.com 9/26/23 A new law that could lead to imposing the death penalty on people who rape children under age 12 will take effect Sunday, along with other laws passed during the 2023 legislative session. Other measures taking effect could lead to putting local governments on the hook for attorney fees when ordinances are deemed “arbitrary or unreasonable;” increase penalties on fans who interfere with sporting events; and require teens to at least have learner’s permits to drive golf carts on public roads. The laws passed during the legislative…
Read MoreSCOTUS: Florida man subject to lifetime sex-offender registration requirements argues that he is “in custody” for purposes of federal post-conviction laws
By Kalvis Golde The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here. A person held in state prison can challenge the constitutionality of their criminal conviction in federal court through a legal tool known as a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas relief is available to anyone “in custody,” which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean not only physical confinement but also other restrictions such as parole and release pending trial. This week, we…
Read MoreVA: Parents demand removal of Chesapeake PTA president, citing sex-offender spouse
Source: 13newsnow.com 9/20/23 CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Concerned parents in Chesapeake are sounding the alarm about a registered sex offender they say is married to a local PTA president and has attended at least one school-related event. In an email sent to 13News Now and an online petition signed by more than 200 people, parents of students at Greenbrier primary and intermediate schools are lobbying for the removal of their Parent Teacher Association president. The petition, which was created on Change.org September 12, alleges the PTA president is married to a…
Read MoreID: Predictable hysteria when three registered sex offenders are given permission to drop off and pick up their own children
Source: magicvalley.com 9/19/23 The Cassia County School District amended a 15-year-old board policy over the summer to create a ‘community’ committee with an eye on opening its governing process to parents, among others. It didn’t last the summer, and here’s why. The Cassia County School District, following a 15-year-old board policy and Idaho Code, voted last month to approve applications from three registered sex offenders who requested permission to drop off and pick up their own children, and attend academic conferences and extracurricular activities involving their own children. It’s a…
Read MoreFL: City voted to prevent any sex offender prospectively from living in the City of Crestview
Source: Florida Action Committee 9/17 23 City voted to prevent any sex offender prospectively from living in the City of Crestview. This was done via a 1500 feet ordinance. The comment from city council member Ryan Bullard is one of the most ignorant and shocking comments we’ve ever heard in a public meeting. Watch the video
Read MorePA: Testimony on House Hearing on HB 77: Megan’s Law Residence Restrictions
Source: aclupa.org 9/12/23 Session: 2023-2024 Hearing: House Judiciary Committee | Hearing on HB 77: Megan’s Law residence restrictions September 12, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. Veronica Miller, Senior Policy Counsel for Criminal Legal Reform, testified on behalf of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. To watch the hearing or read testimonies of all participants, click here. Bill summary: House Bill 77 would prohibit an individual classified as a sexually violent predator (SVP) from residing within 2,500 feet of a public school, private school, parochial school or daycare center for the duration of their required registration period.…
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