Source: prisonlegalnews.org 8/15/24 On May 3, 2024, Arizona’s Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a federal censorship lawsuit brought by PLN’s publisher,the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC). Under the agreement, DOC paid $2,650,000 to cover HRDC’s attorneys’ fees and expenses in connection with the successful litigation, the largest such award in a prison censorship case in U.S. history. Until 2014, DOC prisoners routinely received issues of PLN. That year, however, DOC began to censor numerous issues for “sexually explicit material” that violated its mail policy; the articles in question, however, merely…
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Sextortion Scammers Try to Scare People by Sending Photos of Their Homes
Source: 404media.co 9/3/24 A new email-based sextortion scheme is making the rounds recently, claiming to have evidence of its targets “venturing into the darker corners of cyberspace” and threatening to release videos of you jerking off. The emails 404 Media has viewed—from readers and friends who’ve been targeted—contain the person’s full name, address, and phone number in the body of the email, an attached PDF that contains a photo of the person’s street (likely screenshotted from Google Maps), and a lengthy letter claiming that they’ve been watched through their webcam.…
Read MoreGA: Newton Sheriff’s Office Debuts QR Code for Sex Offender Registry
Source: rockdalenewtoncitizen.com 8/30/24 COVINGTON — The Newton County Sheriff’s Office has introduced a new way for the public to access the Newton County Sex Offender Registry. The NCSO debuted the new feature Aug. 22 at its annual meeting with the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. The meeting is held each year to discuss updates and strategies related to sex offenders. This year’s meeting focused on monitoring homeless sex offenders and strengthening communication between law enforcement agencies. The NCSO presented a QR code system that will be available on all physical…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota Sex Offender Program marks 30 years of failure and injustice
Source: minnesotareformer.com 8/30/24 As Minnesota marks 30 years of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this week, let’s think of its true impact: a waste of vast resources under the guise of public safety. MSOP supposedly provides residential treatment after prison for those convicted of sex crimes deemed too dangerous to release into the public, but it is actually an unconstitutional nightmare — a life sentence based on what someone might do. MSOP was never meant to be a permanent solution, but the reality is most of the more than 700…
Read MoreAL: Bill would prohibit sex offenders from serving as first responders
Source: aldailynews.com 8/29/24 Convicted sex offenders could not be first responders under legislation pre-filed in the Alabama Legislature. State law already prohibits sex offenders from working in schools, child care centers or other businesses that cater primarily to children. Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, said the law needs to be amended to cover first responders, including those at volunteer fire departments. “Without (this legislation) for that particular offender, we are basically opening the door and saying, you’re a first responder, if there’s a medical need, you can go into this day…
Read MoreWatchdog: FBI continues to fail child sex abuse victims despite reforms after bungled Nassar investigation
Source: kcra.com 8/29/24 WASHINGTON —The FBI has continued to mishandle allegations of child sexual abuse in the years after the bureau’s notorious bungling of the investigation into disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, according to an audit by the Justice Department’s inspector general released Thursday. Because of those failures, allegations of sexual abuse against children were left unaddressed for months while minors continued to be victimized, the audit found. The audit followed up on issues that the department’s top watchdog identified as part of its scathing investigation into how the…
Read MoreOR: Accused child molester’s conviction overturned because judge wouldn’t remind jury that he was innocent until proven guilty
Source: oregonlive.com 8/26/24 A Washington County judge’s attempt at saving time by declining to read aloud a lengthy set of legal principles to a jury — including that the defendants are presumed innocent unless they are proven guilty — has prompted the Oregon Court of Appeals to throw out a man’s convictions for repeatedly sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl. In reversing the convictions and 50-year prison sentence of 35-year-old Derek ___, the Appeals Court said it was recognizing the “Extreme importance” that jurors understand the “fundamental constitutional” rules at play…
Read MoreAZ: I sent an Arizona man to prison for 290 years. His case still haunts me
Source: azcentral.com 8/26/24 I sent plenty of people to prison during my career as a judge. Now I’m working to get one man out, and not because I think he’s innocent. I participated in hundreds of sentencing hearings in my 44-year career as a prosecutor and as a judge. Most of the sentences imposed were within the range I thought reasonable given the crime committed and the defendant’s background. Occasionally, the law mandated an excessive sentence, which I had to impose. By far the most egregious example of an excessive…
Read MoreACSOL National Action Alert: Lend your support to H.R.2899 Second Chance Reauthorization Act
Source: bop.gov [from p2a.co:] For formerly incarcerated individuals, reentering society is filled with uncertainties. Those include gaining access to life’s basic needs like housing and a career, proven ways to ensure they don’t return to prison. But too often, they are unable to take advantage of what is offered to others without a criminal record and end up back behind bars, adding more costs to taxpayers. The Second Chance Reauthorization Act aims to give those who have served their time a leg up. It would extend vital reentry grant programs…
Read MoreNY: Third County Sex Offender Registration Decision Overturned
Source: observertoday.com 8/20/24 A third designation of a sexually violent offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act in Chautauqua County has been reversed upon appeal. Fourth Department Appellate Division judges reversed their third such case in three months in late July. Once again, the case cites precedent the court set in a June case involving a decision made by Judge David Foley – though similar cases haven’t yet begun to spring up from other courts in the Eighth Judicial District. In the July case, a person pleaded guilty in a…
Read MoreIN: Interesting Stay Dispute in Seventh Circuit Minors’-Access-to-Porn Case
Source: reason.com 8/20/24 From Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Rokita, decided Friday by Judges Frank Easterbrook and Amy St. Eve: Indiana seeks a stay of the preliminary injunction that a district court entered preventing the enforcement of Ind. Code § 24-4-23, which requires web sites to limit minors’ access to certain sexual materials. Indiana’s statute is functionally identical to one adopted by Texas. That statute has been held to be valid [by the Fifth Circuit, though the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case]. Free Speech Coalition, Inc., which…
Read MoreIL: New Illinois law clarifies rules on AI-generated child pornography
Source: myjournalcourier.com 8/13/24 Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed into law legislation clarifying that Illinois’ existing child pornography laws apply to images and videos created using artificial intelligence technology. “I initiated this legislation because AI-generated child sexual abuse images are an increasing concern that need to be addressed before technology outpaces our ability to distinguish between AI images and images of real children,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in announcing the signing. State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz and Sen. Mary Edly-Allen sponsored House Bill 4623, which prohibits using artificial intelligence to create…
Read MoreNC: Appeals court rejects challenge to North Carolina sex offender registration law
Source: portcitydaily.com 8/12/24 Three judges on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of North Carolina’s sex offender registry statute against a lawsuit from two organizations based in the state. The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws, headquartered in Raleigh, and its state-affiliate North Carolina for Rational Sexual Offense Laws joined anonymous plaintiffs John Doe 1 and 2 in the case. Plaintiffs first sued in 2017 to challenge amendments in the state’s sex offender registration statute and reduce sex offender restrictions and the length of registration terms.…
Read MoreYouTuber MrBeast Accused of Hiring Registered Sex Offender
Source: thedailybeast 8/12/24 The top YouTuber announced several company-wide changes in a leaked memo that were precipitated by an ongoing internal investigation. It’s a bad time to be MrBeast. A few weeks ago, YouTube’s highest paid content creator, real name Jimmy Donaldson, was caught up in scandal after one of his longtime collaborators, Ava Kris Tyson, was accused of sending explicit messages to a 13-year-old girl when she was 20. Now, a former employee’s claimed MrBeast “knowingly” hired a registered sex offender to work on his $54-million-a-year channel. The person…
Read MoreKS: After investigation into numerous felonies, Kansas AG charges prosecutor with two misdemeanors
Source: newsfromthestates.com 8/9/24 TOPEKA — The Kansas Attorney General’s Office charged a rural Kansas prosecutor with two financial misdemeanors, but not alleged sexual extortion or other felonies that local and state law enforcement investigated. A complaint filed Thursday in state court accuses Neosho County Attorney Linus Thuston of violating the Retailers’ Sales Tax Act in 2021 and misuse of public funds in 2019. Thuston has been the county attorney, an elected position, since 2012. Thuston didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. Neosho County Sheriff Greg Taylor…
Read MoreEmbracing the Public’s Ideas to Improve Sentencing, Commission Unanimously Adopts Policy Priorities
Source: ussc.gov 8/8/24 Priorities Reflect Calls to Simplify Sentencing, Reduce the Costs of Unnecessary Incarceration, and Promote Public Safety WASHINGTON, D.C. — Each year, the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission votes to adopt priorities that will guide its annual policymaking process. This summer, the Commission solicited priorities from the public, asking how the agency can improve federal sentencing. In response, the Commission received more than 1,200 pages of insightful comments from judges, members of Congress, executive branch officials, probation officers, advisory groups, attorneys, professors, advocates, organizations, incarcerated individuals, and others. Today,…
Read More‘Too Much Law’ Gives Prosecutors Enormous Power To Ruin People’s Lives
Source: reason.com 8/7/24 In a new book, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch describes the “human toll” of proliferating criminal penalties. “Criminal laws have grown so exuberantly and come to cover so much previously innocent conduct that almost anyone can be arrested for something,” Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch observed in 2019. Gorsuch elaborates on that theme in a new book, showing how the proliferation of criminal penalties has given prosecutors enormous power to ruin people’s lives, resulting in the nearly complete replacement of jury trials with plea bargains. “Some scholars peg…
Read MoreWhen the Prison Grievance Process Is Worth the Risk
Source: filtermag.org 8/5/24 For nearly three decades, I’ve been hearing people scream for help. Screams of people being raped, robbed, stabbed. Screams of people left freezing in paper gowns in a suicide watch cell. Screams of people simply forgotten about behind these concrete walls. Prisons are filled with people screaming, but there’s no one besides us to hear them. We lose many rights in prison, but legally we still have basic civil rights like protection from abuse. And when we suffer abuse anyway, we have the right to seek justice…
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