[stormlake.com – 2/18/21] An elderly sex offender from Marathon was removed from the Iowa Sex-Offender Registry on Tuesday so he can eventually end up in a nursing home, a development that “outraged” a former state senator whose last major proposal was to establish a geriatric sex-offender unit in Algona. Buena Vista County District Court Judge David Lester ruled on Tuesday Edward _____, 83, satisfied the state’s requirements to be removed from the registry. He’s been out of prison for more than five years; a Department of Corrections director in Sioux…
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AL: News 5 Investigates Female sex offenders
[wkrg.com – 2/17/21] MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — In February, two women have been arrested for sexually abusing minors. On Feb. 5, WKRG News 5 brought you the story of ______ a former Ruckel Middle School teacher charged with having a sexual relationship with a student. On Feb. 16, ______ was charged with sexually abusing a young child. Research shows women make up a small percentage of sexual predators. Research into sex offenders historically mostly focused on men. The Department of Justice reports the first articles on female sex offenders didn’t…
Read MoreWA: Say what? Child sex victims must prove they’re not wed to abuser? Scrub this law now
[thenewstribune.com – 2/17/21] Part of the job of a lawmaker is to be a law eraser. Washington legislators are sometimes asked to scrub anachronistic language from the statute books, not just because it’s embarrassing and offends our contemporary values, but because it can have damaging consequences today. Consider laws from the early 1900s that condoned sex between adults and children as young as 10 years old, as long as they were married. Believe it or not, this language has persisted for more than a century in state law, making Washington…
Read MoreFL: Urban City Walk Mission in Tallahassee (registrants can stay in their shelter)
[floridaactioncommittee.org for citywalkmission.com – 2/16/21] City Walk opened as a “Cold Night Shelter” in late November. Where the City and City Walk disagree is on the definition of a “cold night.” Our local government says it’s not a cold night until it is ‘35 degrees or below for three or more consecutive hours.’ So if it is 36 degrees and raining our local government says it’s not cold enough to activate. Many of our congregation are elderly, some in their 70’s and 80’s and many others with severe disabilities. A…
Read MoreND: Committee hears push to seal certain criminal records
[thedickinsonpress.com – 2/15/21] Individuals must be free of convictions for three years to have a misdemeanor charge sealed and five years for a felony charge. The time requirement begins after conviction of the crime. Crimes that are considered violent or that require registering as a sex offender are not eligible. Read the full article
Read MoreWA: Should People With Criminal Convictions Be Able to Work in Health Care? Bill in Legislature Would Relax State Laws
[chronline.com – 2/14/21] Washington lawmakers are discussing a bill that would end the automatic disqualification of people with certain criminal convictions from working with vulnerable populations in health care or home care. Bill sponsors say it would address the shortage of qualified caretakers and empower people with convictions to take charge of their lives. House Bill 1411 would allow people with certain crimes on their record to be eligible to apply for jobs with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) at long-term care facilities or as in-home caretakers.…
Read MoreIn Furor Over Poet With Child Porn Conviction, Prison Abolitionists Debate the Limits of Mercy
[theintercept.com – 2/14/21] Is Poetry magazine “platforming toxicity” or promoting the “practice of freedom”? A bedrock principle of the prison abolitionist movement is that you don’t ask an incarcerated person what they’re in for. It’s more than etiquette. To eschew the identity that the punitive state assigns — which could be false — is to see someone whole. “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” says Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson. Even a murderer is somebody’s baby. That’s the way guest editors Tara Betts, Joshua…
Read MoreDystopian AI Patent Uses Facial Recognition to Identify Homeless and Drug Users [and Sex Offenders]
[interestingengineering.com – 2/12/21] Last year, The New York Times reported that, in order to test its software, facial recognition startup Clearview AI collected up to three billion images from platforms including YouTube and Facebook without attaining users’ express consent. Now, a new patent application by Clearview AI, first discovered by Buzzfeed, details several potential uses for the firm’s software, including date matching, sharing “headshots of high-risk individuals,” and identifying homeless people and drug users. … The technology could also be used to identify a “sex offender” Read the full article
Read MoreTX: ‘Left to die’: Therapists say Texas sex offender treatment program too often fails on purpose
[houstonchronicle.com 2/11/21] Texas’s civil commitment program for sexually violent offenders has earned a reputation as an unforgiving place. Much of that is by design. Each of the 378 men in it has already served his full prison term, some 20 years or longer. After their sentences were up, Texas evaluated them as too likely to re-offend, however, so they were ordered kept locked up indefinitely until ready to rejoin the free world. Their average age is nearing 60. The program’s sole facility, a collection of low buildings and temporary trailers,…
Read MoreRacial Disparities Found in Federal Sex Crime Sentencing
[thecrimereport.org – 2/10/21] Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found that Black and Hispanic Americans charged in federal sex abuse cases are receiving disproportionately harsher sentences In a recent study published in the journal Sexual Abuse, the researchers explored what they said was a trend in more severe punishment over the past decade since Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the punishment in federal sex offender and child pornography cases. The researchers University of Texas at San Antonio criminology and criminal justice professors…
Read MoreNC: New NC bill would push sex offenders further away from school grounds
[myfox8.com – 2/10/21 – NC residents write and call!] CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Right now, in some North Carolina counties, sex offenders can live right beyond 1,000 of the front door of a school due to the way current laws are written. Now, one lawmaker is pushing to make sure they’re further away from those properties. In some areas, sex offenders could theoretically live right up to the school’s fencing if the yard is big enough, but if Senate Bill 52 passes, sex offenders won’t be able to…
Read MoreAction Alert for Florida Residents: Call and Write to Oppose Senate Bill 234
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 2/11/21] On Monday, February 15, 2021, the Florida Senate Judiciary committee will consider Senate Bill 234. It is item number 3 on their agenda. Among other things, this bill introduced by Senator Lauren Book would change the definition of “day” to mean part of any calendar day. Therefore, as written, anywhere you are physically present 4 or more times a year would technically have to be registered within 48 hours. Visit your parent’s home once a week for dinner? Play cards at a friend’s house once a month?…
Read MoreMD: Annapolis, MD (KB) Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy said he is sponsoring sex offender legislation
[wfmd.com – 2/9/21] Annapolis, MD (KB) Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy said he is sponsoring five pieces of legislation at the 2021 General Assembly in Annapolis. One has to do with the sex offender registry and expungement. “There has been a push recently to expunge certain offenses off peoples’ records,” he explained. Delegate Pippy said this bill will make sure that individuals who are on the sex registry are prohibited from getting their sex offenses expunged. Read the full article Bill search
Read MoreNY: After 25 Years, It Is Past Time To Reform New York’s Sex Offender Risk Assessment System: Part II
[law.com – 2/9/21] In Part 1 of this article, I outlined what I believe are the significant flaws in the Risk Assessment Instrument (the RAI) New York courts are required to use to assess sex offender risk under the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA or Megan’s Law, Article 6-C of the Correction Law). Under SORA, courts are required to designate offenders as being at low, moderate or high risk to re-offend. The rankings not only determine the length and intrusiveness of sex offender registration and community notification, which often last…
Read MoreTN: Federal judge rules sex offender law punishes retroactively
[fox17.com – 4/6/21] NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge ruled Monday that Tennessee’s sex offender registration act is unconstitutional, at least as it was applied retroactively to two offenders. The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee affects only the two men who sued, identified in court documents as John Doe #1 and John Doe #2. “I think the ruling, while it is narrowly tailored to our clients, does open the door to the possibility of a class action,” attorney Ed Yarbrough said in an…
Read MoreWA: HB 1282 Will Allow All People Convicted of a Felony to Earn Up to 33% Off Their Sentence
[Washington Voices – wavoices.org – 2/7/21] Dear Friends, This Thursday, February 11, at 1:30 pm, the House Committee on Public Safety will vote on HB 1282. If this bill becomes law, all people convicted of a felony will have an opportunity to earn up to 33% off of their sentence. Currently, people convicted of a sex offense can earn a maximum of 10% off their sentence. Information about the bill and a video recording of the Feb. 2 committee hearing can be found at the HB 1282 website. Many people…
Read MoreMN: Sex offenders at Moose Lake end 14-day hunger strike after reaching deal with state officials
[bringmethenews.com – 2/5/21] A group of men at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program’s Moose Lake facility have ended their hunger strike after nearly two weeks. The group went on strike Jan. 21, demanding a “clear path” for release from the program, which has facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter, where “treatment is a death sentence” because despite serving their prison sentences, they’re remanded to the facilities for an unspecified amount of time, a news release says. The group of about a dozen men called off their hunger strike Wednesday…
Read MoreFL: Bill Preventing Registered Sex Offenders, Predators From Having Time-Sharing With Minor Child Advances
[wmfe.org 2/4/21] Legislation making its way through the House would prevent parents registered as a sex offender or predator from being granted time-sharing with their child. The legislation is sponsored by Daytona Beach Republican Representative Thomas Leek. “I believe that if you are a convicted sexual predator or a sexual offender of a minor while you are an adult the presumption should be that you are not entitled to custody. Unless the court makes a specific finding that the child would be safe in your custodial care.” The bill passed…
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