[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/27/20] BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA – March 27, 2020. The Florida Action Committee (FAC), the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute are calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to temporarily suspend the requirement that persons required to register for past sexual offenses appear in-person at the Sheriff’s office to report during the Coronavirus state of emergency. Florida Statutes mandate in-person reporting every six months, quarterly, or monthly for registrants who are transient. Changes to vehicles or reporting travel for three or more days (or changes to prior…
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NJ: Sex Offenders Lose in Attempt to Remove Names From Registry
[usnews.com – 3/18/20] TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Supreme Court this week rejected an attempt by two sex offenders to have their names removed from a public registry. Two offenders identified only as H.D. and J.M. pleaded guilty to sexual offenses in the 1990s and guilty in 2001 to other offenses, one for computer-related theft and one for failure to register as a sex offender, and were sentenced to probation. State law imposes lifetime registration requirements on offenders but allows those on the registry to apply for removal…
Read MoreNJ: Bill seeks to restrict school bus stops and child care facilities from opening too close to registrants
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/18/20] In a fascinating twist to Sex Offender Residency Restrictions, a bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature (S2066) also seeks to restrict the placement of a school bus stop or child care facility within a certain distance from persons required to register. The bill reads, “The Legislature finds and declares that public safety will be enhanced by providing municipalities with the authority to enact ordinances to prevent convicted sex offenders who have committed crimes against minors from residing within 500 feet of a school, playground, or child…
Read MoreRead the Joint Statement from Elected Prosecutors on Covid-19 and Addressing The Rights and Needs of Those In Custody
[fairandjustprosecution.org – 3/2020] COVID-19 has the world on high alert. In recognition that the coronavirus is spreading quickly among high concentrations of people in close proximity, schools are being shut down, conferences rescheduled, international travel is being restricted, and cruise ships –the early incubators of the virus–are being quarantined. Those measures are all sensible, but they also drive home how little attention is being paid to the millions of people in the most overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of this contagious and deadly virus: the people behind…
Read MoreMO: The man who has to register as a sex offender based on lies
[womenagainstregistry.org – 2/20/20] ST. LOUIS – He’s the sex offender who’s innocent. According to the reported victims, _____ didn’t do it. Tuesday’s interview with _____ is part of Fox 2’s ongoing investigation into why the Missouri justice system isn’t listening. “I’ve been fighting this for 31 years of my life and it has caused me something new, every time I turn around,” _____ said. “The neighbors looking at me wrong, not being able to go to a state park. Just recently I found my passports got pulled because of a…
Read MoreMI: Ypsilanti adds ex-offenders as protected class in nondiscrimination ordinance
[mlive.com – 3/4/20] YPSILANTI, MI – People with felony convictions cannot be discriminated against in Ypsilanti in a new addition to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance that passed Tuesday. Ypsilanti City Council voted unanimously to make ex-offenders a city-protected class at its meeting on March 3. Elected officials said the move will help returning citizens reintegrate into society and address racial disparities. Speakers during public comment said felony convictions are particularly challenging to finding employment and housing after returning from prison or parole. Several said a felony conviction can often act…
Read MoreFL: Ban on sex offender appeal jail release passes Florida House
[news-journalonline.com – 3/3/20] A bill that would bar judges from granting bail to someone appealing a conviction of a sex offense against a child is moving smoothly through the Florida Legislature. Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, introduced the bill after outrage last year led by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood and others when Mark Fugler was released while he appealed his conviction and 15-year prison sentence for sex crimes involving a child. Leek’s bill adds sex crimes against children to the list of offenses for which judges cannot grant supersedeas…
Read MoreThe Truth Could Set Them Free
Why did California destroy research into a group of people it says are dangerous enough to be locked up indefinitely? In late 2006, a public defender went before a Napa County judge to argue for his client’s freedom. ____ _____, a 49-year-old man, had been detained for seven years at Atascadero State Hospital under a 1995 California law authorizing “civil commitment” of people who have been convicted of sex offenses, a practice that keeps them confined long after they have completed their sentences. Full Article
Read MoreMI: State of Michigan set to pay $80M to settle sex abuse suit with former juvenile offenders
[detroitnews.com – 2/27/20] The Michigan Department of Corrections will pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit with former juvenile offenders who claimed they were sexually abused in Michigan prisons between October 2010 and February 2020, state officials said Thursday. Pending final approval April 9, the state will pay $25 million immediately, $15 million by October, $25 million by October 2021 and $15 million by October 2022. Buy PhotoMichigan officials have settled a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by former juvenile offenders for $80 million. (Photo: Daniel Mears, The Detroit News) State corrections officials and Attorney…
Read MoreFL: Department of Juvenile Justice refuses to accept 15-year-old charged with possession of child pornography
[palmcoastobserver.com] In 2018 under the direction of Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office began participating with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force consists of state and local law enforcement who are dedicated to developing effective responses to the online enticement of children by sexual predators, child exploitation, and child obscenity and pornography cases … Lashbrook identified a residence in Daytona North that was actively engaging in the manufacturing and distribution of child pornography. On Jan. 23, the FCSO Major Case Unit, as…
Read MoreUT: Topless Utah Stepmom Pleads Guilty To Avoid Sex Offender Registry
[reason.com – 2/26/20] Faced with the possibility of being placed on a sex offender registry for 10 years, Utah’s Tilli Buchanan has instead pleaded guilty to lesser charges after being prosecuted for appearing topless in front of her stepchildren. Read the full article
Read MoreTN: Lawmakers look to change sex offender legislation
A federal lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of a Tennessee statute that made it a felony for sex offenders to live with their own young children has prompted moves by the GOP-dominant State house to amend the 2019 law. Gov. Bill Lee had signed the bill into law to make convicted sex offenders subject to arrest if they were alone with, spent the night with, or lived with their children under age 12. But three convicted sex offenders immediately filed suit and the law never took effect last year amid the…
Read MoreWY: Bill Changing Sex Offender Access to School Grounds Passes Wyoming House
The Wyoming House of Representatives passed a bill on third reading on a vote of 33-26 during their Monday, Feb. 24 floor session which would modify rules pertaining to registered sex offenders’ access to schools. Full Article
Read MoreKS: Offender registry changes needed in Kansas
Do offender registries make us safer? The Kansas Legislature is tackling that question in the current session with two bills that would reform Kansas’ increasingly complex offender registration requirements. Full Editorial
Read MoreIN: Bill extending sex crimes statute of limitations advances to full House
[theindianalawyer.com – 2/21/20] “How many more victims will there be?” Dawn Price, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, posed that question before the Indiana House Courts and Criminal Code Committee on Wednesday while testifying in support of legislation that would extend the amount of time victims have to prosecute their perpetrators. Price shared her story of being molested and raped as a child by her adoptive father until she was nearly 13 years old. When Price, then a minor, told her mother what was happening, no action was taken. Even…
Read MoreMO: Some Sex Offenders Could Be Banned from Going Near Missouri Nature and Education Centers
[douglascountyherald.com – 2/20/20] State Representative Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, wants to ban some registered sex offenders from going within 500 feet of any Missouri Conservation Department nature or education center. The Missouri House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee is considering Kelly’s bill, which could charge violators with a felony. The measure would apply to sex offenders who have committed certain sex crimes against children. “We have an ultimate responsibility to ensure that when the prosecutor goes after that individual for perpetrating evil crimes against a child, that we have…
Read MoreCan we banish our way to public safety? [The Appeal by Kyle Barry]
[mailchi.mp/theappeal – 2/20/20] This month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to curb public lewdness, groping, and other unwanted touching on New York City’s public transit: a three-year ban on “repeat and high-risk sexual offenders” from the city’s subways, buses, and trains. “MTA riders deserve to feel safe, and we have an obligation to ensure they will not be targeted by sex offenders,” he said. “Enough is enough.” It’s not the first time Cuomo has endorsed the idea. Last year, he described a sex offender subway ban as…
Read MoreFL: Day care opens near transitional house with sex offenders
[actionnewsjax.com – 2/19/20] JACKSONVILLE,, Fla. — A local day care opened in a neighborhood surrounded with registered sex offenders and predators. An Action News Jax investigation found people convicted of sex crimes now live less than 1,000 feet from Bella Childcare, which started enrolling children in January. A viewer, who didn’t want to give his name, reached out to Action News Jax to express concerns because he provides transitional housing for sex offenders nearby. The transitional house is on Walnut St., which is right around the corner from Bella Childcare.…
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