[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 MoreCategory: National
Can 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.…
Read MoreFL: Florida can’t bar felons from registering to vote over fees and fines, court rules
[cbsnews.com – 2/19/20] Florida cannot bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tallahassee federal judge’s preliminary injunction that the implementation of Amendment 4 – approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 to allow most felons who served their time to regain the right to vote – amounted to an unfair poll tax that would…
Read MoreTX: Texas church expelled from Southern Baptist Convention for hiring registered sex offender as pastor
[tennessean.com – 2/18/20] The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee expelled a Texas church Tuesday for employing a pastor who is a registered sex offender. The 80-plus member body, which acts on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention when it is not in session, took a vote to disfellowship Ranchland Heights Baptist Church in Midland, Texas, during its regularly scheduled meeting in Nashville. Ranchland Heights is “no longer to be considered in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention,” said the Rev. Mike Stone, chairman of the Executive Committee. Read the full article
Read MoreTN: Tennessee bill would change penalties for public urination
[newschannel9.com – 2/18/20] NASHVILLE, Tenn.–A bill before committee in the Tennessee General Assembly would prevent a person from being seen as a sex offender if they perform “an excretory function” in public. HB 2079/SB 2822 is sponsored by Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) and Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) in their respective houses. Under the bill, the offense of indecent exposure would not include excretion in public as given the intent was not criminal. Read more
Read MoreGA: Farm stand ordinance passes 4-1; Antoine warns of produce-seeking pedophiles
A zoning ordinance that would allow farm stands at a day care center in Forest Park passed 4-1 Monday. Councilman Dabouze Antoine voted no, saying he was concerned a farm stand at the day care might attract pedophiles and human traffickers who would visit under the pretense of shopping for produce. Full Article
Read MoreNM: Bill to increase penalties for human trafficking and expand sex offender registration clears House
[nmpoliticalreport.com – 2/15/20] A bill that supporters say will get tough on human trafficking and expand who has to register as a sex offender in the state took another step forward Saturday when the House chamber passed it unanimously. There was no debate on the bill on the House floor and it passed 66-0. HB 237 expands the definition of human trafficking to include “harboring, maintaining, patronizing and providing” people for such purposes. It also raises the age definition of “child” from 16 to 18 in cases of forced sex…
Read MoreNewsrooms Rethink a Crime Reporting Staple: The Mugshot
[themarshallproject.org – 2/11/20] Some are red-eyed from crying, others visibly drunk. Some sport black eyes or jarring face tattoos. Occasionally, one offers an addled grin. Online mugshot galleries, where news organizations post rows of people who were arrested, once seemed like an easy moneymaker for struggling newsrooms: Each reader click to the next image translated to more page views and an opportunity for more advertising dollars. Published in partnership with Poynter. But faced with questions about the lasting impact of putting these photos on the internet, where they live forever,…
Read MoreMI: Federal judge invalidates portions of SORA
A federal judge has issued a ruling that invalidates portions of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry Act (SORA) that are unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland issued the decision on Friday in a lawsuit that argued the SORA was unconstitutional. Full Article Court Decision Press Release from the Michigan ACLU Related https://mitchellhamline.edu/sex-offense-litigation-policy/2020/02/14/john-doe-et-al-v-richard-snyder-e-d-mich-2020/
Read MoreMN: Minnesota sex offenders sue over residency restrictions in Apple Valley
[startribune.com – 2/13/20] A group of convicted sex offenders has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a far-reaching ordinance in Apple Valley that severely restricts where they can live, alleging that the ordinance effectively bars them from living anywhere in the city. In a federal class action lawsuit filed Wednesday, three sex offenders seek an injunction preventing the city of Apple Valley from enforcing the ordinance, which prohibits people convicted of certain sex offenses from living within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, churches and child care centers.…
Read MoreMD: Maryland mom calls for more restrictions on lifetime sex offenders in Senate Bill 320
[wjla.com – 2/11/20] WASHINGTON (ABC7) — “HI, my name is Ann Kenny, I am a single mother of three daughters from St. Mary’s County,” says Annie Kenny in front of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. She is asking Maryland lawmakers to overhaul state guidelines on sex offenders by requiring lifetime supervision in Senate Bill 320. Read the full article
Read MoreMD: Baltimore County lawmaker proposes banning student sex offenders from school campuses
[baltimoresun.com – 2/10/20] A Baltimore County state senator is drafting a proposal to prohibit student sex offenders from school campuses statewide. Baltimore County state Sen. Kathy Klausmeier on Monday said the bill would apply to registered sex offenders regardless of their age — prekindergarten through high school. The state already has laws prohibiting other sex offenders from school campuses, she said. The proposal comes after Santino E. Sudano, a 21-year-old Parkville High School student, was charged in December with second degree rape, according to court documents. Sudano had pleaded guilty…
Read MoreMI: Sex offender registry – valuable resource or tool for public shaming?
A cursory glance at the Michigan Sex Offender Registry may reveal that someone who’s been convicted of a sex crime lives near you. Now what? Advocates for reforming the registry say this publicly available information not only doesn’t make communities safer, it actually has the potential to make them more dangerous. Those on the other side of the debate say the registry is a valuable tool that gives people the information they need to be aware of their surroundings and cognizant of potential threats. Full Article Related https://www.woodtv.com/news/target-8/sex-offender-hopes-his-story-will-help-change-registry/
Read MoreTN: Teen rapists to be charged as adults, added to sex offender registry under bills
One lawmaker is pushing for harsher penalties for teens convicted of rape in Tennessee. The new legislation comes after two then-13-year-old boys were convicted of holding down a Clarksville girl, raping her and filming it. Just when the girl’s family thought they would get justice, a judge handed down a sentence of only six months in juvenile detention for one boy and six months probation at home for the other. Neither boy was added to the state’s sex offender registry. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Committee Advances Megan’s Law Initiative
The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee has advanced a Megan’s Law initiative (S-205) introduced by Sen. Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove of the 9th District, to enhance the community notification process for sex offenders in a community. Under the legislation, “The state Attorney General would be required to establish a means for providing e-mail notifications when a sex offender listed on the internet registry registers a new address in a different county or zip code from the offender’s previous address,” a delegation…
Read MoreWI: People living near violent sex offenders push for changes to state’s Chapter 980 law
Kristine Knickmeier, Kelly Kopecky and Tom Hergert did not know each other before last summer, but are now united in a fight to make changes to how violent sex offenders are placed under the state’s Chapter 980 law. Knickmeier lives in Stoughton. She can see one home housing violent sex offenders out her front door. There’s another down the road. “It does affect people and you never know the next time there’s a for sale sign, who’s moving in,” she said. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Federal judge to hear latest arguments in case of sex offender registry ruled unconstitutional
UPDATE 2/5: Hearing today to decide whether to remove thousands from Michigan sex offender registry Also see: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/02/constitutional-fight-for-michigan-sex-offender-rights-now-before-federal-judge.html [michiganradio.org – 2/3/20] Lawyers will make their case in front of a federal judge on Wednesday over what to do about the state’s sex offender registry. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled nearly four years ago that many of the requirements of Michigan’s registry are unconstitutional. But the law hasn’t been changed, and people continue to be on the list. “The court has said that this registry is so ineffective, that it…
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