[local10.com – 11/18/19] MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of people living in a Miami homeless camp is being told to leave. This is happening in the middle of Homeless Awareness Week. … It’s now so large that the county is deeming it a sanitary nuisance and a safety issue, sending cease and desist notices to dozens who call the street home. The order comes into effect as the county is promoting its hunger and homelessness awareness week, asking the public to be more considerate of residents without roofs over…
Read MoreCategory: National
OK: New sex offender reporting law in effect
As of November 1, sex offenders residing with a minor child must now report to the statewide centralized Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) hotline. Previously, only the parent, stepparent or grandparent of a minor had to report to the hotline. Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, authored the bill at the request of DHS to better protect all of Oklahoma’s children. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: Registered Forever: NJ Offenders Fight for Reprieve
[courthousenews.com – 11/18/19] TRENTON, N.J. (CN) — A lawyer for New Jersey urged the state Supreme Court on Monday for a strict reading of a law that lets registered sex offenders off the registry so long as they keep a clean record for 15 years. “Conviction means what we say it does, and that’s the conviction that triggers Megan’s Law,” said Special Deputy Attorney General Frank DuCoat, referencing the 1994 law enacted after 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by a neighbor who had already been convicted twice for…
Read MoreOH: First emergency homeless shelter opens in Fremont
[nbc24.com – 11/18/19] FREMONT, Ohio (WNWO) — More than a year of dedication has led to the first emergency homeless shelter in Sandusky County. … The facility holds up to eight people per night, and will take anyone that is not a sex offender. Read the full article
Read MoreFL: Inmate gets wish, sentenced to death for third Florida murder
[newsherald.com – 11/18/19] Rocky Ali Beamon, a three-time killer who publicly professed his hatred for sex offenders, had his wish granted Friday when he was sentenced to death for the 2017 murder of 27-year-old Nicholas Anderson. Beamon had been previously sentenced to die on Jan. 28 for killing a fellow inmate in 2012 at Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County. He had pleaded guilty to the crime and waived his right to trial. … In May of 2018, Beamon wrote a letter to 14th District Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson…
Read MoreTX: ‘Wept like babies that day’: Man recalls family’s reaction after child sex abuse conviction overturned
[kvue.com – 11/15/19] GEORGETOWN, Texas — For more than 20 years, Troy Mansfield was branded a “registered sex offender,” a shameful asterisk by his name that followed him everywhere. “I took my stepdad’s name and I wanted it to be a good name,” Mansfield said. “And I felt like somehow or another it got trashed by me, and I didn’t mean for it to.” The father of two sons struggled to support his family from a cleaning business, purposely in his wife’s name, Amy Mansfield. “We lived between $16,000 and…
Read MoreNY: Sex offender rules an inconsistent maze
[timesunion.com – 11/9/19] ALBANY — A New York law that is intended to protect children from convicted sex offenders has created a maze of contradictory policies and regulations, leading to inconsistent enforcement and confusing online tracking systems. The disparities have also resulted in sharply different residency requirements for offenders convicted of similar crimes and an increasingly perplexing system that makes it difficult for the public to confirm whether offenders in their area are in compliance, according to a Times Union review of public databases, court records, an internal state memorandum…
Read MoreFL: Florida Sheriff’s Association says Halloween initiative targeting sex offenders was a success
[wtsp.com – 11/12/19] LARGO, Fla. — The Florida Sheriff’s Association is happy with the Halloween initiative to keep kids safe during trick or treating and related events. The operation involved 18 counties that targeted sexual offenders and predators to ensure that they followed the law. This involved a three-day operation that included physical checks on every sexual offender/predator to ensure they are properly registered and in compliance. … Hours dedicated to this operation: 774 hours Read how they were successful [in huge overtime pay]
Read MoreNM: Sex offenders say New Mexico depriving them of due process
[lcsun-news.com – 11/11/19] The question of whether sex offenders must register in New Mexico for crimes they committed in other states is making its way through the courts again. Eight plaintiffs, each listed as “John Doe,” have filed a petition in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, alleging the state Department of Public Safety and five county sheriffs failed to provide them due process in determining whether their out-of-state offense is “equivalent” to a New Mexico crime that would require them to register in this state. Albuquerque-based lawyers Susan Burgess-Farrell…
Read MoreVA: Convicted Sex Offender Elected to Virginia Senate
[theohiostar.com – 11/11/19] One of the many Democrats elected to the Virginia Senate on Tuesday is a convicted sex offender and disbarred lawyer, according to Breitbart. Joe Morrissey was jailed and lost his license to practice law after being convicted of having sex with his 17-year-old secretary. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor in the ensuing court case and served for only three months in a “work-release term.” He was also forced to resign from his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, but then ran again in the special…
Read MoreLA: Man removed ‘sex offender’ from his ID, and a judge dismissed the case. Why?
When a Lafayette Parish man removed the words “sex offender” from his state-issued ID, law enforcement officers said Louisiana law had been broken. A local judge saw things differently. Full Article
Read MoreNJ: New Jersey could soon compensate those wrongfully put on sex offender list
[nj.com – 11/7/19] Dion Harrell spent two decades on New Jersey’s sex offender registry. He had trouble finding a job. He couldn’t be alone with his kids. For a time, he was homeless. But when a DNA test finally proved his innocence, the state had nothing to offer him for those years. “I was surprised I wouldn’t get compensation,” Harrell said at a hearing in Trenton Thursday. If you can prove that you were wrongfully imprisoned in New Jersey, you can receive up to $50,000 for every year spent behind…
Read MoreAR: New sex offender laws now in effect in Arkansas
[ky3.com/ – 11/6/19 – NOTE that they linked to ACSOL at the bottom!] HARRISON, Ark. — Harrison Police Detective Ted Schaeffer makes sure sex offenders in his city are registered. “It’s almost a daily basis,” he said. Right now, he said there are more than 30 offenders Harrison. ASecureLife.com listed Arkansas as having the second-highest number of sex offenders per capita in the nation. “Arkansas has had a problem with multiple sex offenders not registering like they’re supposed to,” Schaeffer said. So in April, the state amended a law that…
Read MoreNEW Scam targeting registrants: Extortion letter
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 11/6/19] Courtesy of our affiliates at Texas Voices, we are learning of a new scam targeting persons on the registry. People are receiving letters in the mail with no return address, but personalized to them. The letter demands payment of money via bitcoin or they will notify all their neighbors of their status, their employers, their family members’ associates, church congregation, etc. Read the details on the Florida Action Committee website
Read MoreFL: Bringing Sense to Sex Offender Laws [Audio recording]
[Miami Law Explainer on soundcloud.com – 10/28/19] In the decade since the national shame of a colony of sex offenders made homeless by draconian residency restrictions, how far has the city and nation moved in finding humane and successful rehabilitation? Miami Law’s director of Tenants’ Rights Jeffrey Hearne parses the depressing lack of progress. Recorded October 28, 2019. Listen to the recording
Read MoreIN: Justices reject Fifth Amendment appeal of sex offender treatment
[theindianalawyer.com – 10/31/19] The Indiana Supreme Court has found no constitutional violation against a father who refused to participate in a sex offender treatment program that he argued would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Read more
Read MoreNM: Sex offenders suing New Mexico sheriffs, DPS
ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – More than a half dozen sex offenders who committed their crimes in other states say they’re being treated unfairly in New Mexico. Now, eight out-of-state sex offenders now living in New Mexico, calling themselves John Does, are suing the Department of Public Safety and various sheriffs to get their fair shot at a hearing. Full Article
Read MoreGA: Federal Judge Stops Halloween Signs
A federal district court judge today granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that prohibits law enforcement in Butts County, Georgia from posting signs in the front yards of registrants’ homes on Halloween. In his ruling, the judge stated that requiring registrants to allow the signs to remain in their front yards violated their First Amendment rights. Also in his ruling, the judge explained that a state law that requires law enforcement to identify registrants “does not require or authorize sheriffs to post signs in front of sex offenders’ homes, nor…
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