[floridaactioncommittee.org – 8/12/19] We often get questions from people who are confused by the application of Packingham (the SCOTUS decision that said Government cannot restrict access to social media) to their situation. To simplify: Packingham benefits people NOT ON PROBATION/SUPERVISED RELEASE. If you are on probation, a restriction on social media/internet access CAN be imposed. Packingham DOES NOT prevent a private business (ie: Social Media platform) from restricting your access to their platform. Read the full Florida Action Committee article
Read MoreCategory: National
AK: Without guidance, Alaska judges to ‘muddle through’ sex offender registry removal decisions
[ktuu.com – 8/9/19] ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – Without guidance, Alaska Superior Court judges will have to “muddle their way through” decisions over how a person can apply to be removed from the sex offender registry, says John Skidmore, the director of the criminal division with the Department of Law. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court determined that people on the sex offender registry had a right to due process, effectively meaning they could apply to be removed from the registry if they can prove they are no longer dangerous. Currently, there…
Read MoreWI: Students can face fines for sexting in Pewaukee
[cbs58.com – 8/9/19] PEWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) – The Village of Pewaukee is taking action to address the prevalence of sexting among minors by enacting an ordinance that allows police to issue citations for those caught exchanging nude photos or videos through electronic devices. “The whole idea is to change children’s behavior,” said Chief Timothy Heier of the Pewaukee Police Department. “Get them to stop and make better choices in life.” Sexting is not unique to the Village of Pewaukee. A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association…
Read MorePentagon launches Catch program to identify serial sex offenders in the military
[stripes.com – 8/5/19] WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has launched a new program that aims to find serial sex offenders in the military by compiling information into a database submitted by sexual-assault survivors. The program, called Catch a Serial Offender, or Catch, allows survivors of sexual assault who are submitting a restricted report to provide information confidentially about the sexual assault incident as well as the accused offender to military investigators so they can try to identify serial offenders, according to the Pentagon announcement released Monday. The program was first announced…
Read MoreFL shaming: Could your real estate agent be a sex offender? You likely would never know
[palmbeachpost.com – 3/2/19] Maureen Stilwell had a bad feeling about the property manager in her Wellington neighborhood. He didn’t fit in well with the close-knit community. Folks didn’t like him, said Stilwell, who was on the board of her homeowner’s association at the time. Stilwell did a little digging. She quickly discovered that her community property manager was a registered sex offender. “I was amazed it came right up on Google,” she said. “I emailed the rest of the board and said, ‘We have to get rid of this guy…
Read MoreFL: Convicted sex offender drowned in Duval County jail cell toilet after beating
[firstcoastnews.com – 8/1/19] JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The inmate killed inside his Duval County Jail cell Tuesday was drowned in his jail cell toilet in addition to being beaten by his cellmate, First Coast News learned Wednesday. Paul Dixon, 43, was charged with 2nd-degree murder after police say he killed cellmate _, 56, on the fifth floor of the Duval County jail. Multiple sources tell First Coast News that ____, a convicted sex offender, was beaten by Dixon who then drowned him in his jail cell toilet. The official cause of…
Read MoreMore churches are checking the national sex offender registry. Is it helping?
[religionnews.com – 7/30/19] Since they were first offered an opportunity to pool their resources and buy background checks on volunteers and employees at a discount 11 years ago, about a third of Southern Baptist churches have signed up for the OneSource program from LifeWay Christian Resources. Earlier this year, LifeWay reported that 16,000 congregations and other church organizations ran background checks on men and women it hired through a service called backgroundchecks.com. (The Southern Baptist Convention has so far resisted calls to set up a database of its own, saying…
Read MoreVA: Sex Offenders’ Social Media Notice Law Upheld
Virginia’s law requiring sex offenders to provide law enforcement officials with information about their social media identity is constitutional, a Virginia appeals court ruled. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Convicted Arizona sex offender must register in Texas
A three-judge panel with the Texas 14th Court of Appeals determined July 11 that a person must register as a sex offender in Texas if they were convicted of sexual abuse via Arizona law. Full Article
Read MoreUS mass incarceration damages health and shortens lives
[thelancet.com – July 2019] The USA has a problem with incarceration. Since 1970, the number of people incarcerated has climbed from less than 500 000 to 2·3 million. Despite only 5% of the world’s population living in the country, the USA imprisons nearly 25% of all incarcerated people globally; the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. The sheer scale of imprisonment in the USA and its unequal burden on people from minority and poor backgrounds raises concerns about its impact on the health and wellbeing of the national population. While…
Read MoreAR: Arkansas Sex offenders barred from Halloween activities with new law
[myarklamiss.com – 7/25/19] FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA) — We are less than 100 days away from Halloween, and after Wednesday, parents won’t have to be as scared about sending the kids off to trick-or-treat. Nothing is more important to Jennifer Quick than her four kids. “My children’s safety is a top priority,” she said. And as Act 463 goes into effect, she takes a sigh of relief. “I feel like the lawmakers finally putting in some effort towards the safety of our children is a big deal and I think it’s…
Read MoreFL: Court Rules Against Sex Offender On Internet Use
[usf.edu – 7/25/19] Rejecting First Amendment arguments, a state appeals court Wednesday upheld restrictions on internet use by a sex offender. The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal came in a Hillsborough County case in which Quinton Alford was sentenced to 10 years of sex-offender probation for kidnapping and three years of sex-offender probation for sexual battery. The terms of probation included barring Alford from using social media and prevented internet use except for work or shopping. Alford argued that the restrictions were overly broad and violated First…
Read MoreMO: Sees statewide drop of unaccounted for sex offenders, 21 percent improvement reported
Fewer sex offenders are missing or unaccounted for in Missouri than in years past. Last year, State Auditor Nicole Galloway’s office found that 1,300 sex offenders weren’t properly registering on the state’s sex offender website. Tuesday Galloway said News 4 that law enforcement has reduced that number by 21 percent due to hard work and better accuracy. “The sex offender registry is a public safety tool. People expect it to be accurate,” she said. “If information is held by highway patrol or local law enforcement, it’s imperative that it’s accurate,…
Read MoreCO: State and local laws push more registered sex offenders into low-income communities
The laws requiring the names of convicted sex offenders nationwide to be catalogued, and available to the public, bear the names of children sexually assaulted and murdered by predators who had committed sex offenses before. The goal was to prevent the same from happening to other children. The Jacob Wetterling Act. Megan’s Law. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The intent of the laws may be unassailable. But throughout the country, they have largely sequestered sex offenders in low-income neighborhoods. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Cops Gave ____ A Pass While Making More Than 7,000 Arrests For Similar Offenses
The New York Police Department allowed wealthy financier and convicted sex offender ____ ____ to skip dozens of court-mandated check-ins with law enforcement for more than eight years before he was arrested and charged with the sex trafficking of minors, the Washington Post reported earlier this year. During roughly that same period, cops in New York state made at least 7,061 arrests for similar violations of the state’s complicated sex offender registration law, according to data obtained by HuffPost. Several of those arrests include people who committed minor violations, like…
Read MoreIL: Wayside residents sue City of Aurora, challenge state’s residency laws for registered sex offenders
The 19 child sex offenders who were told they must leave Wayside Cross Ministries by July 26 have filed a civil federal lawsuit against the city of Aurora, arguing the men should not have to move and challenging the state’s residency laws for registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Board
The Supreme Judicial Court vacated and set aside a superior court judgment affirming a Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) decision to classify John Doe as a level two sex offender, holding that there was not substantial evidence to support the hearing examiner’s decision to classify Doe as a level two sex offender by clear and convincing evidence. SORB classified Doe as a level two sex offender after Doe was convicted of two counts of open and gross lewdness. The superior court affirmed. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment, holding…
Read MorePA: A Kidnapping Law Could Unravel a Life
Friday, June 21, started like any other day for ____ ____. The Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, resident finished his overnight shift at a food-packaging plant and stopped for breakfast around 7 a.m. before making his way home. While driving through town, ____, 22, saw a girl who he thought was a friend of his younger sister. Rain appeared imminent to ____ and there was a slight drizzle, so he stopped to ask if she needed a ride. When he pulled up beside the girl, he realized that she wasn’t his sister’s friend…
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