A proposal before lawmakers would make it illegal for any registered sex offender to temporarily or permanently live within 1,000 feet of a school, childcare facility, playground or park. Full Article Also see HI: Dozens of sex predators registered as living in Oahu parks
Read MoreCategory: National
CA: Wiener legislation seeks to end ‘blatant discrimination’ in sex offender registry laws
A new state bill introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, could possibly change the way young offenders, specifically those who identify as LGBT, are put on the state’s sex offender registry list, Wiener’s office announced Tuesday. Currently, while consensual sex between 15- to 17-year-olds and a partner within 10 years of age is illegal, vaginal intercourse between the two does not require an offender to register as a sex offender. Other forms of intercourse such as oral and anal intercourse require sex offender registration. That practice, according to Wiener,…
Read MoreIL: Court tosses lawsuit in sex-video suicide case
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit brought against a suburban Chicago school by parents of a student who killed himself after staff warned him he may have to register as a sex offender because they suspected he made a video of himself having sex with a classmate without her knowledge. Full Article Opinion https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/illinois/ilndce/1:2017cv04036/340584/114/0.pdf?ts=1547809387
Read MoreMI: ACLU suit seeks changes to Michigan sex offender registry
Civil rights advocates say ___ is an example of how thousands of people have been unfairly penalized by the Michigan Sex Offender Registry more than two years after the Sixth Circuit Court ruled the state’s changes retroactively putting people on the list for life were unconstitutional. Full Article http://www.aclumich.org/article/what-you-need-know-about-does-v-snyder-ii http://www.aclumich.org/SORAinfo
Read MoreNH: Relief for Some Persons on the NH Sex Offender Registry
Effective June 6, 2016, in New Hampshire, Tier 2 and Tier 3 sex offenders who were convicted before 1992 have a clear process by which they can seek to be relieved of sex offender registration requirements. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Women Against Registry Call to Action – Video visits replacing in-person visits.
Seminole County Jail inmates can no longer handle letters or pictures mailed by family and friends as a new system requires those incarcerated to view digital copies of their messages. Under an agreement between the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and Smart Communications Holding Inc., a Tampa-based company, the jail also plans to replace all in-person visits at the jail with a video-visitation system. SEE: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-seminole-county-jail-mail-20190111-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3YhVlYIZa2oPyeq6XJzEep-Z7F44kPdZrbhkocnQxM0UyQWjwPEZrJI5o If you are in Seminole County please call your state senator and representative to express your concern about the rights of the families who have…
Read MoreSC bill would prohibit sex offenders from working, volunteering around kids
[live5news.com – 1/15/19] MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Right now, registered sex offenders are allowed to work and volunteer around kids, but a South Carolina bill introduced last week in the State House of Representatives could change that. The bill says it would make it “unlawful for a sex offender to work or perform volunteer service with or around minor children under certain circumstances unless approved by a circuit court order that requires the offender’s employment or volunteer service be recorded in the offender’s sex offender registry file, to provide…
Read MoreNE: People question legality of sex offender living in assisted living facility
[wowt.com – 1/14/19] FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (WOWT) – Concerns have been raised over a registered sex offender who is living in an assisted living community in Fort Calhoun. A few people connected to those living in the community are questioning whether or not the arrangement is legal. There are 48 apartments for seniors at the Autumn Pointe Assisted Living Services. One of those units is occupied by a registered sex offender, but the company officials said no one living in the community is at risk. Amy Wilcox Burns works for…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Registry: A Valuable Public Safety Tool?
If you have a few minutes, read Florida’s Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review 2018 (www.oppaga.state.fl.us). Even if you don’t live in Florida, it’s an interesting slog thru what governmental bureaucracy thinks is important when it comes to the registry. The highlight of this auditing monstrosity is the attached letter at the end of the report from Fl. Dept. of Law and Enforcement to the coordinator of the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Governmental Accountability, stating “the registry is a valuable public safety tool”. I read the report…
Read MoreNARSOL: RIT study is Butner Redux deja vu
[narsol.org – 1/7/19] Michael M . . . A recent study conducted by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, is already being cited in Federal Court cases to support the false presumption of a high rate of unreported child molestations by those convicted of child pornography offenses. This is despite the fact that it suffers from exactly the same serious flaws and inaccuracies as the infamous and thoroughly discredited “Butner Redux” study, which first appeared in the Journal of Family Violence in 2009. For those who may…
Read MoreOR: Living with a label
For most youth, childhood is a seemingly innocent and simple time, typically full of school work, play time and life lessons. But when a child becomes a registered sex offender when they are as young as 10, those years are full of probation, detention and life lessons of another kind: living with a label. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Miami-Herald: FAC Opinion Published
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 1/4/19. Not available on miamiherald.com] An opinion piece in response to a recent article in the Miami Herald was published today. The text of the response and an image of the article as it appeared are below. Your December 31, 2018 article, “Report: Number of sex offenders living in Florida is growing.” correctly points out that the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) does not include any explanation for the rise in the number of sex offenders in our State. However, the reason is obvious.…
Read MoreIL: Man sues state’s attorney, officials for $10M over sex offender registration
A convicted sex offender who claims he was innocent is suing St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly and state officials for $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, alleging his reputation within his community continues to be irreparably injured by his registration status. Full Article
Read MoreNew US Sentencing Commission Report: Mandatory Minimums for Federal Sex Offenses
[ussc.gov – 1/1/19] Summary (Published January 2019) This publication examines the application of mandatory minimum penalties specific to federal sex offenses; it is the sixth and final release in the Commission’s series of publications on mandatory minimum penalties. Using fiscal year 2016 data, this publication includes analyses of the two types of federal sex offenses carrying mandatory minimum penalties, sexual abuse offenses and child pornography offenses, as well their impact on the Federal Bureau of Prisons population. In addition to analyzing child pornography offenses generally, this publication analyzes child pornography…
Read MoreFL: Report: Number of sex offenders living in Florida is growing
[miamiherald.com – 12/31/18] TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The number of sex offenders and predators living in Florida has been rising steadily for more than a decade, according to a new report put together by legislative auditors. The report issued late last week stated that nearly 29,000 registered sex offenders and predators now reside in the state. That’s an increase of 53 percent since 2005, when state legislators first ordered their auditors to review the state’s efforts to keep an up-to-date registry of sex offenders. The report by the Office of Program Policy…
Read MoreThe Dobbs Wire: Rogue judge driven off the bench
[The Dobbs Wire email – 12/25/18] A Pittsburgh criminal court judge has finally submitted her resignation. Judge Donna Jo McDaniel’s expected exit comes after repeated rebukes by a Pennsylvania appeals court, extensive news coverage, the ire of at least one editorial board, and talk of an investigation by the state’s judicial conduct commission. First elected to the bench in 1985, McDaniel was driven from office for failing to deliver fair and impartial justice – treating individuals charged with sex offenses (and their defense counsel) terribly, imposing excessive sentences and repeatedly…
Read MoreMS: Mississippi Town Chose Sex Offender as Its Christmas Parade Grand Marshal
[newsweek.com – 12/17/18] Residents of small town in Mississippi said they do not care that its Christmas parade grand marshal has been listed on the sex offender registry in two different states. Michael Clay Saripkin, a convicted sex offender, served as grand marshal of the Sardis Christmas parade on December 11. Some residents of the Mississippi town told local media that they saw no problem with Saripkin’s role in the Christmas parade. Carolyn Whaley, owner of The Eclectic Emporium on Main Street, told WMC that everyone in town knew Saripkin…
Read MoreRonald L. Book: I thought sexual abuse only happened to other people’s children. Then I woke up.
[usatoday.com – 12/10/18] Nearly 17 years ago, I woke up from a nightmare I didn’t realize I was in. If you’re a parent whose child has suffered sexual abuse at the hands of someone you know and trust, you will understand what I mean. Sitting in a family counselor’s office, the world as I knew it came crashing down as I learned that my eldest daughter, Lauren, had been sexually, emotionally and physically abused nearly every day from the ages of 12 to 16. I worked hard to provide my…
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