The board of directors for the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) has decided to withdraw its support from the vigil planned for Washington, D.C., in March 2023. The decision is based upon a belief held by a majority of board members that it is no longer safe to conduct the vigil given the highly polarized environment in the nation’s capitol. The ACSOL board of directors did not, however, withdraw its support for the conference to be held in the Washington, D.C., area on March 5 and March 6,…
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For People Just Leaving Prison, a Novel Kind of Support: Cash
Source: news.yahoo.com 7/9/22 Alwin Jacob Smith became a free man last summer after being locked up for 21 years because of what he calls “my little old rocky past” — most notably, robbery and drug possession. He worked hard while incarcerated, getting an associate degree in ministry, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and substance abuse support groups, and eventually leading those groups as a peer mentor. Smith’s release, which he celebrated with a steak-and-eggs breakfast, came about through a California law that allows prosecutors to reevaluate sentences to determine whether they…
Read MoreLGBTQ People on Sex Offender Registries in the US (Paper)
Source: UCLA in escholarship.org 5/2022 The United States has the world’s largest prison population. Overall, mass incarceration disproportionately impacts people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community. LGBTQ people are at increased risk for being targeted for sex crimes, as historical prejudice and stigma have depicted LGBTQ people—especially gay/bisexual men—as sexual predators. Despite this, little is known about LGBTQ people on sex offender registries in the United States. In this project, we surveyed people who are required to register on sex offender registries (SOR). Read and download the…
Read MoreThis Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind.
Last September, a psychiatrist named Edward Gripon traveled to Texas’ death row to meet a man he helped put there. He had testified at the 2006 trial of Ramiro Gonzales, who was facing a death sentence for kidnapping, raping and killing Bridget Townsend when they both were 18 years old. “This is a man who has demonstrated a tendency to want to control, to manipulate, and to take advantage of certain other individuals,” Gripon told the jury at the time, predicting that Gonzales would pose a risk of harming more…
Read MoreSC: Sex offenders begin applying to get off South Carolina registry
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — Sex offenders have begun petitioning the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to be removed from the state sex offender registry, according to a spokesperson with the department. Offenders are now able to apply to be removed from the registry after legislation signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in late May set up parameters to do so. The bill was in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling that said it was unconstitutional for the state not to have a process that allows sex offenders to be removed from the registry.…
Read MoreNC: What is Dads Against Predators? What to know about group tied to alleged attack at NC Target
Source: charlotteobserver.com 7/6/22 An incident that police say led to a gun being fired in a North Carolina Target store has raised questions about the group “Dads Against Predators,” its history and its presence in the state. Three men with ties to the organization lured a 25-year-old man to a Winston-Salem Target in late June and attacked him, according to police, leading the man to fire a gun in the store. It’s not the first time the group, also known as “D.A.P.,” has had run-ins with the law. Read the…
Read MoreWhy the U.S. Marshals Spend Millions on Sex-Offense Registrant Sweeps
Source: theappeal.org 7/8/22 The real aim of these operations might be to boost support for cops. Gary, a 62-year-old on Texas’s sex-offender registry, dates the problems with his neighbors to a visit by police in 2018. After a successful real estate career he lives in a relatively safe neighborhood outside Dallas, identifies as a conservative, and has friends on the police force. He’s donated to police charities, once giving $10,000 to the family of an officer killed on duty, he tells The Appeal. He was convicted of child pornography possession…
Read MoreWI: Wisconsin court rules against transgender sex offender
Source: wgno.com 7/7/22 MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled Thursday that a transgender woman cannot change her name because she is on the state’s sex offender registry and the law does not allow people on the registry to change their names. The court’s 4-3 decision upholds the rulings of two lower courts, which rejected the woman’s requests to change her name and avoid registering as a sex offender. Read the full article
Read MoreCA: Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty on probation, house arrest for not registering as sex offender
Source: yahoo.com 7/6/22 Kenneth Petty, husband to rapper Nicki Minaj, has been sentenced to probation and house arrest for failing to register as a sex offender, NBC and CBS Los Angeles report. Petty is also ordered to pay a $55,000 fine, in addition to spending three years on probation and a year in home detention, according to the local news outlets. “We appreciate and respect the Court’s decision granting the defense request for probation and home confinement,” Petty’s attorneys Michael Goldstein and Hagop Kuyumjian said in a statement to USA TODAY Wednesday. Read the…
Read MoreTN: Asset forfeiture laws expanded for sexual assault and kidnapping
Source: wkrn.com 7/5/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A new state law has expanded criminal asset forfeiture for 12 statutes, mostly surrounding rape and kidnapping. It’s one of the first laws of its kind in the United States. The new law means criminals who violate those laws could lose their homes, cars, weapons, and any property involved in the commission of the crime. State Representative Brandon Ogles of Williamson County sponsored the bill (HB 2271) and explained that if someone kidnaps a person in their car, police can seize the vehicle.…
Read MoreWI: Sex offender ‘won’t be released’ unless he accepts housing
Source: spmetrowire.com 7/1/22 The Stevens Point Police Department says a convicted sex offender has chosen to be homeless upon his release from prison on July 5. Cody ____, 28, was convicted in 2014 of having sexual intercourse with a then-13-year-old girl in 2010 after he invited the girl, and her friend, to his neighbor’s garage and provided them with marijuana that may have contained a “date rape” drug. Cody also had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old in 2012 and had her text him nude photos of herself, police say. While…
Read MoreGeneral Comments July 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of July 2022. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals: Don’t Bother Us With the Facts
The requirement to wear a GPS device is often levied upon individuals required to register. That requirement, however, is usually temporary and lasts no longer than the time in which a registrant is supervised under parole. The duration of that requirement was dramatically changed, however, in a recent decision issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a Wisconsin law that requires individuals convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions to wear a GPS for life. In that decision, the Court approved this Draconian requirement. …
Read MoreFL: Florida teen creates fake online persona to catch child predator
Source: www.wesh.com 6/29/22 FORT PIERCE, Fla. —A Florida teen is being credited with putting a child predator behind bars. According to WPBF, back in January, 38-year-old Zachary ___ of Jensen Beach started talking to who he believed was a 14-year-old girl named “Shayla” on the internet. “Shayla” was actually a 16-year-old boy who was trying to find predators in his area. “Here you have a 16-year-old boy wanting to take the matter into his own hands and find these child predators in his area, and he found one,” Callahan Walsh,…
Read MoreCA: California just showed why a national gun registry must never happen
Source: msn.com 6/29/22 While liberals hold up California as their blueprint for the country, the Golden State often proves why no one should consider it as an example. Now, the state has shown why gun registries must never be allowed. California’s Attorney General’s Office leaked the personal information of Californians who have a concealed carry permit while launching the state’s 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal. According to the Reload, the leaked information includes “the person’s full name, race, home address, date of birth, and date their permit was issued,” as well as “the type…
Read MoreUK: A man arrested for stealing a meat pastry took his own life after police incorrectly labelled him a pedophile
Source: businessinsider.in 6/25/22 A man arrested for stealing sausage rolls is alleged to have killed himself after police release papers incorrectly stated he’d been accused of a child sex offense, an inquest heard. Brian Temple, 34, was arrested for the alleged theft from British bakery chain Greggs in Teesside, England in 2017, according to Teesside Live. When discharged, his custody release papers wrongly stated that he had been detained for “engaging 13-15 year old in sexual activity,” a court heard, per the outlet. Temple showed his release papers with a…
Read MoreND: North Dakota’s sex offender registry gets update to provide residents more information
Source: kfyrtv.com 6/25/22 BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – In 1947, California became the first state in the US to have a sex offender registry program and, over the years, other states followed suit. North Dakota’s law was passed in 1991. The registries are meant to give residents the tools to protect themselves from victimization. Now, North Dakota’s registry is getting an upgrade to provide residents more information. The website, sexoffender.nd.gov, will now display photos of all offenders regardless of risk level and offer additional search functions to determine offender location and…
Read MoreACSOL July 23, 2022 Meeting
Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, July 23, on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to show…
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