Source: fox5sandiego.com 1/3/22 SAN DIEGO — Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who represents the 80th Assembly District in San Diego, announced Monday she will be resigning from her position. … According to Gonzalez, she will leave her position effective Wednesday and plans to lead the California Labor Federation starting in July. Read the full article
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Source: floridatoday.com 1/3/22 Jason ____ is sitting in Brevard County Jail waiting to appear before a judge on a charge of violating parole. He’d rather be anywhere else, but the reality is he’s not wanted many other places. A charge against him made in 1998 at 15 years old, of which he was convicted in 2000, has marked him as a sex offender. He is one of 735 registered sex offenders in Brevard County, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That status makes Jason something of a…
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Source: nypost.com 1/1/22 On Nov. 8, Old Dominion sociology and criminology professor Allyn Walker gave an interview in which he asserted the need to destigmatize pedophiles by redefining them as “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs). Walker stated, “We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt,” and that when people “hear the term ‘pedophile,’ they automatically assume that it means a sex offender, and that isn’t true.” Shortly after this interview, students at Old Dominion protested over the professor’s attempt to obfuscate the nature…
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Source: wgem.com 12/29/21 QUINCY (WGEM) – There’s a change to a law that has to do with possession of child pornography. Legislators closed a loophole that allowed family members found to be in possession of child pornography to escape jail time. Starting on Jan. 1, possession of child pornography when the child is a household or family member is a non-probational offense. This means the offender will serve jail time if convicted. Previously, this category of offenders could receive a sentence of probation for their pornography conviction. Read the full…
Read MoreComments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Jan 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.
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Source: ksl.com 12/30/21 SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that could come up in the 2022 legislative session would change restrictions for sex offenders. The bill is sponsored by Utah state Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine. The bill that could come up in next month’s legislative session would amend the state’s sex offender registry. Senate Bill 0052 would allow registered sex offenders to go to places like schools and parks, if they are with an adult. Also, if passed, the bill would replace the term “sex offender” with “registrant.” Read the…
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Source: parsol.org 12/28/21 December 22, 2021 has seen the release of many case opinions from the PA Supreme Court (SCOPA) with Commonwealth v. David Santana being the biggest win for our advocacy efforts. In a 5-2 decision, SCOPA affirmed the Superior Court’s opinion that “Mr. Santana’s registration requirement under SORNA was an after-the-fact punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Accordingly, he had no duty to comply with those requirements and his conviction for ignoring them, under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4915.1(a)(3) [failure to provide accurate information], was a manifest injustice and must be…
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Source: thecrimereport.org 12/23/21 The holiday season is often a time for family gatherings, and while many will be preparing for reunions in the coming days, it is important to remember the roadblocks returning citizens face. For instance, background checks cause thousands of potential collateral consequences that can impact things like housing or employment. As my story explains, these consequences can even inappropriately spill over to a family reunification. On May 27, 1994, I lost my freedom. I was sent to prison for a crime I did not commit.. Everything I…
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Source: antiguaobserver.com 12/27/21 Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin says residents will soon be alerted when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood by the creation of a sex offenders registry. … Now, the AG says that once convicted, the names of all sexual offenders will be placed on a public registry from early next year. Read the full article
Read MoreSource: freep.com 12/24/21 Clouds hovered overhead on the morning Charles Pugh, 50, took his first steps to freedom outside the doors of the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility into the brisk December air. Pugh was met by his friends and family who were waiting to pick him up in Ionia from the place where he had spent the last 5½ years following his 2016 convictions on two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 16. “What I did was wrong,” Pugh admitted to the Detroit Free Press…
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Source: wired.com 12/23/21 For millions of people, details from an arrest—even a mistaken one—live on after being sold to data brokers. And the state profits. In April 2018, Adnan (a pseudonym) was wrongfully arrested in Newark, New Jersey, on the basis of an incorrect arrest warrant. A brief period in jail led to the criminal court judge dismissing the incident and moving to have Adnan’s arrest record expunged. A few days later, Adnan began receiving mysterious text messages from several “reputation management” companies that promised to help him get his…
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Source: live5news.com 12/22/21 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A South Carolina man is suing Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel, claiming that he still has to register as a sex offender for a buggery charge in which he says he was convicted, and later pardoned, for having consensual sex with another man. The man, identified as “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says he was convicted for the charge in 2001, two years before the Supreme Court ruled that laws that criminalized homosexual sex violated due process and are…
Read MoreSource: ACSOL ACSOL President Chance Oberstein was recently honored in the Wall Street Journal after being selected as a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is provided to individuals based upon their career longevity, philanthropic endeavors and lasting contributions. “We congratulate Chance Oberstein for this well deserved recognition,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “ACSOL is indeed fortunate to have Chance serve as president of the board of directors for more than five years.” During Mr. Oberstein’s tenure as president, ACSOL has successfully challenged residency…
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Source: denverpost.com 12/20/21 Under pressure from the governor and the state’s public safety director, Colorado’s Sex Offender Management Board has reversed its controversial November decision to scrap the term “sex offenders” in its own guiding principles in favor of “adults who commit sexual offenses.” The board, commonly referred to as the SOMB, voted 16-2 on Dec. 17 to “table” the language-change matter and refer it back to a subcommittee. It’s possible the board votes again to change terminology in the future, but the tabling means it’s not likely to happen…
Read MoreSource: ACSOL The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed today a below guideline sentence issued to a registrant by a federal trial court. The registrant pled guilty to one charge — attempted coercion or enticement of a minor — and could have been sentenced to prison for up to 57 months. Instead, the trial court sentenced the registrant to time served (two months) as well as 120 months of supervised release, one year of home confinement, participation in a sex offender treatment program and registration as a…
Read MorePlease join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next monthly Zoom meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 15, 2022, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific Time and will last at least two hours. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to show or hide yourself, or you can use the Zoom phone number to call in to the…
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Source: courthousenews.com 12/18/2021 A group of registered sex offenders have asked the appeals court to overturn a federal judge’s ruling in favor of a sheriff’s office that posted signs telling trick-or-treaters to keep away from the offenders’ homes on Halloween. ATLANTA (CN) — A class of registered sex offenders asked an 11th Circuit panel Friday to overturn a federal judge’s ruling allowing Georgia sheriff’s deputies to put warning signs on their lawns before Halloween. The Butts County Sheriff’s Office has argued in legal briefs that it was merely trying to…
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Source: blueridgenow.com 12/17/21 A Flat Rock Middle School employee has been terminated after her arrest by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office on charges of having a registered sex offender on campus, according to police. The Sheriff’s Office was notified Dec. 16 that Maria ____ is married to a registered sex offender, Jeffery _____, and that he had been seen in a vehicle on the school campus, according to a HCSO news release. It is illegal for a registered sex offender to be on school property at any time. Jeffery is…
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