A Washington Post investigation found hundreds of police officers have sexually exploited kids. The Washington Post obtained thousands of court filings, police records and other documents to report on law enforcement officers accused of crimes involving child sexual abuse. Read the findings of our investigation, Abused by the Badge. Information about some of the officers, including whom they worked for, what they were convicted of and any comments they provided, appear in this key. The Post tried to contact them and the lawyers who represented them in their criminal cases.…
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LA: Louisiana lawmakers approve surgical castration option for those guilty of sex crimes against kids
Source: apnews.com 6/3/24 BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana judges could order surgical castration for people convicted of sex crimes against young children under legislation approved Monday, and if Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signs it into law, the state apparently would be the first with such a punishment. The GOP-controlled Legislature passed the bill giving judges the option to sentence someone to surgical castration after the person has been convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes — including rape, incest and molestation — against a child under 13. A handful of…
Read MoreNY: This Law Effectively Banishes People from New York City (podcast)
Source: nyclu.org 6/6/24 SARA is billed as a way to protect New Yorkers from people who could harm children. But research shows these types of geographical restrictions don’t increase public safety. The NYCLU recently filed a lawsuit challenging the misleadingly-named Sexual Assault Reform Act, or SARA. SARA is a New York law that prevents certain people required to register on the state’s sex offender registry from knowingly being within 1,000 feet of a school at any time and for any reason. It’s also been interpreted to prevent people subject to…
Read MoreHere Are the States That Allow Chemical Castration as Punishment
Source: newsweek.com 6/6/24 Louisiana lawmakers passed legislation this week that allows judges to sentence child sex offenders to surgical castration. Assuming the bill is signed into law, as is expected, Louisiana will become the latest member of a growing list of states to have a castration law on the books. … Several states have laws allowing chemical castration. Alabama passed a bill in 2019, a year after Oklahoma legislators made a bid to do the same. California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin also have some form of…
Read MoreAction Alert for CA: Stop Face Surveillance/Recognition AB 1814
Source: CA ACLU [ACSOL is passing on this action alert because facial recognition can also be used against registrants. CA registrants and supporters, please take this fast and easy way to fight against this!] AB 1814 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Do not be fooled. This bill emboldens police to expand dangerous face surveillance, while writing into law the same failed rules that played a role in the wrongful arrests of innocent people, mostly Black men. If passed, it would effectively greenlight an invasive surveillance technology that is racist,…
Read MoreWI: Washington Co. challenging placement of violent sex offender in Town of Trenton
Source: washingtoncountyinsider.com 6/8/24 The chairman in the Town of Trenton is speaking out about steps being taken to proactively protect the people in his community as Washington County officials have been notified about the possible placement of a violent sex offender. Mike Lipscomb was notified by the Washington County Sheriff prior to the news being released that Outagamie County was looking to place a violent sex offender in a group home in the Town of Trenton. Lipscomb, Sheriff Martin Schulteis and the county attorney jumped into action in an effort…
Read MoreSeventh Circuit: Heck Bars Civil Rights Challenges to Civil Commitment
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 6/1/24 On December 20, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that an Illinois prisoner’s challenge to civil commitment as a sexually violent person after release cannot be raised under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, unless the underlying civil commitment is first terminated in his favor or shown to be invalid “through another outlet.” The ruling extended application of the principal laid out in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), that a civil rights challenge to prison disciplinary action is barred whenever a favorable…
Read MoreNationwide Action Alert: Tell the US Sentencing Commission how to create a fairer, more just sentencing system
Source: Judge Carlton W. Reeves, Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission 6/5/24 I’m writing to ask you for a small favor. Most summers, the Sentencing Commission announces the work we plan to prioritize over the coming year. This summer, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Commission’s creation (and twenty years post Booker), we’re doing something different. We’re asking people – including you – to tell us what to do this year and in the years to come. My request is this: please take five minutes of your time to tell the…
Read MoreFederal Supervised Release Is a Wasteful Mess. A Bipartisan Bill in Congress Is Trying To Fix That.
Source: reason.com 6/4/24 When Daniel Brown was released early from federal prison in 2020, 15 years into a 42-year sentence for drug and firearm possession offenses, he was determined not to squander the chance he had been given. By most outward measures, he’s accomplished that. He’s stayed out of trouble. He’s a project manager at a construction company and married with children. But like the vast majority of people convicted of a federal offense, Brown was also sentenced to supervision following his release, 10 years of it. That means that…
Read MoreCO: How Did a Local From a Prominent American Indian Tribe Get Stuck in a Sex Offender System That Could Keep Him Behind Bars for Life?
Source: 5280.com June 2024 Most mornings last year, John Red Cloud would rise before daybreak in his home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in southwest South Dakota. He’d walk to the porch of his house and peer out at the shadows of undulating, grassy hills in the distance. Eventually, dawn would spread across the reservation, illuminating the ancestral land where Red Cloud had been born and raised and now was rebuilding his life. On those mornings, Red Cloud stretched his arms skyward and gave thanks to his creator. After…
Read MoreLA: Louisiana Passes Surgical Castration Bill for Child Molesters, waiting for Governor’s signature
Source: nytimes.com 6/4/24 Judges in Louisiana could order people who are convicted of sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill that state lawmakers passed overwhelmingly on Monday. While Louisiana and a few other states, including California, Texas and Florida, have long allowed chemical castration, the option to punish sex offenders via surgical castration — which is far more intrusive — appears to be the first in the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and prisoners’ advocacy groups. The bill now awaits the signature of…
Read MoreCourt Grants ACSOL Motion to Intervene in CA SVP Case
Source: ACSOL A judge in California Placer County Superior Court has granted a motion filed by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) to intervene in the case of William Stephenson who has been designated a sexually violent predator (SVP). Intervention allows ACSOL to assist Mr. Stephenson in his quest to be placed in a residence in Placer County, his county of domicile, or another location. Due in large part to opposition from the District Attorney of Placer County, Mr. Stephenson has already waited for more than 850 days…
Read MoreACSOL Online Meeting June 15, 2024
You are invited to join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci and an ACSOL board member for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday June 15 online 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 you can call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. No government officials are allowed to attend the meetings. This meeting will be recorded. Within a…
Read MoreTrump’s case casts a spotlight on movement to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies
Source: apnews.com 5/31/24 [ACSOL is posting this non-partisan article about voting rights because it affects registrants] WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican-led states have historically made it difficult for those convicted of a felony to vote or barred it altogether. Now the Republicans’ presumptive nominee for president, who lives in one of those states, is among them. Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case puts a spotlight on a wider movement to restore rights that has been gaining momentum in recent years, with the notable exception of Trump’s newly…
Read MoreGeneral Comments June 2024
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of June 2024. 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 MoreThe US might restrict social media in prisons and inmates are worried: ‘I may lose my voice soon’
Source: theguardian.com 5/28/24 A proposed change to US prison rules is threatening to punish inmates for using social media or directing others to do so on their behalf, severing what some view as a vital link to the outside world. Delores Eggerson manages her son’s social media accounts while he serves a life sentence in Arkansas. For almost 22 years, she’s logged into his Facebook from her home in Manville, Texas, screenshotting messages from old classmates, or photos from family reunions. It’s become her way of feeling connected – a…
Read MoreCA: Beware of attorneys offering applications for gubernatorial pardons
Source: ACSOL Beware of attorneys offering to submit applications for gubernatorial pardons in California based upon the promise that a pardon will remove you from the registry. The California Department of Justice recently announced that it “will not terminate the requirement to register on the basis of a gubernatorial pardon unless it includes a finding of innocence.” The announcement is reflected on the Governor’s website Any attorney promising that a pardon without a finding of innocence will terminate the requirement to register is incorrect and should not be taking your…
Read MoreNY: Supreme Court rules for NRA in New York government coercion battle
Source: nbcnews.com 5/30/24 [ACSOL is posting this as it could relate to eventually making the registry non-public] WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the National Rifle Association can pursue a claim that a New York state official’s efforts to encourage companies to end ties with the gun rights group constituted unlawful coercion. The justices unanimously found that the NRA can move forward with arguments that its free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment were violated by the actions of Maria Vullo, then the superintendent of the New York state Department…
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