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UK: Declan Lancaster started killer blaze after wrongly believing another man living there had a sex offense conviction

July 2, 2021July 6, 2021 R H

Source: sunderlandecho.com 7/2/21 A killer who sparked a deadly fire at his hostel after he wrongly concluded a man who lived there had a sex offense conviction in his past, has been jailed for life. By Karon Kelly Friday, 2nd July 2021, 2:49 pm Declan Lancaster, who had taken a cocktail of drink and drugs, started a blaze in a linen cupboard at Manor House in Sunderland on November 3, 2018, because he wanted to “scare and frighten” another tenant. Newcastle Crown Court heard as the flames took hold, Patryk…

Is the Tide Turning Against Public Sex Offense Registries?

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 webmaster

BY RORY FLEMING JULY 2, 2021 On June 8, the American Law Institute, arguably the most prestigious non-governmental law reform organization in the country, concluded its national meeting. One of its agenda items was to have its thousands of elected members—top federal appeals judges among them, who enjoy lifetime appointments after being confirmed by the United States Senate—vote on a draft of the revised chapter of the Model Penal Code for sex crimes. The Model Penal Code, first codified in 1962, helps guide legislation as well as interpretative decisions by courts. ALI’s membership voted to approve the most recent draft, which…

General Comments July 2021

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 webmaster

Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of July 2021. 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.

Judicial Council Releases Forms to Petition for Removal from CA Registry

July 1, 2021July 2, 2021 R H

[ACSOL] Today the Judicial Council released all forms related to petitioning for removal from the California sex offender registry. The forms include the petition form and related instructions as well as forms to be completed by the relevant District Attorney offices and courts. “The long wait is over. Forms are now available for everyone eligible to petition for removal from the state’s registry,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Before submitting a petition, it is important to determine whether you are eligible because petitions from individuals who are not…

FAC YouTube video channel includes ACSOL members and other notables

July 1, 2021 R H

[ACSOL] Florida Action Committee has a YouTube channel that posts facts and disputes myths regarding those convicted of a sex offense, and includes many notable people. Feel free to subscribe to their channel. I highly recommend you watch ACSOL board member Ira Ellman’s video on his topic of “Frightening and High is a Myth“, which is less than 10 minutes long. – Janice FAC’s YouTube Channel FAC’s description of their YouTube Channel

LA: Person convicted of sex offense must register despite post-probation dismissal

June 30, 2021July 1, 2021 R H

Source: americanpress.com 6/30/21 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana Supreme Court ruling means a man will have to continue to register as a person convicted of a sex offense even though his video voyeurism conviction was set aside after he served probation. The high court, in an order dated Tuesday, refused to reconsider a May ruling in the case of Mark A. Davidson. Court records show he pleaded guilty in 2005 in Monroe and was ordered to serve three years of probation. After the probation was completed the court agreed…

People Convicted of Violent Crimes Are Rarely Rearrested for New Violent Crimes

June 30, 2021 R H

Source: sentencingproject.salsalabs.org 6/30/21 As featured by CNN this morning, today The Sentencing Project released a comprehensive analysis on recidivism, documenting the widespread evidence that people convicted of homicide and other crimes of violence rarely commit new crimes of violence after release from long-term imprisonment. International studies, too, find low rates of recidivism among this population, suggesting that we can release people much sooner than we currently do. The report, A New Lease on Life, draws upon international, national, and state-level research, and revealed that racially charged fear-mongering by media and…

PA: Bill Cosby freed from prison, his sex conviction overturned

June 30, 2021 R H

Source: apnews.com 6/30/21 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and released him from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as “America’s Dad,” ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby. Cosby, 83, flashed the V-for-victory sign to a helicopter overhead as he trudged into his suburban Philadelphia home after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence for drugging and violating Temple University sports…

CO: Supreme Court’s decision on sex offense registry leaves some eyeing a broader constitutional challenge

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 webmaster

Although the Colorado Supreme Court insisted its ruling applied narrowly, advocates for defendants believe the justices have laid a foundation for challenging the constitutionality of the state’s sex offense registration laws more broadly. On Monday, the Court decided by 6-1 that it violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment for Colorado to require repeat juveniles convicted of a sex offense to register for life on the sex offense registry without possibility of removal. Justice Monica M. Márquez, writing for the majority, found one overriding principle that guided the…

Federal Sentencing of Child Pornography: Non-Production Offenses

June 29, 2021 R H

Source: ussc.gov 6/29/21 Overview (Published June 29, 2021) This report updates and expands upon the Commission’s 2012 Report to the Congress: Federal Child Pornography Offenses. In this report, the Commission provides data from fiscal year 2019 regarding: the content of the offender’s child pornography collection and nature of the offender’s collecting behavior; the offender’s degree of involvement with other offenders, particularly in an internet community devoted to child pornography and child sexual exploitation; and the offender’s engagement in sexually abusive or exploitative conduct in addition to the child pornography offense. The report…

CO: Mandatory lifetime juvenile sex offense registration is unconstitutional, Colorado Supreme Court rules

June 28, 2021June 30, 2021 R H

Source: denverpost.com 6/28/21 Juveniles cannot be mandated to register as lifelong “sex offenders” in Colorado if there is no way for offenders to be individually assessed or to later be removed from the registry, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 6-1 decision follows a new law signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday that eliminates mandatory lifetime sex offense registration for juveniles who commit multiple sex offenses. The law takes effect Sept. 1. The justices found that mandating all people who committed multiple sex offenses when they were children…

Urgent: SCOTUS petition needs signatures now

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 webmaster

This note is for all organizations and individuals that fight (each in their own way) against the draconian sex offense laws in this country. Please forward this email to any pertinent organization or individual that we may have unintentionally overlooked. To those of you who don’t know us, we are the parents of an incarcerated son who, in 2016 was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for a crime without a victim; for a nonviolent, non-contact, first offense; for the crime of falling prey to the manipulative tactics of seasoned…

Janice’s Journal: Independence for Some, Continued Registration for Others

June 28, 2021 R H

There are two significant dates about to converge in a few days. Both offer independence to some, but not all. The first of the two dates is July 1 when some registrants in California will be able to petition for the first time their removal from the registry. The size of this group will expand during the next 12 months when eligible registrants celebrate their birthdays. That is because otherwise eligible registrants must wait until their first birthday on or after July 1 in order to submit their petitions. There…

Can Children Who Commit Sex Offenses Be Rehabilitated?

June 26, 2021June 30, 2021 webmaster

By John Borneman 29 JUN 2018 In the first season of Showtime’s Dexter, the character Dexter Morgan, a vigilante serial killer who also works for the fictitious Miami Metro police as a forensic technician, hunts a child molester who had escaped justice and the law. After nearly strangling his prey, Dexter yells, “Open your eyes and look at what you did!” The molester, a choir director who also murdered some of the young boys he assaulted, cries, “I couldn’t help myself. … Please, you have to understand.” Dexter replies, “Trust me,…

CT: Stratford Man Refuses Probation, Wants Jail Instead!

June 24, 2021June 25, 2021 R H

The man is convicted of a sex offense and reportedly believes probation would make him a pariah in the community. STRATFORD, CT — A 61-year-old Stratford man, who was convicted of a sex offense, was sentenced to 30 months in prison this week on a probation violation, after he told a judge he would break probation again if given such a sentence, reported the Connecticut Post. Rae was convicted on possession of child pornography charges in 2009 and was released in October of last year. Prior to that sentence, he…

NY: Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct

June 24, 2021 webmaster

This has been a long 8-year fight to hold prosecutors accountable for professional misconduct that steals liberty from the innocent, leaves the true criminal on the streets and costs municipalities millions in wrongful conviction settlements

FL: Every Parent’s Worst Nightmare

June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 webmaster

We’ve all heard the phrase “every parent’s worst nightmare” in the context of a person with a sex offense conviction. It usually conjures the image of an abduction and sexual assault and murder. But for every parent who happens to be required to register due to a past sex offense, our “parent’s worst nightmare” is that one day, some law will come out that will take our own children away from us. We are facing our worst nightmare. Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 141 into Law. The bill, titled,…

FL: DeSantis signs bill closing sex-offense registration loophole

June 23, 2021June 24, 2021 webmaster

ALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Tuesday effectively closing a loophole in Florida’s sexual offense registration law. The former law’s loophole allowed a person convicted of a sex crime to forgo registering because they didn’t pay a court-ordered fine. In 2020, a judge ruled that Ray La Vel James of Tampa, who spent 12 years in prison after being convicted of molesting two girls at a public pool, didn’t have to register as a sex offender because the law states registration isn’t required until a…