Source: ACSOL The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) met today and during that meeting several positive trends were noted. First, the number of people required to register continues to diminish and the number of petitions granted continues to grow. Second, CASOMB continues to work toward improving the Tiered Registry Law . According to the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ), the total number of people required to register is 104,894. Of that total, there are 76,022 registrants in the community (not in custody). The CA DOJ also reported that…
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TN: Sixth Circuit vacates sweeping injunction against Tennessee sex offender registry laws
Source: courthousenews.com 5/15/24 The appeals court panel ordered a federal judge to review the statutory scheme one requirement at a time to determine if any portion violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. CINCINNATI (CN) — The entirety of Tennessee’s sex offender registry law cannot be thrown out because a handful of requirements may be unconstitutional, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday. In its decision the court vacated an injunction granted by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger and asked the Clinton appointee to tailor relief for a class of…
Read MoreNorway: Sex offender asks Norway’s Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right
Source: abcnews.go.com 5/1/24 STAVANGER, Norway — A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare that social media access is a human right. The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys. The unidentified offender was sentenced last year to 13 months in prison and banned from using Snapchat for two years. His lawyers argue that depriving him of his account is unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights. The case…
Read MoreBarbados: Youth Minister calls for a sex offender’s registry
Source: starcomnetwork.net 5/15/24 There is a call for a national register for child sex offenders in Barbados. It came from the Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith during the debate on the report of the Child Protection Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday. Mr. Griffith stressed that the Government needs to move a step further and implement the register. Read the full article
Read MoreCA: L.A. County puts 66 probation officers on leave for misconduct, including sexual abuse, excessive force
Source: nbcnews.com 5/14/24 [ACSOL is posting this to show abuse of authority] LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Probation Department announced Monday that it has put 66 of its officers on administrative leave in the past five months for alleged offenses including excessive force, sexual abuse and drug possession. The department said the announcement was intended as an effort to “regain public trust” as it roots out employees who engage in misconduct at the nation’s largest probation agency with 2,800 sworn officers. “We are releasing this information in the…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Reaching the Goal of 100
It happened. I have reached my goal of helping 100 registrants obtain a court order terminating their requirement to register. That goal was met yesterday in Los Angeles County under the sweetest of circumstances when a Superior Court judge who previously denied a registrant’s petition granted the same registrant’s petition. The judge’s initial decision denying the registrant’s petition was flawed because it was based upon facts not in evidence. That decision was also flawed because the judge acted as if he was still employed as a prosecutor and not an…
Read MoreACSOL In-Person Meeting in West Sacramento on July 13, 2024
You are invited to attend ACSOL’s in-person meeting in West Sacramento, CA on Saturday, July 13, 2024 starting at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at: Center for Spiritual Awareness 1275 Starboard Drive West Sacramento 95691 The meeting will include discussions regarding topics of interest to both registrants and their loved ones, including the status of proposed changes to the Tiered Registry Law such as the reduction of tier assignment for those convicted of an offense involving child pornography. The meeting is free and will include refreshments. Attendance at…
Read MoreTN: Sex Offender Treatment Class: Four Years, $10,000 and No End in Sight
Source: filtermag.org 5/6/24 Recently, my wife and I were having a quiet dinner at home when armed officers arrived without warning. They ordered me to stand against the wall so they could take a mug shot. While my wife and I sat on the couch, they looked through my phone, photo albums, computer, car—whatever they wanted. These shakedowns occur once a month without warning. The mug shot was to keep the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry (SOR) up to date. In 2009 I took a plea deal and spent the next…
Read MoreCA Supreme Court ruling will change how police interact with public when stopping, questioning
Source: abc7news.com 5/3/24 SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A new ruling by the California Supreme Court may change how police interact with the public. Community groups say it’s an important step to prevent over-policing. But some police unions say it’s going to make it harder for police to work effectively. “I think it’s a very important decision,” says Sujung Kim, a managing attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. She says with this ruling, the Supreme Court of California is finally recognizing instances of over-policing — especially in communities of…
Read MoreEU plan to force messaging apps to scan for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) risks millions of false positives, experts warn
Source: techcrunch.com 5/2/24 A controversial push by European Union lawmakers to legally require messaging platforms to scan citizens’ private communications for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) could lead to millions of false positives per day, hundreds of security and privacy experts warned in an open letter Thursday. Concern over the EU proposal has been building since the Commission proposed the CSAM-scanning plan two years ago — with independent experts, lawmakers across the European Parliament and even the bloc’s own Data Protection Supervisor among those sounding the alarm. The EU proposal would…
Read MoreIn This Police Youth Program, a Trail of Sexual Abuse Across the U.S.
Source: themarshallproject.org 5/1/24 Explorer posts, overseen by the Boy Scouts, are supposed to foster an interest in policing. They have faced nearly 200 allegations of misconduct. STOUGHTON, Mass. — The last known person to see Sandra Birchmore alive was a police officer. He stopped by her apartment days before the elementary school teacher’s aide, 23 years old and newly pregnant, was found dead in February 2021. The medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide. The officer worked for the Stoughton Police Department, near Boston, where he first met Birchmore…
Read MoreCalifornia Cops Locked an Innocent Man in a Sex Offender Unit for 3 Days
Source: reason.com 5/1/24 Victor Manuel Martinez Wario was jailed for a total of five days, spending three of those in special housing for sex offenders. In 2021, Whittier, California, police arrested Victor Manuel Martinez Wario on an outstanding warrant related to a 2012 child molestation conviction. The only problem? Police had arrested the wrong person. However, despite Wario frequently telling police he didn’t have any warrants out for his arrest, they didn’t bother to check—leaving Wario imprisoned for five days. Now, Wario is suing, claiming that police negligence amounted to…
Read MoreGeneral Comments May 2024
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of May 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 MoreWe need to reframe how we think about juvenile sex offenders
Source: salon.com 4/24/24 Most youth who exhibit problematic sexual behavior don’t need punishment. They need help Adult sex offenders are criminals who need to be brought to justice to maintain public safety. But we need to be careful about extending that same principle to children who hurt other kids. Most youth who exhibit problematic sexual behavior don’t need punishment. They need help. It’s time for the public and our legal system to catch up with the growing literature on the causes of such behavior and how to stop it, rather…
Read MoreIL: DOC can’t outright ban parents convicted of sex offenses from speaking on the phone to their children while they are on supervised release
Source: courthousenews.com 4/19/24 CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit ruled that the Illinois Department of Corrections may not outright ban parents convicted of sex offenses from speaking on the phone to their children while they are on supervised release. The government may implement call monitoring to minimize the risk of abuse as an alternative to the ban. Read the full ruling (click on “Read the ruling here”)
Read MoreQAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com
Source: theintercept.com 4/27/24 For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate. Americans adore a moral panic. During the Red Scare, we believed that Soviet agents were everywhere, having secretly infiltrated all levels of society. In the 1950s, the U.S. government banned switchblades over unfounded fears that we were in the throes of “West Side Story”-style knife violence. The Satanic Panic convinced Americans of the 1980s that absurd claims of ritual abuse and sacrifice were somehow credible. Around the same time, there was “stranger danger” —…
Read MorePolice Officers Cannot Violate The Fourth Amendment Law
Source: theopinionpages.com 4/25/24 It is a felony and a federal crime to impersonate someone else and intercept private communications intended for them, 18 U.S. Code § 2511. There is no exception for police, and no exception if written permission is obtained. Yet impersonating others online is the basis for police sting operations across the country. Law enforcement must be able to investigate criminal activity, but they cannot commit their own crimes while doing so. It is now customary for officers to violate Fourth Amendment law, and it is happening more…
Read MoreLouisiana Residents Emergency 4/28 Call to Action (CTA): fight bills HB 166 (forced vasectomy) and SB 371 (forced surgical castration)
Source of the email ACSOL received: UV4SOR.org (contact@uv4sor.org) Fellow Advocates, We have an Emergency Call to Action (CTA) and need your voice to oppose HB 166 (forced vasectomy) and SB 371 (forced surgical castration) currently before the Louisiana Legislature. We are doing both bills together as one CTA in the interest of time and the similarities (and heinous nature) of these 2 bills. The Senate and House Reconvene Monday at 1:00 PM CDT, so we need your response to be sitting in their inboxes or on their voicemails by 4/29…
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