Source: bettinaarndt.substack.com 8/5/26 Three years ago, Sydney engineer _______ was accused of a home invasion — “aggravated break and enter with intent to commit a serious indictable offence.” His intent was rape, according to police. He’d never even met the woman who accused him, and police showed no interest in his irrefutable evidence that he couldn’t have done it. They tried to put him away for 20 years. He self-represented through 20 court appearances, won twice in the District Court — with costs against the Crown — and then again when the…
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Paul Redd Freedom Fellowship offers possible job for those with substantial lived experience with the criminal legal system
Source: Paul Redd Freedom Fellowship Paul Redd Freedom Fellowship is sharing a strong employment opportunity with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Freedom Project. The Paul Redd Freedom Fellowship is designed for someone committed to decarceration, successful reentry, and supporting people navigating resentencing, parole hearings, and other post-conviction matters. Position details: Full-time or part-time, with a minimum of 25 hours per week Hybrid position based in San Francisco Pay is $30–$35 per hour, depending on experience Grant-funded through June 2028 Applications are being accepted on a rolling basi The fellow will…
Read MorePA: Courts warn of scam texts targeting registrants
Source: pacourts.us 8/3/26 Franklin County President Judge Shawn Meyers is advising the public to stay vigilant against a recently reported scam involving the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. The scam involves text messages that “spoof” or mimic the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. In the text, the recipient is advised they are being charged with ‘Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registration Requirements.’ The spoof alleges that an arrest warrant has been issued and bail set for $12,000 to be paid through e-bonds digital bonding or bitcoin. Following…
Read MoreMO: 16 States File Brief in Support of Granting U.S. Supreme Court Petition in Halloween Sign Lawsuit
Source: ACSOL Attorneys General in 16 states have filed an amicus brief in support of the petition filed by the Attorney General of Missouri asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that found a Missouri state law that required registrants to post a sign on their home to be unconstitutional. The basis of that decision is that the state law is compelled speech and therefore in violation off the First Amendment. The lead Attorney General in the amicus brief is the Attorney General…
Read MoreFL: A Mixed Bag: Challenge to Florida’s “SEXUAL PREDATOR” Driver License Branding Dismissed—But Not on the Merits
Source: Florida Action Committee 7/31/26 The U.S. District Court has ruled against the plaintiff in a challenge to Florida’s requirement that the words “SEXUAL PREDATOR” appear prominently on the driver’s licenses of individuals designated as sexual predators. Bad news for this Plaintiff, obviously, but it’s not quite as bad as it seems. The plaintiff, Lane Kirkpatrick, argued that forcing him to carry and present a driver’s license branded with “SEXUAL PREDATOR” violates the First Amendment by compelling him to communicate the government’s message every time he shows his ID. The…
Read MoreGeneral Comments Aug 2026
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Aug 2026. 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. Other months General Comments
Read MoreAR: Arkansas law creates penalties for librarians distributing content deemed ‘harmful’ to minors
Source: arkansasadvocate.com 7/30/26 A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Arkansas’ 2023 law restricting access to library materials can go into effect, three years after a judge blocked two sections of the law on First Amendment grounds. The three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled that the 18 plaintiffs had no standing to challenge one section of Act 372 and failed to prove that the other section was unconstitutionally vague. The two sections create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors,”…
Read MoreAZ: High court says churches, not judges, define a ‘confession’ when it comes to reporting child abuse
Source: azmirror.com 7/30/26 Advocates warn the broad ruling lets predators use a ‘confessional loophole’ to escape justice The Arizona Supreme Court sided with religious leaders this week who argued the state’s clergy-penitent privilege law shielded them from reporting child sexual abuse to authorities. And in declaring that any intervention by the courts would violate the First Amendment, the justices made clear they don’t think any changes to Arizona law aimed at forcing clergy to report abuse would be constitutional. “We hold that the First Amendment generally prohibits factfinders from…
Read MoreIneffective, Costly, and Harmful: Debunking the Sex Offender Registry
Source: Mitchell Hamline School of Law 3/1/2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The modern sex offense registry was borne out of the belief that a public registry listing people who had been convicted of a sex offense would make communities safer. That premise was wrong. We now have thirty years of data concluding that public registries do not work as intended—in fact, there is evidence that public registries actually increase registrant recidivism. Furthermore, there is no definitive evidence that these laws deter non-registrants from sexually offending. At the same time, sex offense registration…
Read MoreA missing underscore sent innocent man to prison for 18 months for non-existent sex offense
Source: arstechnica.com 7/27/26 One missing underscore in a Skyrim-themed username put an innocent Nova Scotia man in prison for 18 months. A 2018 child-luring investigation, which began in Madison, Wisconsin, and eventually extended to Halifax, Canada, was based on a false premise. Police were looking for a man using the Kik messaging service under the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but they accidentally requested records for the username “fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”). This one-character difference led them not to the perpetrator but to a Canadian man named Brandon…
Read MoreFederal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to Give Federal Inmates Tablets
Source: forbes.com 7/9/26 The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced a historic nationwide inmate tablet services contract, marking a significant technological investment. These secure tablets will provide educational programming, career training, secure communications, and reentry preparation to every federal inmate. Director William K. Marshall III stated the initiative will improve institutional safety, reduce administrative burdens, and expand rehabilitation opportunities. This reform addresses long-standing issues like staffing shortages and inconsistent program delivery, allowing education to continue even during lockdowns. Furthermore, the tablets aim to strengthen family connections, a key factor in successful…
Read MoreOK: Influencer Sara Gilson was fatally shot in a murder-suicide involving her “pedophile” estranged husband, Jeremiah “Shawn” Duffey
[ACSOL note: this shows the lengths to which someone could go who has been accused of a sex offense] Source: people.com 7/27/26 Influencer Sara Gilson was fatally shot in a murder-suicide involving her estranged husband, Jeremiah “Shawn” Duffey Weeks before her death, Gilson accused Duffey of being a pedophile and filed an emergency protective order against him after police found he “had inappropriately touched a juvenile female” player on the basketball team he coached In a statement issued to PEOPLE on July 25, the Owasso Police Department confirmed that his…
Read More20 Years of Persecution by the Adam Walsh Act
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org and bop.gov Today, July 27, marks the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The law was passed with the stated goal of improving public safety and protecting children. Two decades later, however, its legacy has been one of ever-expanding registration requirements, lifetime public shaming, and collateral consequences that extend far beyond any criminal sentence. … Read the rest of FAC’s editorial Read the Federal Bureau of Prisons spin
Read MoreCO: Colorado DOC Allows Some Prisoners Convicted of Sex Crimes to be Released While Delaying Parole Consideration for Others
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 6/1/26 Stonewalling by the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) in providing treatment to people convicted of sexual offenses has allowed some of those people to be released without any treatment and at the same time delayed parole consideration for others. In 1998, Colorado lawmakers overhauled the system of sentencing and monitoring people convicted of sex offenses to include a lifetime supervision policy as a “comprehensive way to protect the public and stop further crimes.” The new system required those convicted of sex offenses to receive treatment while incarcerated…
Read MoreDozens of ICE and CBP Agents Have Abused Women and Children
Source: motherjones.com 7/24/26 This week, we published an investigation into David Brouillette, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who reportedly killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine earlier this month. That investigation revealed a long history of alleged violence against Brouillette’s ex-wives and children. “To be honest, I was surprised anyone would give that man a gun,” a former friend said of Brouillette. On July 22, the advocacy group Ohio Immigrant Alliance released a list of 59 active and former ICE and CBP agents charged with sexual and violent crimes between 2007…
Read MoreViolent extremist’s sentencing a call to protect kids online, says Catholic legal scholar
Source: osvnews.com 7/22/26 The recent sentencing of a convicted online child predator to a 40-year prison term and renewed safety warnings from federal officials mark a call for parents to double down on protecting their kids in the digital sphere, a Catholic legal scholar told OSV News. “This is yet another recognition of the growing threat” posed by “sadistic online exploitation,” said Mary Graw Leary, professor of law at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington and director of that school’s program in modern prosecution. Leary — a…
Read MoreMI Supreme Court: SORA’s “Recapture” Provision Is Unconstitutional for Nonsexual Offenses
Source: Florida Action Committee 7/23/26 In a unanimous decision rendered yesterday, the Michigan Supreme Court struck down a key piece of the state’s Sex Offenders Registration Act — the so-called “recapture” provision, which forced people with old, pre-1995 sex offense convictions back onto the registry decades later if they were later convicted of any unrelated felony, sexual or not. James Ellis Jr. pleaded guilty to attempted rape in Illinois in 1983 and served his sentence — six months in jail, two years of probation. He was never required to register…
Read MoreReport exposes alarming number of sex offenders among Trump’s immigration agents
Source: msn.com 7/23/26 Washington DC – A recent report found that a disturbing number of federal agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda have dark pasts. A report published on Wednesday revealed that an alarming number of federal immigration agents are sex offenders. On Wednesday, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance published a study titled They Walk Among Us, which detailed how 59 current ICE and Border Patrol officers have been charged or convicted of sexual or violent offenses since 2006. The data revealed what the alliance calls “a disturbing pattern of sexual…
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