Renowned law professor Eric Janus will speak at ACSOL’s third annual conference in Los Angeles on June 14. Professor Janus is a national expert on sexual violence law and policy. He was recently recognized for his lifelong commitment to justice and civil liberties work by the ACLU. “Professor Janus will share with all conference participants his unique perspective of current laws and policies that affect the daily lives of registrants and their loved ones,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. Professor Janus served as President and Dean of William Mitchell College…
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SC bill would prohibit sex offenders from working, volunteering around kids
[live5news.com – 1/15/19] MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Right now, registered sex offenders are allowed to work and volunteer around kids, but a South Carolina bill introduced last week in the State House of Representatives could change that. The bill says it would make it “unlawful for a sex offender to work or perform volunteer service with or around minor children under certain circumstances unless approved by a circuit court order that requires the offender’s employment or volunteer service be recorded in the offender’s sex offender registry file, to provide…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Blimey, Who Does Australia’s Fact Checking?
Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs in Australia wants to be the white knight riding in to save his constituents from “sex offenders” by proposing a National Public Registry. “Thwarting the exploitation of children is my key priority as Minister for Home Affairs” says Dutton. Fact #1: That’s all well and good, except Australia already has state-based registries with various levels of public accessibility in Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Even with those state-based registries, there has been a 77% rise in child sex abuse and exploitation of…
Read MoreNE: People question legality of sex offender living in assisted living facility
[wowt.com – 1/14/19] FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (WOWT) – Concerns have been raised over a registered sex offender who is living in an assisted living community in Fort Calhoun. A few people connected to those living in the community are questioning whether or not the arrangement is legal. There are 48 apartments for seniors at the Autumn Pointe Assisted Living Services. One of those units is occupied by a registered sex offender, but the company officials said no one living in the community is at risk. Amy Wilcox Burns works for…
Read MoreAUS: Lawyer fears sex offender list would lead to jury bias
[pressreader.com for Courier-Mail, 1/14/19] Veteran criminal lawyer Chris Nyst says a public register for child sex offenders could result in unfair convictions from biased jurors, if they were given easy access to defendant’s criminal history. Read more
Read More‘Untouchable’ Makes the Case for More Lenient Sex Offender Laws in America
A new documentary forwards the argument that our sex-offender laws are based largely on bogus stats and deserve to be reevaluated. Full Article Also see Untouchable (Film) Available for Streaming on January 15
Read MoreAUS: Peter Dutton proposes public register of child sex offenders
Child sex offenders could have their names and photos uploaded to a public register in what is being described as the “toughest crackdown on paedophiles” in Australian history. Full Article Related Editorials Why Australia should not have a public register of child sex offenders Sex offender registries don’t prevent re-offending (and vigilante justice is real)
Read MoreUnited States v. Moorehead
The FBI accessed Playpen and verified that the website contained child pornography, then executed a search warrant at a North Carolina server hosting company that owned the IP address. The FBI seized a server that contained a copy of Playpen. Because of a server misconfiguration, the government was able to gain administrative control of the website. For two weeks, the FBI operated Playpen from a Virginia government-controlled computer server but was unable to identify the individuals who logged on. The FBI turned to counter-technology called NIT, which downloads on the…
Read MoreUntouchable (Film) Available for Streaming on January 15
FACT: More people are now listed on sex-offender registries than are currently in jail in the US. It’s an amazing statistic that illuminates one of the darkest corners of our criminal justice system: our fear-based approach to dealing with sex offenders. So why do we have these massive lists? Are they fair? Do they keep us safe? Untouchable, the award-winning documentary that takes an unflinching look at sex offenders, the laws used to punish them, and the people behind the making of those laws, will be available for personal streaming January 15th, on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon. Look for…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Registry: A Valuable Public Safety Tool?
If you have a few minutes, read Florida’s Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review 2018 (www.oppaga.state.fl.us). Even if you don’t live in Florida, it’s an interesting slog thru what governmental bureaucracy thinks is important when it comes to the registry. The highlight of this auditing monstrosity is the attached letter at the end of the report from Fl. Dept. of Law and Enforcement to the coordinator of the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Governmental Accountability, stating “the registry is a valuable public safety tool”. I read the report…
Read MoreNARSOL: RIT study is Butner Redux deja vu
[narsol.org – 1/7/19] Michael M . . . A recent study conducted by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, is already being cited in Federal Court cases to support the false presumption of a high rate of unreported child molestations by those convicted of child pornography offenses. This is despite the fact that it suffers from exactly the same serious flaws and inaccuracies as the infamous and thoroughly discredited “Butner Redux” study, which first appeared in the Journal of Family Violence in 2009. For those who may…
Read MoreCivil Rights Attorney to be Keynote Speaker at ACSOL’s Conference on June 14 and June 15
Civil rights attorney Adele Nicholas will be the keynote speaker at ACSOL’s third annual conference to be held on June 14 and June 15 in Los Angeles. Nicholas has represented the rights of registrants in multiple lawsuits challenging residency restrictions, access to public places and hospital visitations in Illinois and neighboring states in the Great Lakes region. “We are delighted that Ms. Nicholas has agreed to be the keynote speaker at this year’s conference,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “She is a dedicated and effective civil rights attorney who…
Read MoreOR: Living with a label
For most youth, childhood is a seemingly innocent and simple time, typically full of school work, play time and life lessons. But when a child becomes a registered sex offender when they are as young as 10, those years are full of probation, detention and life lessons of another kind: living with a label. Full Article
Read MoreRIT study: More than half of child pornography probationers had sexual contact with kids
More than half of the men on federal probation in western New York for child pornography possession had instances of “sexual contact with children that were previously unknown to legal authorities,” according to a local study. Though completed early in 2018, the study conducted by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, is now beginning to make ripples in federal court. One federal prosecutor recently included the study in a court filing as evidence that a large percentage of individuals who are attracted to child pornography are a…
Read MorePhilippines: BI bars 145 convicted sex offenders to PH
The Bureau of Immigration barred 145 foreigners convicted of sex crimes in their home countries from January to November of the 2018. BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the number of registered sex offenders denied entry is slightly lower than the 165 sex convicts intercepted in the same period of 2017. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Miami-Herald: FAC Opinion Published
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 1/4/19. Not available on miamiherald.com] An opinion piece in response to a recent article in the Miami Herald was published today. The text of the response and an image of the article as it appeared are below. Your December 31, 2018 article, “Report: Number of sex offenders living in Florida is growing.” correctly points out that the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) does not include any explanation for the rise in the number of sex offenders in our State. However, the reason is obvious.…
Read MoreCA: Wiener details 2019 LGBT bills
[ebar.com – 1/2/19] While his bills aimed at addressing California’s housing crisis are expected to be some of the most closely watched legislative fights this year, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) will also be pushing to pass legislation focused on LGBT issues. … Another bill Wiener plans to introduce this year would prevent gay male adolescents from having to be listed on the state’s sex offender registry. He aims to include a “Romeo/Juliet” clause for gay teenagers so they are treated similarly to their heterosexual counterparts. Under the…
Read MoreIL: Man sues state’s attorney, officials for $10M over sex offender registration
A convicted sex offender who claims he was innocent is suing St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly and state officials for $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, alleging his reputation within his community continues to be irreparably injured by his registration status. Full Article
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