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Weiner will bear weight of sex offender laws he helped pass

… Do you remember those committee hearings you attended on the Adam Walsh Act (a failed attempt to standardize the complexities of sex offender registration)? Hopefully you paid attention, because sex offender registration laws and compliance with such laws are far more complex than simply avoiding sending nude pics via the wrong phone app. You helped make sure that, over the past decade, registration laws became some of the most draconian laws known to man. Full Article Related http://abovethelaw.com/2017/05/anthony-weiner-pleads-guilty-will-have-to-register-as-a-sex-offender/

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Vigilantes Assault, Rob and Murder Registered Sex Offenders

As repeatedly reported in Prison Legal News, for over a decade registered sex offenders have been targeted by vigilantes and assaulted, robbed and murdered due to their past crimes. And as noted in this issue’s cover story, that is part of the dark side of sex offender registries, which allow public access to offenders’ residential addresses and other personal information. Such information not only endangers registered sex offenders but also those who live with them and, in at least one case in Dallas, Texas, an innocent victim. That Dallas man, who was beaten…

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In-depth: California lawmakers consider bill that ends lifetime registration for certain sex offenders

California lawmakers are considering a controversial bill that would end lifetime registration for certain sex offenders. Proponents of the bill say it would allow law enforcement to concentrate on high-risk offenders. Full Article Related http://kron4.com/2017/05/17/in-depth-why-arent-all-sex-offenders-listed-on-megans-law/ http://kron4.com/2017/05/16/in-depth-are-high-risk-sex-offenders-really-where-they-say-they-are/ http://kron4.com/2017/05/15/in-depth-what-happens-to-sex-offenders-in-violation-of-megans-law/

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WI: Bill Would Create Exemption for Wis. Sex Offender Registry

– A bipartisan proposal creates an exemption to Wisconsin’s sex offender registry for teenagers ages 15 to 18 who are convicted after having consensual sex. State law makes it a crime for two people under the age of 18 to have sexual contact, regardless of consent. Republican Rep. Joel Kleefisch and Democratic Rep. Fred Kessler have written legislation that creates a new crime of “underage sexual activity” and lowers the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor. Other states have labeled it the “Romeo and Juliet” exemption. Full Article

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MO: Hundreds of Missouri sex offenders now required to wear GPS monitoring devices for life

A sex offender from St. Charles County thought he had moved on with his life after successfully completing five years probation for sending web cam photographs of his genitals to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. Now he’s among hundreds of people in Missouri who are finding out they must attach GPS monitoring systems to their ankles for life, even though such a requirement wasn’t part of their sentencing agreement. Full Article

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SB 26 Added to Suspense File

The Senate Appropriations Committee added Senate Bill 26 (SB 26) to its Suspense File during its hearing on May 15.  The Committee is expected to decide whether to keep SB 26 in that file during its final hearing on May 25.  If the bill is not removed from the Suspense File on that date, SB 26 can not move forward.         So far, SB 26 has been amended four times — on March 20, April 5, April 18 and May 20 — by its author Senator Connie Leyva.  As currently written, some registrants who are parents would…

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CO: Pricey polygraph testing of sex offenders under fire as critics target accuracy, expense

Colorado has spent more than $5 million to administer polygraph tests on convicted sex offenders over the last seven years, despite concerns that the results are so unreliable that they can’t be used at trial. Polygraphs, often called lie-detector tests, are used to determine which prisoners convicted of sex offenses are suited for release by probing their sexual history, attitudes about their crimes and whether they are committing new offenses. They also guide how offenders on parole or probation are supervised. But a bipartisan group of legislators has joined offenders…

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CO: Professional polygrapher holds position of power on state’s sex-offender treatment board

A professional polygrapher has an influential role in rewriting the rules in Colorado for how often their profession conducts lie-detector testing on sex offenders, an arrangement that critics have called a conflict of interest. Colorado will pay Jeff Jenks’ Wheat Ridge polygraph firm, Amich & Jenks Inc., up to $1.9 million to polygraph sex offenders in prison from 2010 to 2020, according to state contracts. Full Article

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