The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) discussed during today’s meeting that CASOMB and other co-sponsors of the Tiered Registry Bill (Senate Bill 695) are poised to request changes be made to that bill. The changes include no lifetime registration for juveniles, the addition of time limits for decisions by district attorneys and local law enforcement and a rolling system of dates when individuals can petition for removal from the registry. The requests are expected to be made prior to April 18 when the bill will be considered by the Senate Public Works Committee. As…
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OR: County part of national sex offender research
A handful of sex offenders sat on both sides of a conference room table at the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office — older offenders up to 82 years old on one side, younger ones at least 18 years old on the other. Clinical Social Worker Steven J. Powell pointed toward the more senior side of the table, but he directed his eyes toward the other. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Oppose SB 1558 which can take away children from parents (Call to Action)
SB 1558 authored by Senator Lauren Book. HB 7049 authored by Criminal Justice subcommittee; Representative Spano – Among a number of things this bill seeks to do is remove parental rights of parents convicted of viewing child pornography even if the child was not the victim! It empowers Department of Children and Families to make this call. We all know the horrific track record of DCF and how many children have died in their custody and control or oversight. TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOR THE EXPERTISE!…
Read MoreIL: Police Query Sex Offender Spotted Driving Near School Bus Stop
Palos Park police fielded phone calls from concerned parents after a school district reported a registered sex offender sighted near a school bus stop Tuesday afternoon. Full Article
Read MoreThe Unjust, Irrational, and Unconstitutional Consequences of Pedophilia Panic
“Sounds like you enjoy sex with kids,” a reader tweeted at me after seeing a blog post I wrote about former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle. It was 2015, and Fogle had just signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to looking at child pornography and having sex with two 16-year-old prostitutes. “You also look like [a] pervert,” the reader added. That’s the sort of response you can expect if you write about the broad category known as “sex offenders” and suggest that not all of them are the same…
Read MoreACSOL to Lead Lobbying Effort in Sacramento on March 20 and 21
ACSOL will lead the next lobbying effort in the State Capitol on March 20 and March 21. The focus of the effort will be pending legislation, including the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 695). Meetings will begin on Monday, March 20, at 9 a.m. in the ACSOL offices at 1215 K Street, 17th Floor, Sacramento. Training will be provided and all participants will be divided into teams that include registrants, family members and supporters. For questions or comments, please contact Carl at cm [at] californiarsol [dot] org.
Read MoreCO: Englewood alters but keeps restrictions on sex offenders
After months of city council consideration of the issue of sex offender residency restrictions, Englewood still has such restrictions, but the council relaxed the restrictions and included an amendment allowing offenders currently living in the city to remain. Full Article
Read MoreSeal Beach Repeals Residency Restrictions
The Seal Beach City Council voted last night in favor of repealing its residency restrictions. The vote was taken based upon a recommendation to repeal by the City Manager which noted that residency restrictions are ineffective and have been stricken down at the state level. The City Council is expected to consider this issue a second time during its next meeting on March 27 and the repeal would be in effect 30 days later. “This is a significant victory for registrants and members of their families,” stated ACSOL Executive Director…
Read More‘There must be a better way’ to look at sex offenses
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), there are 843,260 registered sex offenders listed in the United States. Some will spend five, 10 or 40 years in prison, but in truth, when they get out and reenter society, offenders are doomed to a life sentence without bars. Full Article
Read MoreHabitual sex offender, public masturbator gets life in prison for latest crime
A sex offender with a long record and compulsion for public indecency was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday for his latest offense — getting caught masturbating on a MAX train. Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments March 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of March 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreFBI Used Best Buy’s Geek Squad To Increase Secret Public Surveillance
Recently unsealed records reveal a much more extensive secret relationship than previously known between the FBI and Best Buy’s Geek Squad, including evidence the agency trained company technicians on law-enforcement operational tactics, shared lists of targeted citizens and, to covertly increase surveillance of the public, encouraged searches of computers even when unrelated to a customer’s request for repairs. Full Article
Read More“Shaming the Constitution: The Detrimental Results of Sexual Violent Predator Legislation” (Book)
The title of this post is the title of this notable new book authored by Michael Perlin and Heather Ellis Cucolo which provides a fitting follow-up to prior posts in this space this week concerning problems with sex offender recidivism data and expanding use of crime registries. Full Article
Read MoreAfraid of Jail? Buy an Upgrade
How California’s pay-to-stay jails create a two-tiered justice system. Full Article Also see Los Angeles Times article
Read MoreSex offenders’ prison treatment records should be open to public
____ and ____ are registered sex offenders accused of sex-related crimes just months after they were released from prison. If the latest allegations prove true, whatever steps the state took to rehabilitate them clearly did not stick. Ohio law prevents us from learning what many of those steps might have been. Full Article
Read MoreThe big lie about sex offenders
Much of the destructive, extra-punishment punishment we inflict on sex offenders is due to the widely held belief that they’re more likely to re-offend than the perpetrators of other classes of crimes. This has been the main justification for the Supreme Court’s authorization of sex-offender registries and for holding sex offenders indefinitely after they’ve served their sentences. Lower courts have then cited those rulings to justify a host of other measures, from severe restrictions on where sex offenders can live to GPS monitoring of their every move. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Bill could end statute of limations for child sex offenders
Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants to erase the statute of limitations allowing felony child sex offenders to evade justice. Madigan’s office represents the people of Illinois in criminal cases, and described why it can be so difficult for some victims to come forward. Full Article
Read MoreFacebook reports journalists to police for flagging possible child porn — on Facebook
Facebook reported journalists at the BBC to police for sending them images related to suspected child pornography on the site, even though Facebook had requested examples, the news organization reported Tuesday. The BBC, which was following up on a past investigation of child exploitation on the social networking site, had found dozens of recent photos of children in sexualized positions and with suggestions of more obscene content, it reported. Other troubling content on Facebook included pages “explicitly for men with a sexual interest in children” or groups for “stolen images…
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