The Arizona Supreme Court issued a stunning and horrifying decision on Tuesday, interpreting a state law to criminalize any contact between an adult and a child’s genitals. According to the court, the law’s sweep encompasses wholly innocent conduct, such as changing a diaper or bathing a baby. As the stinging dissent notes, “parents and other caregivers” in the state are now considered to be “child molesters or sex abusers under Arizona law.” Those convicted under the statute may be imprisoned for five years. Full Article Related PROSECUTORS WOULD NEVER DO…
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PA: Supreme Court Further Restricts Sex Offender Registry
The registration of sex offenders in Pennsylvania, known as Megan’s Law, has had a tumultuous existence, including a number of revisions to comply with several successful challenges before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Last month, the state’s high court further refined the state’s sex offender registry. The Supreme Court made a ruling that will have an impact on determining which sex offenders will be considered lifetime registrants. The court narrowed the ability of the authorities to designate an offender as a lifetime registrant as the result of being convicted of multiple…
Read MoreNV: Sex offenders may face tougher scrutiny at UNR, TMCC
The University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College now have the right to deny the admission of registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreFontana School Board votes to prohibit all access to registered sex offenders on campuses
The Fontana Unified School District Board of Education approved two motions on Wednesday, Sept. 14 to prohibit access to registered sex offenders on campuses as both volunteers and visitors. Full Article Related http://www.pe.com/articles/sex-813398-board-school.html http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/15/parents-outraged-to-find-out-bill-passed-in-2014-allows-sex-offenders-on-school-campuses-with-principals-permission/
Read MoreMI: Michigan asks federal court to revise opinion on sex offender registry rules
The state of Michigan wants a federal appeals court to take a second look at an opinion on the state’s sex offender registry. The U.S. Court of Appeals issued an opinion Aug. 25 saying Michigan’s sex offender registry rules cannot be applied retroactively to thousands of sex offenders. The state Attorney General and Solicitor General offices filed a Sept. 8 request with the federal appeals court for a second opinion. Full Article
Read MoreRegister by October 24, 2016 to vote in the election on November 8, 2016
You can register and vote in California . . . Even if you have to register pursuant to Penal Code section 290 Even if you are currently on felony or misdemeanor probatio Even if you are post-release community supervision (Realignment) or federal probation Even if have been to prison for felonies in the past, whether or not you have received a Certificate of Rehabilitation or Pardon Even if you are currently in jail. In many cases, you can register and vote by mail Questions? Find more information on voting with…
Read MoreBrock Turner, Bill Cosby driving California sex-crime lawmaking
After decades of tough-on-crime policies that swelled California prisons to the point that they had to be depopulated under a Supreme Court order, support has mounted for rethinking criminal punishment. Full Article
Read MoreWI: Romeo and Juliet and Sexting – 17Year-Old Faces Child Porn, Assault Charges for Consensual Sex with Girlfriend
After being arrested, I was suicidal and hopeless,” ____ ____, a 17-year-old from Superior, Wisconsin, recalls. “As of right now, I am just hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.” The “worst” would be pretty bad. After discovering indecent photos of ____’s 15-year-old girlfriend on his cell phone—as well as a video of the couple having sex—authorities charged him with sexual assault of a child, sexual exploitation, and possession of child pornography. The sexual assault charge is considered a Class C felony, and carries a maximum (though unlikely)…
Read MorePetition Challenges State Department Regulation
A petition was filed today challenging a State Department regulation that attempts to implement the International Megan’s Law (IML). The petition states that the regulation, published on September 2, is defective for both substantive and procedural reasons. In addition, the petition requests that the regulation be significantly modified in order to comply with the IML which has also been challenged. According to the petition, the regulation is substantively defective for two reasons. First, the regulation denies passport cards to covered registrants. Second, the regulation improperly defines covered registrants as anyone convicted of an…
Read MoreWI: “If this is winning, I don’t want it”
On the morning of July 5th, a white van left Fox Lake Correctional Institution. In the back, ____ ____, a Milwaukee man with a history of sex crimes. As a young man in the late ’80s, he had sex with two teenage girls; in the mid-’90s, forceful sexual assaults on adult women. After 22 years in prison, he’s getting out, his time served. No one wants a sex offender like ____ ____ living next door to them, and it’s certainly understandable. Municipalities across the state have codified this with ordinances that restrict where…
Read MoreNew Zealand: Child sex offender register legislation passed
Legislation passed to establish first child sex offender register – Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says New Zealand’s first child sex offender register will soon get under way, following the passing of enabling legislation. Full Article Child Protection Bill
Read MoreFL: Sex Offender Fights Removal From Hospice
A Florida city’s sex-offender law faces scrutiny in litigation over whether a wheelchair-bound former doctor, convicted of patient abuse in the 1980s, should be forced out of a hospice due to its proximity to a school. A Palm Beach County court petition filed Aug. 31 claims ____ ____, a hospice patient with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease, has been threatened with arrest if he does not move out of Heartland of Boynton Beach, a nursing home near a local preschool. The City of Boynton Beach purportedly issued a notice to ____ and the…
Read MoreNC: New law bans sex offenders from fairs
Friday, the Cabarrus County fair celebrates it’s opening night. The fair runs through September 17 featuring rides, fair foods, a petting zoo and exhibit hall. But one thing you shouldn’t see this year: registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreSex offender registries face scrutiny after Turner’s release
When ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner became a registered sex offender for life last Tuesday, he joined a nationwide list of registered sex criminals that has grown dramatically in recent years to more than 800,000. Even some who have denounced Turner’s six-month jail sentence as too lenient for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman question whether he should spend his life with the stigma and onerous restrictions of a registered sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreBrock Turner’s real sentence: A lifetime as a sex offender
The outpouring against Judge Aaron Persky’s lenient six-month sentence of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner is symptomatic of a societal change — attitudes unsupported by realities. It’s the “I know what I feel and don’t bother me with any facts” refrain, and it’s scary. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Supreme Court asked to reinstate no-bail law for some sex offenses
Prosecutors are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to reinstate a law that allows some people accused of sexual abuse of minors to be held without bail. Deputy Maricopa County Attorney David Cole said the constitutional provision limiting access to bail was adopted by voters in 2002. He said the state Court of Appeals, in overturning the law enacted by lawmakers to implement that amendment, failed to give “due consideration to the overwhelming will of the people.” Full Article
Read MoreAfter Jacob, work harder to prevent child sexual abuse [Commentary]
This week, the nation finally learned the truth of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Jacob Wetterling at the hands of ____ ____ (“Jacob’s killer gives detailed confession,” Sept 7). Upon hearing the harrowing details, we wept, knowing Jacob’s final moments were filled with fear, pain and pleading. We learned that the man who killed Jacob had previously kidnapped and assaulted another boy, Jared Scheierl. We raged, knowing that for 27 years ____ enjoyed a freedom he did not deserve and, we hope, will never again possess. Full Commentary
Read MoreMA: Judge says sex offender’s right to due process trumps public safety
In a recent ruling, a Superior Court judge said that concerns for public safety cannot trump a sex offender’s right to due process, FOX25 Investigates has learned. On Aug. 16, Salem Superior Court judge Timothy Feeley, found the Sex Offender Registry Board violated one sex offender’s constitutional right to due process. His status as a level two sex offender was published on the internet on the same day he was classified, before he could file an appeal. Full Article
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