Five sex offenders filed a lawsuit Monday asking a judge to halt the enforcement of several of Illinois’ sex offender registration statutes. Full Article
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Dennis Hastert Case Renews Calls To Change Child Sex Abuse Reporting Laws
For nearly 40 years, Scott Cross hid from everybody what he called his “darkest secret.” And in a federal courtroom, the 53-year-old revealed it to the world. “Coach Hastert sexually abused me in 1979, my senior year in high school,” Cross said at former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s Wednesday sentencing hearing on bank fraud charges. Full Article
Read MoreIndia: Sex Offenders’ Registry Not an Ideal Solution
In what seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to the problem of sexual violence, the government has informed Parliament of its plans to introduce a sex offender registry on the lines of those in western countries in order to “instil fear among sex offenders” and benefit the public. This proposal is reportedly still in the primary stages. Though it’s laudable that the government is concerned over the rising crimes against women, its latest move shows it’s looking for ‘quick-fix’ solutions rather than addressing the larger problem. The government’s statement implies…
Read MoreLong Beach police stings improperly targeted gays, judge rules
LONG BEACH — A judge who said police improperly targeted gay men in sting operations has dismissed charges of lewd conduct and indecent exposure against a man who was arrested in a public restroom. Superior Court Judge Halim Dhanidina ruled Friday that ____ ____’s arrest in 2014 was based on discriminatory enforcement and prosecution, theLong Beach Press-Telegram reported. If convicted, ____ would have been required to register as a sex offender for life. Full Article
Read MoreNew Medicaid Guidance Improves Access to Health Care for Justice-Involved Americans Reentering Their Communities
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) strengthened access to health care for individuals transitioning from incarceration back to their communities. New Medicaid guidance released today updates decades-old policy and clarifies that individuals who are currently on probation, parole or in home confinement are not considered inmates of a public institution. It also extends coverage to Medicaid-eligible individuals living in community halfway houses where they have freedom of movement, improving access to care for as many as 96,000 individuals in Medicaid expansion states over the course of…
Read MoreVT: Sheriff Risks His Career by Hiring a Sex Offender
Skill saws screamed, drowning out Top 40 country music tunes while two men labored to transform a run-down garage in the village of Hyde Park. The lead carpenter on the job, Timothy Szad, showed off his work in what will become an evidence room for the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department. Szad, 56, explained that the gun racks he’s building will hold firearms that have been seized by police. To make sure the slots are the right size, he made a wooden replica of a pistol. Full Article
Read MoreLA: 911 call helps convict former Louisiana district attorney
In 2010, a woman made a desperate 911 call to report that a powerful prosecutor sexually assaulted her at her home. Six years later that prosecutor has been called a sexual predator by authorities and faces a possible prison sentence. Full Article
Read MoreFormer House speaker sentenced to more than a year in prison
CHICAGO (AP) — Dennis Hastert, the Republican who for eight years presided over the House and was second in the line of succession to the presidency, was sentenced Wednesday to more than a year in prison in the hush-money case that included accusations he sexually abused teenagers while coaching high school wrestling. Full Article
Read MoreUK: Defending Ched Evans has made me guilty by association
Sticking up for Ched Evans, maintaining in this column that the Welsh footballer was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, has been a pretty horrible experience. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Indecent exposure, criminal past brings sex offender prison term of 1 day to life
A man who exposed himself near a Grandville mall and later took video of a woman in a Tanger Outlet Mall changing room is heading to prison for what could be the rest of his life. Full Article
Read MoreKS: ‘Denial of justice’ to delay Kansas Supreme Court rulings for eight months, justice says
A Kansas Supreme Court justice accused his colleagues of denying justice by delaying a series of opinions for eight months after they were decided, a tactic that changed the court’s precedent and accentuated the sway a single justice’s appointment can have. Full Article
Read MoreNY: PFML sues a poor man from another state in retaliation for Internet comments
The Suffolk nonprofit hired by the county to monitor registered sex offenders has sued a Cincinnati registered sex offender, accusing him of defaming the group with his online posts. Full Article
Read MoreRegistered Citizen Granted Contractor’s License
The Contractors State License Board has granted a contractor’s license to a registered citizen who initially applied for a license, but whose license was denied because he is required to register as a sex offender. The Board’s reversal of its initial decision came after a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge on March 28, 2016. According to the judge, the registered citizen provided substantial, credible evidence of his rehabilitation. The judge noted in his five-page decision that the registrant expressed remorse for his conduct and accepted responsibility for his offense.…
Read MorePA: Supreme Court to hear registration appeals from 3 sex offenders
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals by three convicted child molesters, including a Harrisburg man and a former Lancaster County teacher, who claim they wrongly are being forced to register with state police for life. Full Article
Read MoreIn a single day, the Kansas Supreme Court issues important constitutional opinions — and overrules them (Opinion)
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. On Friday the Kansas Supreme Court issued decisions in three cases — State v. Buser, State v. Redmond and Doe v. Thompson — holding that Kansas’s Offender Registration Act, requiring anyone previously convicted of various violent felonies, drug crimes or sex offenses to register with state authorities, cannot be constitutionally applied to people whose underlying felony convictions occurred before enactment of the registration statute in 2011. Full Op-Ed Piece Related KS: Sex offenders win and lose in unusual rulings by…
Read MoreNJ: Is it time to revisit and revamp Megan’s Law in NJ?
A peculiar thing — actually, two —happened on the way to banning New Jersey sex offenders from social media sites. First, the proposal was scaled back over concerns it wasn’t legal. Then, lawmakers heard from a lawyer whose practice is focused on Megan’s Law cases who says New Jersey law in this area is misdirected and merits a top-to-bottom re-evaluation by a task force to make sure it’s effective. Full Article
Read MorePA: A wide-ranging look at sex offender registration in PA and beyond
The Cumberland County (Pennsylvania) Sentinel recently published a series of articles by Joshua Vaughn that examine the operation and effect of sex offender registration laws from a variety of perspectives. We summarize the articles with links to the Sentinel’s website. Full Article
Read MoreVT: High court orders re-evaluation of sex offender’s conditions
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday that some conditions placed on a convicted sex offender were overbroad and in some cases too restrictive because they weren’t specifically connected to his crime. Full Article
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