When I met Josh Gravens, he was 25 years old, unemployed and living with his older sister in Dallas. He’d most recently worked at a stand that sold Christmas trees and firewood, but his paychecks often bounced, and since then he’d applied for hundreds of jobs. That was March of 2012, when Gravens and his wife and four children were getting by one day at a time. Full Article
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Even Republicans are Changing their Mind on “Tough on Crime”
“One of the things that’s happening with mass incarceration is that it’s hollowing out [communities], it’s destroying generations. It’s just devastating.” Sounds like something a liberal might say, right? Actually, it’s a quote from Mark Early, a former Republican lawmaker from Virginia, a state notorious for its tough on crime laws. Full Article
Read MoreFCC Reverses ALJ’s Decision, Revokes Convicted Sex Offender’s Amateur Radio License
The FCC has reversed the decision of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who ruled in 2010 that ____ ____, of Seattle, Washington, could keep his Amateur Radio license in the wake of his conviction for a sex-related crime 17 years earlier. … The FCC said that given “known risks of Amateur Radios in the hands of sex offenders, such misconduct is prima facie disqualifying, and has resulted in the loss of licenses in past cases.” Full Article
Read MoreIL: Alderman wants sex offenders banned from libraries in summer
Chicago’s 78 public libraries would be off-limits to registered sex offenders during summer months, when the buildings tend to be overrun with children, under a pre-emptive public safety crackdown proposed by a Southwest Side alderman. Full Article
Read MoreUK: Single adults banned from park – in case they are a paedophile
A bird enthusiast made a 25-mile trip to see a falconry display at a family leisure park only to be told that single adults are banned – for fear of paedophiles. Full Article
Read MoreAR: Governor to pardon sex-crime offender
LITTLE ROCK – One of the 25 people that Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe plans to pardon is a convicted sex offender who has close ties to the Beebe family. Full Article
Read MoreReview finds parole agents swamped with sex offender caseloads
Nearly two-thirds of parole agents who monitor sex offenders juggle caseloads that exceed department standards, a state corrections review reported Wednesday in response to an Orange County murder case. Agents are supposed to supervise between 20 and 40 parolees, depending on how many are high-risk offenders. But more often than not, the state Office of the Inspector General found, agents are overburdened. Full Article
Read MoreStudy: Sex-offender GPS no panacea against crime
LOS ANGELES – The California law mandating GPS monitoring of sex offenders can provide a false sense of security for the public, according to a report released Wednesday. While it can help law enforcement authorities find suspects after a crime has occurred, it has only limited benefits in preventing crime in the first place, the report says. The report from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Inspector General was requested after two Orange County sex offenders who were required to wear GPS devices were arrested last spring in the…
Read MoreOR: Portland City Club Report Says Fewer Youth should Register as Sex Offenders
The City Club of Portland has released a research report on juvenile sex offender registration in Oregon. After interviewing 17 experts and reviewing almost 50 research reports, the committee recommends changes that would identify youth who are at most risk of re-offending and reduce the number who are placed on the registry. Full Article
Read MoreTo Lena Dunham: From A Person Placed on the Sex Offender Registry as a Child
Dear Lena Dunham, You have been taking some heat for a passage from your book outlining what most psychological and developmental experts would call childhood sexual curiosity, if not just plain curiosity. I am glad you have defended your actions as a child as just that—childhood exploration. While the behavior might be considered by a puritanical society as taboo, it should not be a criminalized behavior. Ms. Dunham, many children around the country did the same thing you did. For example, a 9-year-old in South Carolina is now on the sex…
Read MoreCars kill more kids on Halloween than Registered Sex Offenders, so we should ban Trunk or Treat
Over the past few years, we see the barrage of Halloween stories designed to scare the people in a different way. There was no shortage of news stories warning parents to check the registry before they send their kids out trick-or-treating. Still, there has not been a “stereotypical kidnapping” of a child by a “Registered Sex Offender” on Halloween so long as the registry has existed. In 2014, no child was murdered by a Registered Sex Offender. Full Blog Item
Read MoreDeadly Halloween Across the Nation
Halloween took a deadly turn for trick-or-treaters, paradegoers and party guests across the country, on a holiday that federal safety regulators say is one of the deadliest on America’s roadways. At least 15 people were killed and nine others were injured in accidents and a fire connected to the festivities in the past few days, in states from California to New York, and Washington to Maine. Full Article
Read MoreLiving with 290: AB109 – Rehabilitation or Family Destruction?
Husband AB109er! In full compliance for 9 months. Allowed to live at home with wife and kids after 3 months on the streets. They say he’s not an SO he’s an alcoholic. Clean and Sober 9 months out, never missed an appointment, graduating from treatment. Gainfully employed – even though I lost my job. Asleep upstairs 2 hours. Friends drives by to pick/up halloween costumes for her kids. She literally walks thru the house and the kids are standing in the door way while we are outside. Probation comes thru…
Read MoreCA Supreme Court to Hear Two Residency Restrictions Cases
The California Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument on two residency restriction cases on December 2 starting at 2 p.m.. The oral arguments are open to the public and will be held at the Ronald Reagan State Office Building, 300 South Spring Street, Third Floor, North Tower, Los Angeles. “The issue of where a registered citizen may live is of great importance to more than 105,000 families within the state of California,” stated California RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “This issue is also important to the protection of the state and…
Read MoreTX: For $1.4 million, Dallas sex offender registration doesn’t buy much
If the goal is more stigma and shame, the operation succeeds spectacularly. For starters, the entrance is hidden around back of Dallas police headquarters, behind a rusting door, next to a small sign: “Sex Offender Registration Entrance Only.” Inside, the atmosphere only gets worse. The dreary waiting room is almost always filled to capacity with people sitting glumly, waiting for hours to meet the strict reporting requirements of being a registered sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Court ruling upends Maryland’s sex offender registry
___ is among 1,155 sex offenders who have been removed from the registry since February. … Most have been stripped out because of a decision by Maryland’s highest court. That ruling handed a victory to advocates who said the registries were unfairly punitive, but has troubled legislators and upset victims. Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments November 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of November 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreTX: 89-Year-Old Grandmother Required To Post Sex Offender Sign
ALVARADO (CBSDFW.COM) – Police in Alvarado aren’t bending the rules for 89-year-old ____ ____, whose son is a registered sex offender. “I haven’t hurt anybody. I haven’t violated or done anything to anyone,” said ____. Her home is her son’s official residence, thus ____ must post a “sex offender warning” sign on her lawn this Halloween. And it doesn’t matter, that she’s home alone. Full Article
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