ShareBetter, the anti-Airbnb campaign in New York City, launched a tool Monday that allows short-term renters to search neighborhoods in the city for sex offenders and building code violations. Full Article
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Pedophilia: A Disorder, Not a Crime (Opinion)
THINK back to your first childhood crush. Maybe it was a classmate or a friend next door. Most likely, through school and into adulthood, your affections continued to focus on others in your approximate age group. But imagine if they did not. By some estimates, 1 percent of the male population continues, long after puberty, to find themselves attracted to prepubescent children. These people are living with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to prepubescents that often constitutes a mental illness. Unfortunately, our laws are failing them and, consequently, ignoring opportunities to…
Read MoreOur criminal justice system is making it really hard for people to find jobs
Although the American economy has rebounded from the Great Recession, many people still struggle to find jobs. Politicians blame taxation, trade policies and automation. Some have even singled out the current welfare system. Often overlooked? The many punitive effects of the criminal justice system. Nearly 65 million Americans have a criminal record. This black mark carries with it potentially mandatory restrictions on jobs, housing, education and public assistance. As detailed in a National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers study, the federal government and every state imposes some sort of “collateral…
Read MoreThe Better Part of Valor: Amending Local Sex Offender Ordinances
A series of lawsuits against California cities has brought the issue of sex offenders in the community back to many city agendas and local public meetings. Two recent decisions by the California Court of Appeal and a case pending before the California Supreme Court effectively limit cities’ ability to enforce local ordinances regulating registered sex offenders who live in their jurisdictions. Few city officials or residents favor the idea of repealing an ordinance intended to protect children from predators, but many cities with such ordinances are being forced to do…
Read MoreNY: Judge Finds State Limits on Sex Offender Moves Illegal
A judge has found the state’s 2005 restrictions on sex offender movement violate constitutional bans on retroactive punishment when applied to a man convicted of sexual abuse in 2002 and effectively banished him from many parts of Brooklyn as a result. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Lewis determined that Executive Law §259-c(14)—which forbids sentenced offenders from “knowingly entering into” publicly accessible areas within 1,000 feet of school grounds and other institutions where minors are present—violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution in the case of ____ ____, convicted…
Read MoreCITY OF COMMERCE ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT
A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of Commerce has been challenged in a lawsuit filed today in federal district court on behalf of a registered sex offender (“registered citizen”). “This lawsuit was filed because the City of Commerce prohibits registered citizens from visiting the public library, parks, bus stops and commercial establishments that provide a children’s playground,” stated California RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “The City has failed to revise or repeal its ordinance despite recent court decisions that determined such ordinances are preempted by state law.” This is…
Read MorePA: ‘Deplorable’ sex offender’s crime could be considered worse than murder, prosecutor says
With a sentence of 23 to 46 years in prison, sex offender ____ ____ will be incarcerated longer than some murderers. But in a sense, his crime is worse than murder, according to a prosecutor. … “I say involuntary deviate sexual intercourse is worse than murder because you’ve got to live with it,” (Assistant District Attorney Pat) Broscius said. “When you’re murdered, you’re dead.” Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments October 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of October 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreLaw extends time for childhood sex abuse charges
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sex-abuse victims will have more time to pursue criminal charges against offenders under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Also Tuesday, the governor vetoed a related bill that would have extended the amount of time victims have to file civil lawsuits and seek financial compensation Full Article
Read MoreNY: Editorial – Monitoring sex offenders
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli fears municipalities across the state are not insistent enough that convicted sex offenders follow post-release laws about notifying police where they are living. In our specific region, this does not appear to be a valid complaint. Once convicted, most felons serve their time and generally are released with the understanding that they’ve paid for their crime. Not so with sex offenses, however. Full Article
Read MoreTreatment to be mandatory for young sex offenders
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Adolescents and teenagers convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious victim will face mandatory sexual-offender treatment in California. Gov. Jerry Brown’s office on Tuesday announced he had signed SB838. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Landlord Bucks Trend, Offers Housing to Sex Offenders
Laws that restrict where sex offenders can live when they are released from prison leave many homeless, but one south Florida apartment manager is providing housing opportunities by leasing apartments to offenders on liberal terms. “I just believe that everybody deserves a second chance,” said Pamela Eaton, the manager of Fairfield Apartments in south Fort Myers. She indicated her goal is to help sex offenders become independent and productive citizens, “because everybody makes mistakes.” She considers post-release housing one step in that direction. Full Article
Read MoreDo Residency Bans Drive Sex Offenders Underground?
Early last year, Los Angeles set aside a sliver of land in its Harbor Gateway neighborhood for the city’s newest and smallest park: two jungle gyms on a fifth of an acre. The project was more than just an effort to increase the city’s green space. City Council members made clear that one of the park’s principal reasons for existence was to force 33 people on the California sex offender registry who were living in a nearby apartment building to move out. State law bars those on its registry from living within…
Read MoreTX: Mom Upset Sex Offender Allowed Near Kids in Pee Wee Football League
SHEPHERD, TX (KTRK) — A San Jacinto County mother says she couldn’t believe it when she saw a man she considered an assistant coach on her five-year-old son’s pee-wee football team listed online as a sex offender. “I was shocked. I was very upset, very angry. There’s really not a word for it,” she says. “My son’s five years old, this man’s out here on the field with my son, and for no one to notify me of it before I sign my son up or before they sign the…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona’s Naked Photo Law Makes Free Speech a Felony
Which of the following could land you a felony conviction in Arizona? Showing images of naked prisoners tortured at Abu Ghraib; Linking to the iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of “Napalm Girl,” showing an unclothed Vietnamese girl running from a napalm attack; Sharing a close-up photo of a woman’s breast with a breastfeeding support group; Waving a friend over to see a cute naked baby pic — like the one you see on this page. Unfortunately, the answer is all of the above. That’s because Arizona recently passed a law that…
Read MoreJustice Department Announces $17.6 Million in Awards to Support Sex Offender Registration, Intervention and Treatment
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today announced more than $17 million in Fiscal Year 2014 grant assistance for states, territories, tribal governments and other entities to use to implement, enhance and maintain sex offender programming throughout the United States. “These awards provide a wide range of assistance to help states, communities, tribes, and even institutions of higher learning manage sex offenders,” said Dawn Doran, Acting Director of the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART). “They will give jurisdictions the tools…
Read MoreAnti-Junk Forensic Science bill is now law: Criminal Justice Public Policy Breakthrough in California
California Governor Jerry Brown just signed into law SB 1058 bill. The law permits habeas corpus petitioners (i.e. after a conviction) the ability to contest expert testimony that was presented against them at trial. In other words, experts who either repudiate their past testimony or used forensic “science” that is later deemed faulty by legitimate research are subject to later proceedings reversing a conviction. Personal liabilities of those experts are NOT affected by this amendment to the California Penal Code. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia Enacts ‘Yes Means Yes’ Law, Defining Sexual Consent
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill into law that makes California the first in the nation to have a clear definition of when people agree to sex. The law goes further than the common “no means no” standard, which has been blamed for bringing ambiguity into investigations of sexual assault cases. The new law seeks both to improve how universities handle rape and sexual assault accusations and to clarify the standards, requiring an “affirmative consent” and stating that consent can’t be given if someone is asleep or incapacitated by…
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