Last week, a New York Times article titled “Mugged by a Mugshot Online” described the dubious business of mugshot extortion. Dozens of companies acquire the post-arrest mugshots — which are public records — of individuals who may or may not have been convicted. They then post the pictures on a website and charge a fee — sometimes in the hundreds of dollars — for removal. Moreover, even the payment of the fee doesn’t necessarily stop a website’s owner from launching a new site, reposting the same mugshot, and demanding yet another fee…
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Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Serve No Purpose
Under Jessica’s Law, sex offenders in San Francisco are barred from residing within two thousand feet of any school or park where children regularly gather. Due to San Francisco’s limited size and dense population, it is nearly impossible to find housing outside of this restricted zone. Consequently, the number of homeless sex offenders living in San Francisco has surged since the implementation of the restriction. This unintended consequence has led to multiple challenges to the restriction’s constitutionality and effectiveness. Full Article
Read MoreSexting scandal exposed: 30 teen girls in 7 San Diego schools, felony charges
A sexting scandal which began when a dozen San Diego teen girls sent nude photos of themselves to their boyfriends is a rude awakening that sending nude pictures on the internet is considered a criminal offense. “Police say possessing and distributing these types of images is considered child pornography and is against the law,” reported San Diego’s 10News on Oct. 30, 2013. Full Article More: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Charges-To-Be-Filed-in-Teen-Sexting-Ring-229646361.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_SDBrand
Read MoreHalloween Sex Offender Laws Are Unjustified
Kids aren’t the only ones letting their imaginations’ fears run wild on Halloween: parents, politicians, and police officers across the country are continuing to support laws that ban registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween, despite evidence that these policies are unnecessary and harmful. Full Article
Read MoreVA: It’s Time to Reduce, Reconstruct, Reclassify, Rethink and Reform the Virginia Sex Offender Registry
Overestimating Sex Offender Risk: The Static-99R Has Produced an Epidemic of False Positives in Florida. How Many Other States are Using This Flawed Assessment Tool and are Indefinitely Committing Citizens Who Pose No Risk? Full Article
Read MorePanic Does Not Make for Good Policy
Sexual violence, like other forms of violence, is traumatic and devastating. The question is not whether the state has an interest in preventing such harm, but whether current laws are appropriate and effective. The U.S. legal landscape was reshaped by federal laws passed in the mid-1990s, in response to heinous but statistically unusual crimes involving stranger abduction, rape and murder. The Wetterling Act required convicted sex offenders to register with local authorities, and Megan’s Law required law enforcement to notify neighbors about the presence of a sex offender in their…
Read MoreOH: Councilman tables own proposed ordinance on sex offenders
AMHERST — A proposed ban which would have prevented registered sex offenders living within the city limits from participating in Halloween will have to wait.At a committee meeting Monday, Phil Van Treuren made a motion to table the ordinance which he promoted one week ago through a news release.Van Treuren said his proposed ordinance was recommended after seeing the Village of Orwell in Ashtabula County adopt a similar ordinance recently, prohibiting sex offenders from answering their door during and around Halloween. After getting feedback from council members and Law Director…
Read MoreNo evidence of more sadism, sex crimes during Halloween
Every year, parents nationwide are vocal about the dangers of Halloween. Child abduction, poisonous candy and cryptic messages and pranks from Halloween sadists are just a few of the concerns expressed each year by 24 percent of parents with children under 12 years old, according to a 2011 Harris Interactive poll. However, empirical evidence doesn’t validate such concerns. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Black swan crash lands on Florida SVP program
Dan Montaldi’s words were prophetic. Speaking to Salon magazine last year, the former director of Florida’s civil commitment program for sex offenders called innovative rehabilitation programs “fragile flowers.” The backlash from one bad deed that makes the news can bring an otherwise successful enterprise crashing down. Full Article
Read MoreNew Legislation signed by Gov. Brown (“Ban-the-box” / Cert. of Rehabilitation) UPDATED
Several pieces of new legislation were signed into law by Governor Brown earlier this month that might of interest here. Among them are a prohibition of asking for information about criminal records on employment applications (“ban the box”), as well as a possible discretionary shortening of the waiting period for a Certificate of Rehabilitation if the “interest of justice is being served”. Full Article / More Info NOTE: 290 Registrants are excluded from a discretionary shortening of the waiting period for a Certificate of Rehabilitation. (added by Admin 10/28) 4852.22. Except…
Read MoreFear the Bogeyman: Sex Offender Panic on Halloween
It can be said that sex offenders are the new bogeymen, mythical monsters invented to scare children into social order. People convicted of sex offenses, and subsequently placed on the public registry, are transformed into a concept of evil, which is then personified as a group of faceless, terrifying, and predatory devils. It would appear that this strategy is used to keep sex offenders at a distance, in turn keeping our children and families safe from harm. But in reality, such fantasy does just the opposite: ignoring the realities of…
Read MoreMI: Legislation would force sex offenders to pay to be on registry [UPDATED]
Legislation passed by the Michigan Senate in Lansing would require registered sex offenders to pay an annual fee to help maintain the state’s sex offender registry. Senate Bill 221’s sponsor, state Sen. Rick Jones, said it is ready for the governor’s signature. “These are people who committed crimes,” said Jones, R-Grand Ledge. “I do not believe that the hardworking taxpayers in Michigan should foot the bill for a registry of crimes they did not commit.” In a news release on Thursday, Jones cited other states such as Indiana, which charges $50 per year…
Read MoreOK: Sex Offender Law Successful Challenge Sets Stage for Other Jurisdictions
Recent decisions have relied on the reasoning of the US Supreme Court in Smith v. Doe when analyzing challenges to sex offender registry laws. The Smith decision notoriously held that Alaska’s sex offender registry did not violate the US Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws. The US Supreme Court held that the Alaska registry was constitutional by applying a two-step analysis: first, determining whether the legislation was intended to have a punitive effect and if so, analyzing the results of the “intents-effects” test established by the court in Kentucky vs. Mendoza-Martinez. The Oklahoma Supreme Court…
Read MoreIn Defense of Rational Sex Offender Public Policy and Laws
The past several weeks I have been researching the sex offender laws applicable for sex offenders living in Rhode Island and in South Carolina. While not surprising, the laws are anything but rational and they are certainly not empirically based. This goes across the board, not merely in Rhode Island or South Carolina but at both the state and federal levels. The Adam Walsh Act of 2006 requires sex offenders to be classified in one of three tiers of supervision. Tier 1 sex offenders have lighter restrictions placed upon them…
Read MoreTransmitting Child Porn Case Overturned
Every era in human history has its version of a witch hunt. In the late 1600’s, colonial Massachusetts put many people to death via hanging, or burning at the stake, because these folks “confessed” to being witches. In my view, part of what qualifies any government activity as a “witch hunt” involves examining the large gap between the punishment and the crime. Burning at the stake for being a witch is but one example. Twenty years in prison for possessing child pornography, that’s today’s example. Yes, our government would probably…
Read MoreBubba the Love Sponge warns communities about sexual offenders
It’s nearly Halloween. A time for little ghouls and goblins to dress up for Trick or Treat. Tampa radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge is worried about some real scary people. Bubba asked listeners to let him know where sexual offenders are located in their neighborhoods. He says he then went onto the FDLE web site to verify the information and went says he went one step further to verify the offenders information on individual county law enforcement web sites. Bubba then had yard signs printed on a red background with bold…
Read More10-Year-Old Boy Required to Register as a Sex Offender
Two years ago, the U.S. Department of justice prosecuted a 10-year-old boy for aggravated sexual assault on five boys, ages 5-7. The assaults happened on an Army base in Arizona, which is why the DOJ was involved. After winning a delinquency judgment (the equivalent of guilty in juvenile court), the boy was sentenced to five years probation and required to participate in mandatory psychological treatment. He must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Full Article
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting in Fresno – November 9
On November 9, 2013, Attorney Janice Bellucci with California Reform Sex Offender Laws (www.californiarsol.org) will be in Fresno to talk about her role in helping offenders who must register, to understand they have a civil rights attorney to help them. Janice has filed lawsuits against California Cities, that restrict sex offenders from going into public buildings or other public areas. She has successfully sued and won to have these ordinances repealed. Another guest is Clare Ann Ruth Heffelbower from Fresno Pacific University. She is the Director of the COSA program…
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