Source: azmirror.com 2/28/25 [ACSOL note: Registrants both in and out of custody need to know about those who pose a danger, such as skinheads. Ignorance of these dangers makes it more likely to become a victim] Ricky Wassenaar, already serving 16 life sentences, says his only regret is “not killing more” Ricky Wassenaar killed three men at an Arizona State Prison near Tucson on April 4. Two were serving life sentences for sexual conduct with a minor. The third had raped and killed a 15-year-old girl. Wassenaar’s only regret…
Read MoreTag: Arizona
AZ: Arizona’s sex offender registry harms communities and families
Source: azcapitoltimes.com 3/13/25 In an era where evidence-based policy is increasingly valued, Arizona continues to maintain a sexual offense registry system that fails to deliver on its promises while creating serious collateral damage. Our current approach, originally designed to protect communities, has evolved into a system that paradoxically undermines public safety while devastating lives. As Arizona lawmakers consider criminal justice reforms, it’s time to fundamentally reassess this flawed system. Arizona’s registry fails victims Contrary to popular belief, the registry system often works against the interests of survivors. Sexual harm is…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona DOC Agrees to Pay $2,650,000 in Legal Fees and Costs in Long-Running PLN Censorship Suit
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 8/15/24 On May 3, 2024, Arizona’s Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a federal censorship lawsuit brought by PLN’s publisher,the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC). Under the agreement, DOC paid $2,650,000 to cover HRDC’s attorneys’ fees and expenses in connection with the successful litigation, the largest such award in a prison censorship case in U.S. history. Until 2014, DOC prisoners routinely received issues of PLN. That year, however, DOC began to censor numerous issues for “sexually explicit material” that violated its mail policy; the articles in question, however, merely…
Read MoreAZ: I sent an Arizona man to prison for 290 years. His case still haunts me
Source: azcentral.com 8/26/24 I sent plenty of people to prison during my career as a judge. Now I’m working to get one man out, and not because I think he’s innocent. I participated in hundreds of sentencing hearings in my 44-year career as a prosecutor and as a judge. Most of the sentences imposed were within the range I thought reasonable given the crime committed and the defendant’s background. Occasionally, the law mandated an excessive sentence, which I had to impose. By far the most egregious example of an excessive…
Read MoreAZ: Calls for vice mayor’s resignation for allowing a registered sex offender to stay at her house
Source: azcentral.com 9/5/23 A crowded and contentious meeting is expected at Peoria City Hall Tuesday night as residents plan to weigh in on Mayor Jason Beck and the City Council’s request for Vice Mayor Denette Dunn to resign. Dunn was asked to resign after the Peoria Police Department released a report last week that showed a longtime friend of hers, who is a registered sex offender, had intermittently stayed at her house the past year, potentially in violation of state law. The police alleged the man should have registered Dunn’s…
Read MoreAZ: Navajo Council passes legislation to improve sex offender registration
Source: nhonews.com 7/25/23 On the final day of the 2023 Navajo Nation Council Summer Session, Legislation No. 0104-23 was introduced to amend the Sex Offenders Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in Title 17 of the Navajo Nation Code. The legislation aims to allow civilian employees of the Navajo Nation Police Department to help register sex offenders in a timely manner, along with handling administrative tasks related to registration. Currently, only Navajo police officers are responsible for sex offender registration, which sometimes poses challenges due to their field duties and emergency…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona Opinion: Sexual Offense Laws
Source: tucson.com 6/11/23 The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: Meet Ryan, who, as a young man, had a caring and consensual relationship with his high school sweetheart. After months of dating, just before her 15th birthday and shortly after his 18th, their relationship became sexual. These young people were in love, hoping to build a life together, but because of their slight age difference, Ryan will spend the rest of his life on Arizona’s sexual offense registry and will carry the label of “child sexual predator”…
Read MoreAZ: Maricopa Police Department to re-mail residents notifications of 52 sex offenders
Source: inmaricopa.com 6/5/23 Maricopa Police Department announced residents may find sex offender notifications in their mailbox later this month. In a press release issued Friday, MPD said it will re-release these notifications through June following an internal audit of offender registration notifications. … State law requires these notices be sent to residents living within 700 feet of an offender within 48 hours of their registration or change of address. However, MPD said it will send notifications again following the audit. The department stressed the people listed in the notifications are…
Read MoreAZ: Data suggest changes for sex offense policies
Source: azcapitoltimes.com 5/18/23 Based on a false premise, Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted in the case of Smith v Doe 538 U.S. 84 (2003) that “the risk of recidivism posed by sex offenders is frightening and high,” as high as 80% for those who are untreated. This, he contended, made it vital that the public be able to identify these individuals in the interest of public safety. Justice Kennedy’s statements were wrong then and they are wrong now. They were based on an article in a lay publication, Psychology Today, not…
Read MoreAZ Action Alert: GOP bill would add all low-risk sex offenders to Arizona’s online registry
Source: azmirror.com 4/3/23 All low-risk sex offenders would be required to be listed on the sex offender registry under a Republican proposal that critics say is retroactive and would take away the discretion of law enforcement to review risk assessments. Currently, the sex offender registry website must include any offender whose risk assessment has been determined to be a Level Two or Level Three, or any person assessed to be a Level One offender and whose victim was under 12 years old. The proposed law, Senate Bill 1583 would punish…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona lawmakers consider sex doll bill
Source: 12news.com 3/16/23 Arizona state lawmakers on Thursday considered legislation banning sex dolls that look like children. The bill, HB2169, would make possessing, trafficking or importing a sex doll that is made to look like an infant or child a class 4 felony in Arizona. Further provisions and penalties are also included for situations where the doll has been made using a picture of an actual child. According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, an increasing number of these dolls have been discovered in cases nationwide, including three…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona Senate Committees Pass Two Bills in GOP Push to Criminalize Drag
Source: phoenixnewtimes.com 2/24/23 A group of Republican state lawmakers focused on attacking LGBTQ Arizonans passed two bills that would criminalize drag shows, businesses that host them, and parents who take their children to see them. SB 1698, sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack, would make it a felony for parents to take their child to a drag show. The parents would have to register as sex offenders, too. SB 1030, sponsored by state Senator Anthony Kern, would make it a felony for some businesses to host drag shows. Republicans in the…
Read MoreAZ: Proposal to increase felony charges for sex offenders could criminalize teen relationships
Source: azmirror.com 1/27/23 A proposal to increase the punishments for sexual offenders could put teenagers in prison. State law punishes sexual conduct with a minor who is at least 15 with a class 6 felony — the least serious felony type, which can potentially be moved down to a misdemeanor. House Bill 2169 seeks to rectify that by changing the classification to a class 4 felony, for which the standard penalty is 2.5 years in prison, and mandating one year of jail time if the offender was placed on probation. …
Read MoreAZ: Changes needed in sex offender registry rules
Source: azcapitoltimes.com 1/13/23 In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a rare spate of high-profile child abductions and murders, mostly sexual in nature, terrified America. With constant media coverage, parents across the country were easily led to believe that their children could be in imminent danger. As demands from the public, as well as a few prominent parents of missing or murdered children escalated, legislatures responded, and the sex offender registry was born. This primal need to protect our children from any possible harm resonates in us all. Human logic…
Read MoreAZ: Scottsdale adopts new anti-registrant rules for short-term rental property operators
Source: ktar.com 11/7/22 Scottsdale became the latest city to approve of new rules aiming to better guide short-term rental owners and properties. The new requirements include obtaining a Scottsdale license for each property, organizing sex offender and background checks on booking guests and … Read the full article
Read MoreAZ: U.S. Marshals target sex offenders in Northern Arizona operation
Source: kyma.com 9/20/22 YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – The combined efforts of the United States Marshals Service, Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and state police departments led to hundreds of sex offender compliance checks. In a press release, only one arrest was made in a compliance operation across Northern Arizona. “The Marshals Service is committed to assisting our partner agencies with sex offender compliance checks. By determining if offenders are complying with court ordered requirements, especially in rural communities, we help protect those most vulnerable to sex offenders,” said District of…
Read MoreAZ: Judge limits privilege defense in AZ Mormon sex abuse case
Source: msn.com 8/19/22 An Arizona judge overseeing a high-profile lawsuit accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of conspiring to cover-up child sex abuse has ruled that the church may not refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under the state’s “clergy-penitent privilege.” Clergy in Arizona, as in many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. But an exception to that law — the privilege — allows members of the clergy who learn of…
Read MoreAZ: Elderly Child Molesters Pose Dilemma For Courts And Community
Source: arizonadailyindependent.com 6/18/22 Richard ___ was placed on intensive supervised probation last summer after pleading guilty in a Cochise County courtroom to felony sexual abuse of a teenaged boy who lived in Richard’s neighborhood. It was the latest in a string of sexual misconduct with children the now 85-year-old has engaged in dating back to the 1950s, according to court records. But Richard has been in the county jail since June 9 on a no-bail order at the request of his probation officer who alleges Richard recently committed three violations…
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