NV: Ruling approves stricter sex offender registration

A ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court on Friday gave the go-ahead for the state to implement stricter registration requirements for sex offenders. Justices, in a unanimous ruling, denied a petition sought by 24 unnamed, previously convicted sex offenders to block the nearly decade-old law from being implemented while a lower court considers constitutional challenges. Justices said the judicial record of facts was insufficient for the high court’s review. … Assembly Bill 579 was passed by lawmakers in 2007 to make Nevada compliant with the Adam Walsh Act, a federal…

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SCOTUS declines to hear Ex-Post Facto case

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a registered citizen the opportunity to further challenge whether a registration law applied to him retroactively violates the Constitution.  As a result, the Court will not hear the case and his legal challenge to that law has ended. At issue was whether the retroactive application of a sex offender program violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution where the program imposes numerous onerous obligations and restrictions upon a registrant for life, with no opportunity to terminate registration even upon a…

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NH: Sex offender at center of Supreme Court case accused of failing to register online account

A Manchester man with disabilities who has petitioned for years to get off the state’s public sex offender registry, and who won the chance this year to argue his case in court, has been arrested, accused of failing to disclose an online account. ____ ____, 66, was detained Wednesday and charged with one count of failure to register, a felony. A police detective told the Union Leader he had created a Facebook account, but did not elaborate. Full Article Related NH: 850 convicted sex offenders eligible to petition to get…

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MA: Supreme Court Rules Amended Sex Offender Registration Law Ex Post Facto

On July 12, 2013, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a bill requiring the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) to amend registry requirements for defendants classified as level two and level three sex offenders, under G.L. c.6, §§ 178D and 178K. Level two offenders are deemed only a moderate risk for reoffending, and prior to the new law, the Board was barred from publishing those offenders’ registry information online. Lawmakers deliberately sought to change that policy, and enacted a law that allowed the Board to retroactively post on…

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Registered Citizen Challenges Long Beach Residency Restrictions

A sex offender (“registrant”) wishing to relocate to the City of Long Beach where he conducts business filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging sex offender residency restrictions. An ordinance adopted by the City Council of Long Beach prohibits most registrants from living within 2,000 feet of a child day care center, park, or school. The lawsuit will be served tomorrow on the City of Long Beach. CA Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit today on behalf of plaintiff Frank Lindsay. “Long Beach’s residency…

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NY: Curran calls for Extension of Sex Offender Regisry

Assemblyman Brian Curran (Lynbrook-21st AD) today called for the extension of the statewide sex offender registry that requires registration for Level One sex offenders who registered in 1996. Curran said these individuals were the first offenders to register with the system and were required to register on the statewide registry for a 10-year period at that time. This was extended in 2006 for an additional 10 years, for a total of 20 years, which ends in January of next year. Curran noted that a new roster of Level One sex…

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IN: Supreme Court scrutinizes sex offender registration requirement

INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana law, since 2006, has required sex offenders who must register in their home states to also register in Indiana if they relocate to the Hoosier State. But does a new Hoosier who committed a sex crime elsewhere prior to 2006 still have to register in Indiana? Or is that an unconstitutional “ex post facto” law that imposes a punishment that didn’t exist when the crime was committed? Full Article

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RI: Federal judge orders temporary halt to enforcement of relocation law for R.I. sex offenders

PROVIDENCE — Enforcement of a newly revised state law that prohibits high-risk sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school has been temporarily blocked by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell. On Friday afternoon, McConnell granted a restraining order allowing Level III sex offenders who live within 1,000 feet of a school in Rhode Island to stay in their homes for at least a little longer. McConnell’s action bars the attorney general’s office and the Department of Correction from enforcing the law. Previously, they could not live…

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OH: Sex offender registries draw criticism from some unlikely sources

You might think that all advocates for rape victims would support the practice of forcing sex offenders to publicly register their addresses after their release from prison. But you would be mistaken. Growing numbers of victim advocates and criminal justice researchers are among those who have concluded that sex offender registries are too costly and provide little or no protection to the public. Full Article Also see: Sex offender says registry amounts to punishment for life Nearly three decades ago, ____ ____ was convicted of raping a 33-year-old woman. While…

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NJ: Supreme Court – Sex offenders who served their time can’t face penalties under new laws

Sex offenders can not be subjected to punishments under newly created laws if they committed their offense and served their time before the legislation was passed, the state Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision Monday. Full Article ———— Please note. .. this article is from September 2014. It was previously posted here at its original date. https://all4consolaws.org/2014/09/nj-supreme-court-sex-offenders-who-served-their-time-cant-face-penalties-under-new-laws/ Oooops. ***Moderator***

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AL: Sex offender statutes turn productive citizens into homeless pariahs

The Constitution’s ex post facto clause prohibits passing a law that retroactively increases the punishment for a criminal act that an offender committed before the law was passed. But in an ingenious 2003 Supreme Court ruling, a 6-3 conservative majority held that retroactive placement on a state sex offender registry–being put on a registry that was created after an offender committed his crime–doesn’t violate ex post facto because registration isn’t punishment. Full Article

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California Supreme Court reversal forces counties to examine sex offender registration

After a conviction for oral sex with a 17-year-old foster child under his care, ____ ____ served as an assistant to the Miss Rio Linda Pageant, where he was photographed with teenage girls. If pageant officials and parents had checked the state’s sex offender registry, ____’s name would not have appeared. A judge granted ____ a reprieve from registration under a 2006 state Supreme Court decision that allowed judges to exempt offenders who committed certain child sex crimes. In April, the state’s highest court reversed itself, requiring registration for those…

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MD: Lawsuit – Sex offender requirements applied retroactively

BALTIMORE — A class-action lawsuit claims the rights of at least 800 people listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry have been violated. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, says the state retroactively increased the length of time certain sex offenders had to remain on the registry. The Maryland Declaration of Rights prohibits laws that retroactively criminalize an act or impose a more severe penalty than was set when the act was committed. Full Article

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