Georgia Archives

GA: How Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry Traps People in Debt and Homelessness

December 8, 2022December 8, 2022 R H

Source: theappeal.org 12/8/22 In 2010, at age 20, after six years of engaging in sex work to survive, I was arrested and charged with pimping, pandering, and exploiting a minor who was over 16 years old. In 2012, I was convicted and sentenced to 30 years, with 14 to be served in custody, and forced to register as a sex offender. As my public defender so appropriately described it, I was depicted by the media as a sort of Guido the Killer Pimp and accused—I maintain falsely—of terrible acts befitting…

PA: Appeals court rules private housing development cannot bar sex offenders

October 31, 2022October 31, 2022 R H

Source: mdjonline.com 10/31/22 A state appellate court ruled a private housing development does not have the right to entirely ban registered sex offenders from living within their community. Ruling in a Monroe County case, the state Commonwealth Court said a 2016 restrictive covenant in the Lake Naomi housing community in Tobyhanna Twp. runs afoul of a state regulations that control where registered sex offenders can reside. The case has statewide implications because it marks the first time a state appellate court has addressed whether private homeowner communities must abide by…

GA: Georgia deputy police chief arrested in Florida for soliciting prostitution

September 3, 2022January 16, 2023 R H

Source: foxnews.com 9/2/22 A Georgia deputy police chief was arrested in Florida after he allegedly solicited prostitution in the Sunshine State. Cartersville Deputy Police Chief Jason DiPrima was arrested Thursday in Polk County, Florida. He faces charges of soliciting another for prostitution, lewdness or assignation. Read the full article

GA: US probation officer told Irish sex offender facing homelessness ‘to go and live in tent’

February 8, 2022 R H

Source: breakingnews.ie 2/8/22 An Irish man who was jailed for trying to entice a child for indecent purposes was told to “go and live in a tent” by a probation officer in the United States, the Court of Appeal was told on Tuesday. Martin ___(46) was caught in a police sting in the State of Georgia after he sent a nude selfie to an Internet chatroom user he believed was 13-year-old girl. He later fled the US to Ireland while on probation, and has been fighting attempts to extradite him…

GA: 11th Circuit Says a Sheriff Violated the First Amendment by Posting Warning Signs on the Lawns of Registered Sex Offenders

February 2, 2022 R H

Source: Reason.com 2/1/22 Butts County, Georgia, Sheriff Gary Long cited no evidence to support his pre-Halloween stunt. JACOB SULLUM | 2.1.2022 6:25 PM A Georgia sheriff violated the First Amendment when he posted signs on the lawns of registered sex offenders to warn away trick-or-treaters, a federal appeals court said in a recent ruling. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously concluded that the signs amounted to unconstitutional government-compelled speech. The decision strikes a blow against irrational policies that stigmatize sex offenders without any plausible…

GA: Georgia sex offenders take fight over ‘no-trick-or-treat’ warning signs to 11th Circuit

December 18, 2021 R H

Source: courthousenews.com 12/18/2021 A group of registered sex offenders have asked the appeals court to overturn a federal judge’s ruling in favor of a sheriff’s office that posted signs telling trick-or-treaters to keep away from the offenders’ homes on Halloween. ATLANTA (CN) — A class of registered sex offenders asked an 11th Circuit panel Friday to overturn a federal judge’s ruling allowing Georgia sheriff’s deputies to put warning signs on their lawns before Halloween. The Butts County Sheriff’s Office has argued in legal briefs that it was merely trying to…

GA: ‘Her death would not be in vain’: Petition could create new sex offender ID policy for ATL nightlife

September 30, 2021October 7, 2021 R H

Source: cbs46.com 9/30/21 ATLANTA (CBS46) — A new petition could make it harder for sex offenders to get into metro Atlanta bars and night clubs. The petition already has close to 10,000 signatures and it was started by friends of a local bartender who was kidnapped and raped. Chris Anthony said it doesn’t feel like it’s been almost two months since his friend 27-year-old Mariam Abdulrab was taken from him, “Honestly it still feels fresh you know when you don’t have any answers.” Police believe DeMarcus Brinkley kidnapped Abdulrab from her…

GA: Removing the Scarlet Letter

December 19, 2020 R H

[lagrangenews.com – 12/15/20] Decades ago, our state established the Georgia Sex Offender Registry (SOR). The purpose of SOR is to protect our citizens from sexually dangerous predators by identifying offenders that present the greatest risk of sexually re-offending. However, many people who are registered with SOR should not be because they pose no danger to society. Read the full opinion

GA: Hundreds of Georgia sex offenders off ankle monitors as lawmakers seek legal fix

July 12, 2020 R H

[tribuneledgernews.com – 7/11/20] A landmark court ruling has led to nearly half of Georgia’s most high-risk sex offenders being released from their ankle monitors over the past year, marking a legal quandary that state lawmakers fell short in addressing during the 2020 legislative session. State officials tasked with recommending how to monitor sex offenders in Georgia say legislation filed in the 2020 session would address the problem going forward by handing final authority to judges, rather than a state-run review board. But criminal defense attorneys argue the proposal does not…

GA: Farm stand ordinance passes 4-1; Antoine warns of produce-seeking pedophiles

February 19, 2020 Admin

A zoning ordinance that would allow farm stands at a day care center in Forest Park passed 4-1 Monday. Councilman Dabouze Antoine voted no, saying he was concerned a farm stand at the day care might attract pedophiles and human traffickers who would visit under the pretense of shopping for produce. Full Article

GA: New bill would bar sex offenders from living near their victims

January 31, 2020 Admin

A new bill in the state Legislature would ban registered sex offenders in Georgia from living within 2,000 feet of their victims or their victims’ immediate family. Full Article

GA: Group confronts Cobb County sheriff over ‘invented requirements’ imposed on sex offenders

January 30, 2020 R H

[11alive.com – 1/29/20] ATLANTA — A sex offender rights group is accusing the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office of overstepping Georgia’s sex offender registration laws. In a letter sent this week to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, the North Carolina based National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) claims deputies are “imposing invented requirements not contained in Georgia law.” NARSOL Executive Director Brenda Jones, in the letter, writes the requirements the sheriff’s office is imposing are considered harassment. The letter includes four specific claims against the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.…

GA: Lawmakers seek sex predator tracking bill that’s constitutional

January 28, 2020 Admin

Georgia legislators aim to close a loophole that’s now preventing the state from using ankle monitors to track more than 400 sex offenders. Some House and Senate lawmakers are backing legislation that would give judges the ability to impose lifetime electronic monitoring as part of someone’s sentence if a sex offender is deemed to have a strong chance of reoffending. The proposals follow a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional for the state to require around-the-clock GPS tracking after the felony sex offender has completed their sentence. Full…

GA: New Legislation Would Allow Lifelong GPS Monitoring of Sex Offenders

January 20, 2020 Admin

When the Georgia Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law allowing convicted sex offenders to be ordered to wear GPS ankle monitors for the rest of their lives after release from prison, several justices offered a concurring opinion saying the Legislature could write a law requiring such monitoring that would pass constitutional muster. Full Article

GA: Federal Judge Stops Halloween Signs

October 29, 2019October 29, 2019 Admin

A federal district court judge today granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that prohibits law enforcement in Butts County, Georgia from posting signs in the front yards of registrants’ homes on Halloween. In his ruling, the judge stated that requiring registrants to allow the signs to remain in their front yards violated their First Amendment rights. Also in his ruling, the judge explained that a state law that requires law enforcement to identify registrants “does not require or authorize sheriffs to post signs in front of sex offenders’ homes, nor…

GA: Sheriff defends Halloween sex-offender-warning signs

October 25, 2019October 25, 2019 R H

[bpnews.net – 10/24/19] orgia sheriff was in federal district court Thursday (Oct. 24) defending his decision to post signs in front of sex offenders’ homes warning trick-or-treaters not to approach. Three sex offenders have filed suit against Butts County, Ga., sheriff Gary Long because he posted signs in front of 200 registered sex offenders’ homes in 2018 warning trick-or-treaters not to approach the properties. The plaintiffs are trying to prevent Long from posting the signs again in 2019 and beyond. “Stop. Warning. No Trick-Or-Treat At This Address!!” the signs read,…

GA: Sex offenders sue Butts County Sheriff’s Office over ‘No Trick or Treat’ signs

October 21, 2019 Admin

When kids are out trick-or-treating, one of parents’ biggest worries is safety — but efforts by a Middle Georgia sheriff’s office to keep children safe are now at the center of a federal class action lawsuit. Full Article and Lawsuit Related GA: Palmer Sheriff Puts ‘No Trick-Or-Treat’ Signs in Yards of Sex Offenders

GA: Palmer Sheriff Puts ‘No Trick-Or-Treat’ Signs in Yards of Sex Offenders

October 18, 2019 R H

[1065.iheart.com – 10/17/19] A Sheriff in Georgia is not messing around when it comes to Halloween. He put up “No Trick-Or-Treat at This Address” signs in the yards of sex offenders in order to keep children out of harms way. “I’m not trying to humiliate ’em or anything like that. Let’s face reality: We have a greater chance of children getting run over by a car [on Halloween] than being a victim of sexual assault by a repeat offender,” says Sheriff Gary Long. “But at the end of the day…