Source: Placer County DA on Instagram 9/16/24 Today, the Placer County Superior Court held a check-in for the release of state-designated Sexually Violent Predator William Stephenson. The District Attorney’s Office’s assigned prosecutor was present at the hearing alongside county counsel and joined by county representatives, and community members to monitor the update given to the court. William Stephenson appeared virtually with the Department of State Hospitals and their contractor, Liberty Healthcare. DSH reported they are currently assessing an undisclosed location in Placer County. They reported once the state does…
Read MoreTag: Housing
IL: How Illinois Housing Banishment Laws Push People into Homelessness and Prison
Source: boltsmag.org 1/16/24 Organizers with past sex offense convictions are championing a bill in the state legislature that could end the cycle and roll back residency restrictions. James Orr was in his apartment in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side one Wednesday morning in 2013 when he heard his phone buzz. “James, you have 30 days to move,” an Illinois state police officer on the other end told him. The 62-year-old, who had moved into the apartment with his wife in 2006 after finishing a three-year prison sentence, was…
Read MoreGA: Police no help in removing squatters, sex offender allowed to stay
Source: FOX 5 Atlanta on YouTube TUCKER, Ga. – Much has been made over the years of squatters’ rights. “Squatting” is when someone lives in a home, likely rent-free, and has to be kicked out by the courts. Well, here’s a case with a street-side view into one of the most bizarre cases of trying to evict someone you may ever see. This story involves a legitimate homeowner, a home for sale, and a convicted child sex trafficker. Guess who has the upper hand? It’s the kind of tale that…
Read MoreAR: Arkansas Parole Board Denies Release to Sex Offender For Failure to Find Appropriate Housing
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 9/15/23 On February 2, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas corpus petition challenging denial of his parole because he did not have approved sex offender housing. While bad news for him, the decision is instructive for any prisoner facing housing restrictions when paroled or on probation. Charles Isaac Wilson, Jr., is serving a 40-year sentence for a 2010 conviction for delivery of cocaine. In November 2021, the state Parole Board recommended he be transferred from the state Department…
Read MoreFAC President Speaks to UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva Switzerland
Source: Florida Action Committee 10/16/23 Today, our FAC President Gail Colletta addressed the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva Switzerland to call out the United States’ failure to address the inhumane Registry scheme and specifically the practice of allowing states to create Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORRs). Gail had only two-minutes to define the problem and ask the UN to hold the United States accountable for the violation of numerous human rights. While there is more that needs to be done to abolish the Registry entirely, her presence today…
Read MoreNY: They Were Supposed to Be Free. Why Are They Locked Up?
Source: thenation.com 10/14/23 No one wants a person convicted of a sex offense in their neighborhood. So New York keeps them in prison long past their release dates. Jory Smith was supposed to be free. His sentence had been up for five days on August 28, 2020, when officers at Marcy Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in upstate New York where Smith had spent almost five years, summoned him to a conference room. But instead of releasing him, they said they were taking him to another prison. Confused, Smith asked…
Read MorePlease Join ACSOL in Placer County Protest on September 1
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will protest ongoing efforts by Placer County, California, to block the release of a registrant in that county. The protest will be held on September 1 at 7:30 a.m. in front of Placer County Superior Court, 10820 Justice Center Drive, in Roseville, CA. The protest will move inside the court to Department 23, if possible, where the District Attorney has scheduled a meeting of those who support the county’s efforts. “We must take a stand on the important issue of where a…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Where Should They Live?
Officials in Placer County, California, are up in arms and complaining mightily that a 66-year-old registrant who has been designated a Sexually Violent Predator is about to be released in that county. Never mind that he was convicted more than 30 years ago and has completed many years of treatment. Never mind that experts have determined he no longer poses a current risk. Instead of relying upon these facts, Placer County officials and other government representatives are crying “not in my back yard”, otherwise known as NIMBY. And they appear…
Read MoreCA: Placer County officials push back on transient release of sexually violent predator
Source: kcra.com 8/21/23 Placer County and state leaders on Monday heard from people worried about the release and relocation of 66-year-old William ________, a sexually violent predator (SVP). County leaders spoke after the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) and Liberty Health Care held a meeting to talk about possible locations to place ________. He’s the man set to be released as a transient in the county, meaning he’ll live without a permanent address. While this doesn’t mean he gets dropped off at a bus stop, concerned officials are fighting the…
Read MoreFL: Sex offender camp growing in Florida woods; public apparently not warned
Source: fox8.com 7/28/23 CLEARWATER, Florida (WFLA) — A Florida camp powered by solar panels and a generator is home to about a dozen sex offenders who claim they were sent there by probation officers, but there is no indication the public was alerted. Land records indicate the tents that sit under a structure made from branches are on land owned by the Florida Department of Transportation. A state spokesperson said they were “not aware of this.” Several sources, including a defense attorney, told Nexstar’s WFLA that anyone on probation is…
Read MoreCA: Convicted sex offender to be released as transient in Placer County
Source: kcra.com 7/18/23 PLACER COUNTY, Calif. —A convicted sex offender will be released as a transient in Placer County, according to a release from the district attorney’s office. The Placer County District Attorney’s Office said it “has vehemently opposed” William _____’s release during every court proceeding involving the sex offender. On Monday, after a three-hour hearing and argument, the judge granted _____ transient release in Placer County. He is classified as a Sexually Violent Predator and is enrolled in the state’s Sexually Violent Predator program under state law. The district…
Read MoreCA: Nicki Minaj’s neighbors petition for her sex offender husband to leave posh Hidden Hills
Source: mercurynews.com 6/23/23 Nicki Minaj is facing a new line of resistance to her controversial marriage to childhood sweetheart Kenneth Petty, and it’s coming from her new neighbors in the posh city of Hidden Hills. Since December, they’ve been gathering signatures on a petition that demands that Petty leave the city because he’s a sex offender, TMZ reported. “Say no to sex offenders in Hidden Hills,” the Change.org petition reads. The petition notes that the rapper’s husband was convicted in 1995 of the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl, which…
Read MoreWA: Amid Uproar Over Tenino Sex Offender Housing, Lawmakers Work on Bill to Prevent Similar Situations
Source: chronline.com 1/22/23 State lawmakers are working on a bill to prevent situations similar to the opening of a new home for individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses in Tenino that has surprised, worried and angered many area residents. State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, and state Reps. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, and Travis Couture, R-Allyn, are writing legislation that would close a public notice loophole allowing private operators to house violent offenders in low-security adult group homes with minimal notice and assurance of adequate community protection, according to a news release. …
Read MoreWI: Oshkosh city council approves $1 million project to expand sex offender housing
Source: fox11online.com 1/10/23 The Oshkosh City Council is giving the go ahead for a county-owned housing facility for sex offenders. Residential housing for sex offenders in Winnebago County has been in the works since early last year. After a meeting in Oshkosh Tuesday night, the last hurdle was cleared. “These are individuals who’ve served their time, gone through treatment,” Oshkosh board member Lynnsey Erickson said. “Continuing treatment, under intense supervision, we can’t just throw these people away.” The Oshkosh Common Council approved the city’s conditional use permit, meaning a facility…
Read MoreCA: Child-sex offender faces felonies for living in High Desert home but claiming homelessness
Source: vvdailypress.com 1/2/23 A registered sex offender last convicted in California less than six years ago for child-sex abuse is now behind bars on two felony charges for allegedly “giving false information to law enforcement” by claiming to be homeless despite having taken up residence in a High Desert home. John Ray ____, 57, was arrested shortly before noon last Wednesday on the outskirts of Apple Valley at a home that authorities say he’s been living in without registering it as a residence he uses in legally-required updates to his…
Read MoreTN: Chattanooga, Hamilton County money not housing sex offenders from Budgetel
Source: timesfreepress.com 12/22/22 No registered sex offenders displaced from the Budgetel Inn last month are being housed with city or county money, officials said after Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp sent an email this week objecting to “free hotel rooms for child molesters.” Wamp identified four registered sex offenders who had been living at the East Ridge motel before she sought and received a court order for its closure as a public nuisance, and a fifth was later identified by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Since the sudden shutdown,…
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 MoreWhy Some Sex Offenders Never Get Out Of Prison (video)
Source: youtube.com #VICENews Much of what our society considers common knowledge about sex offenders is currently under debate — from the efficacy of the registry, to housing restrictions, to what treatment, if any, works. One of the most controversial practices is “dead time” — where sex offenders stay in prison for years beyond their sentence, simply because there is no where else for them to go. VICE News’s Alice Hines reports on how our society’s efforts to protect the public from violence ended up backfiring. Help keep VICE News’ fearless…
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