Moments ago, The Florida Justice Institute, Inc. and the law firm of Weitzner & Jonas, P.A. filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to strike down the State of Florida’s requirement that registered citizen’s “Internet Identifiers” be reported. Full Article
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Canada: Supreme Court says judges can ban convicted sexual predators from Internet
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court took steps Thursday to bring the law up to speed to protect children in the rapidly evolving realm of cyberspace in a ruling allowing judges to ban convicted sexual predators from using the Internet. The case turned on one narrow legal issue — whether a new law can be retroactively applied to case that predated it. As a matter of legal principle, the high court rarely allows laws to be applied retroactively, especially when it comes to changes in criminal law on how punishment is…
Read MoreNJ: Is it time to revisit and revamp Megan’s Law in NJ?
A peculiar thing — actually, two —happened on the way to banning New Jersey sex offenders from social media sites. First, the proposal was scaled back over concerns it wasn’t legal. Then, lawmakers heard from a lawyer whose practice is focused on Megan’s Law cases who says New Jersey law in this area is misdirected and merits a top-to-bottom re-evaluation by a task force to make sure it’s effective. Full Article
Read MoreIL: ACLU, EFF ask state supreme to strike down limits on free speech in cumbersome sex offender laws
CHICAGO – The ACLU of Illinois, joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, today asked the state supreme court to strike down the “incredibly broad scope” of limitations contained in the state’s sex offender registry laws. The amicus brief was filed in the case of ____ ____, a young man from downstate Normal who served a 12-month probation for a misdemeanor offense, which he completed. Though years have passed, Mr. ____ still is forced to navigate a series of onerous and cumbersome requirements under the State’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA). Full Article
Read MoreOH: Loophole in sex offender registry law aided online sexual predators
A loophole in Ohio’s sex offender registry law may have aided a Cleveland man and convicted sexual predator in soliciting a 14-year-old girl for sex on the internet. … Current Ohio law requires registered sex offenders to provide change of registered address, registered address verification, notice of intent to reside, and change of registered vehicle, email, Internet, and telephone information. “But we have found that there’s nothing in the law that requires it to be accurate,” Senator John Eklund, District 18, said of the internet information in particular. Eklund, a co-sponsor…
Read MoreMA: Mass. Forced To Remove Names From Sex Offender Database
BOSTON (CBS) – They are the faces of predators, with lists of their charges on public view in most police stations, and anyone can use the state’s registry to search for sex offenders in their community. But many of those names are now being removed from the internet database due to a Supreme Judicial Court decision that will grant many of these offenders new hearings about their classification. Full Article
Read MoreMA: Sex offenders set to be delisted by court ruling
More than 500 sex offenders are expected to be removed from the state’s public online registry after a controversial high court ruling that has caused a massive backlog of cases, according to officials. … The Herald reported yesterday that a Supreme Judicial Court decision rendered last month has forced the SORB to temporarily remove sex offenders from the online database that allows the public to track them. The hearings to determine the risk that offenders pose have also come to a halt. Full Article Related http://www.myfoxboston.com/news/mass-court-decision-removes-sex-offender-info-from-public/13701168 http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_29359122/sex-offender-ruling-blasted-by-advocates http://www.bostonherald.com/opinion/editorials/2016/01/editorial_sex_offender_snafu
Read MoreThe Online-Sex Predator Panic
North Carolina’s Supreme Court just upheld a law making it a crime for a former sex offender to use social media that minors also use—that is, any social media. Full Article
Read MoreEven after release, California convicts contend with digital trail
Visitors to the 1998 California state fair were treated to demonstrations of a novel criminal justice tool: a computer that allowed them to look up information about registered sex offenders. Nearly two decades later, the novelty has vanished. A few clicks on a personal computer summon the name, address and record of sex offenders filed in the state’s Megan’s Law database. Every state in the nation now maintains a database of registered sex offenders. Full Article Related REGISTRANTS SUE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE — DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS TO, OR END OF,…
Read MoreREGISTRANTS SUE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE — DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS TO, OR END OF, MEGAN’S LAW WEBSITE [updated with media]
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) and two registrants today will file a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting immediate changes to, or in the alternative, the ending of, the state’s Megan’s Law website. The request is based upon the failure of the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to comply with a state law that required the agency to add conviction and release dates to individuals’ profiles on that website by 2010. “The California Department of Justice continues to act illegally and in violation of state law,”…
Read MoreNZ: Proposed child sex offender register “could increase re-offending”
A proposed register for child sex offenders could increase their chances of re-offending by isolating them from society, organisations with concerns about the plans say. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Facebook and NY Attorney General Battle Sex Trafficking
Facebook and the New York Attorney General have formed a prolific crime-fighting partnership. The two have teamed up to find missing children and curb illegal gun sales. Now the Batman and Robin of Gotham justice are working on a new plan to battle online sex trafficking. The latest partnership hopes to use Facebook’s mountains of user and ad data to identify human traffickers and child victims of sex trafficking. Full Article
Read MorePublic Safety Committee Chairman Stops SB 448
Public Safety Committee Chairman Bill Quirk stopped Senate Bill 448 from being passed in the Assembly yesterday when he refused to conduct a hearing on that bill. He took that action despite a Rules Committee ruling that suspended both an Assembly rule and the State Constitution. “Chairman Quirk is to be commended for his courage and his integrity,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “He protected the U.S. Constitution as well as the civil rights of registered citizens when he stopped SB 448.” Prior to the Chairman’s act, SB 448…
Read MorePublic Safety Committee to Hear SB 448 Today (Friday, September 11 – 11:30 am)
The Assembly Public Safety Committee will conduct a hearing today, at 11:30 am, regarding SB 448 which would require some registered citizens to disclose their internet identifiers. The hearing is the result of a decision by the Rules Committee. At this time, the Committee is not accepting verbal comments regarding the bill but written comments may be sent by E-mail to committee staffer Martin Vindiola at martin.vindiola@asm.ca.gov. “The legislative process is railroaded in its consideration of SB 448,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “The requirement to disclose internet identifiers…
Read MoreSenate Passes Internet Identifier Bill (SB 448)
By a vote of 39 to 0, the Senate passed internet identifier bill SB 448 on September 2. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the Assembly. “We must continue to assert pressure upon the Assembly to stop this bill,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “This bill has been rushed through the legislative process and needs more careful consideration.” The legislature is scheduled to end its deliberations for the calendar year on September 11. In order for SB 448 to be passed by the Assembly, the bill would…
Read MoreDC: Court Denies Challenge to Sex Offender’s Website on Registry Officials
A website that “registers” and posts photos of government employees who work in the District of Columbia’s sex offender registration office is protected by the First Amendment, a D.C. Superior Court held in a February 14, 2014 memorandum opinion. Dennis Sobin, a convicted sex offender, is required to register every three months with the D.C. Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), and his picture is posted on the District’s sex offender registry. Sobin, 70, spent over ten years in prison for using a minor while filming a pornographic movie,…
Read MoreIndia: Why it is wrong on the part of the government to propose ‘naming and shaming’ offenders who haven’t been convicted
India, the largest democracy in the world unfortunately possesses a government that leaves a lot to be desired. Leaving no stone unturned to disappoint the very people it was elected to protect, the Indian government has time and again come up with laws and policies that make little or no sense. The latest in line is Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s Independence Day announcement that a list of sex offenders would be made publicly available on a national portal, to be launched soon, in order to keep the public alert.…
Read MoreSB 448 scheduled for hearing August 24
The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider Senate Bill 448 (SB 448) during a hearing on August 24. If passed, the bill would require registered citizens to disclose internet identifiers to law enforcement officials. The Senate Public Safety Committee passed SB 448 unanimously based in part upon a promise by the bill’s author to amend the bill. According to committee staff, the bill must be amended to limit those who must disclose to an individual convicted of an offense that involved use of the internet. “Senate Bill 448 must be stopped,”…
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