Massachusetts

MA: Mass. legislators call for hearing after report details sex offenders received trade licenses

·December 17, 2019
·23 Comments

[wickedlocal.com - 12/17/19 - Employment restrictions] The chairs of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure want an oversight hearing and an “immediate and thorough investigation” into how…

National

MA: Tougher child rape penalties pushed

·December 12, 2019
·4 Comments

[gloucestertimes.com - 12/3/19] BOSTON — Convicted child rapists who commit new crimes could be sentenced to life without parole under a proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker to toughen sex offender…

National

MA: O’Connell sponsors bill to prevent sex offender name change

·September 24, 2019
·10 Comments

[tauntongazette.com - 9/19/19] TAUNTON – State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, R-Taunton, wants to put an end to what she calls a loophole that allows registered sex offenders to legally change their…

National

MA: Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Board

·July 19, 2019
·9 Comments

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated and set aside a superior court judgment affirming a Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) decision to classify John Doe as a level two sex offender,…

National

MA: Baker to refile bill on sexual predators

·May 22, 2019
·2 Comments

[eagletribune.com - 5/20/19] Gov. Charlie Baker will ask lawmakers once again to limit the release of sexual predators from prison. The move follows last week's ruling by the state's highest…

National

MA: State’s Highest Court Orders Release Of Sex Offender Held Since 1970s

·May 16, 2019
·6 Comments

Massachusetts' highest court ruled Thursday that a 71-year-old convicted sex offender held for more than 40 years as a sexually dangerous person can be released, after two mental health professionals…

National

MA: Harvard professor loses post for defending an unpopular client

·May 14, 2019
·8 Comments

[theappeal.org - 5/14/19] As soon as it was revealed earlier this year that a house faculty dean at Harvard University, Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., had decided to join the legal…

Janice's Journal

Janice’s Journal: Flowers of Justice are Blooming

·March 27, 2019
·29 Comments

Spring has begun and the flowers of justice are blooming. One of these flowers, which is especially beautiful and fragrant, is a decision issued today by the Massachusetts Supreme Court…

National

MA: Mandatory GPS monitoring of some sex offenders violates privacy rights

·March 26, 2019
·11 Comments

Convicted sex offenders retain a constitutional right to privacy, and those rights are being violated by a state law mandating that everyone convicted of some sex crimes wear a GPS…

National

MA: More Than A Quarter Of Boston’s Registered Sex Offenders Are Homeless

·February 21, 2019
·12 Comments

The purpose of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry is to keep track of where dangerous sex offenders are, but what if they have no address? That’s the case with ____…

General News

Should we show compassion?

·January 29, 2019
·7 Comments

The story of a couple who were found dead inside of a tent at a homeless encampment has led to questions in the community: What rights does a twice-convicted sex…

National

MA: Sex offenders have access to kids on Halloween

·October 10, 2018
·29 Comments

[bostonherald.com - 10/7/18] Sex offenders are forbidden under state law from driving an ice cream truck, but they can hand out all the candy they want on Halloween in what…

National

MA: The Case for Dismantling the Sex Offender Registry with Dr. Emily Horowitz [presentation]

·October 7, 2018
·9 Comments

[sopri-ma.org - 10/25/18] with Dr. Emily Horowitz, author of Protecting Our Kids? How Sex Offender Laws are Failing Us Thursday, October 25 @ 7pm Cambridge Friends Center, 5 Longfellow Park…

National

MA: Court Recognizes Harm to Registrants, Rules in Their Favor

·August 6, 2018
·38 Comments

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Council, the state's supreme court, has ruled in favor of registrants who were trying either to terminate their duty to register or to change the tier…

National

MA: Court: Board needs proof in sex offender reclassification

·August 1, 2018
·10 Comments

[thesunchronicle.com - 8/1/18] BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board has the burden of proof when determining whether a sex offender should not be moved to a less…

National

MA: Board wants Cosby deemed a sexually violent predator

·July 25, 2018
·12 Comments

[bostonherald.com - 7/25/18] Disgraced comic icon Bill Cosby will have to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts if he returns to his sprawling Shelburne Falls estate — and state…

National

MA: Changing sex offender law needs to be evidence-based

·July 10, 2018
·1 Comment

Massachusetts is hardly soft on sex offenders, being one of only 20 states and the District of Columbia that incarcerate people convicted of sex offenses after they’ve completed their criminal…

National

MA: Child Rapist Bill Triggers Debate Over Punishment, Process

·June 28, 2018
·3 Comments

[wbur.org - 6/27/18] Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito appealed to lawmakers Tuesday for new sentencing and civil commitment laws targeting repeat child rapists, but opponents of Gov. Charlie Baker's bill argued…