Source: ACSOL A federal judge today set March 27, 2024, as the trial date for the Halloween sign case in Missouri. The trial will be conducted before the judge only, with no jury, in Halloween case – U.S. District Court, Eastern District, in St. Louis – Court Order – Trial Setting etc. The trial will be open to the public. During the trial, the court will consider both whether the Halloween sign requirement violates the First Amendment and whether to issue the existing statewide temporary restraining order (TRO) on a…
Read MoreTag: Missouri
MO: Multiple people arrested in Mid-Missouri, accused of breaking Halloween sex offender rules
Source: abc17news.com 11/1/23 Multiple people were arrested in Mid-Missouri on Tuesday on suspicion of not complying with sex-offender Halloween restrictions. In Chariton County, Timothy _____, 42, of Salisbury, was arrested on suspicion of several charges. He was charged with failure to register as a sex offender, drug possession, two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, and misdemeanors including failure to comply with Halloween-related restrictions for sex offenders and two counts of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held at the Randolph County…
Read MoreMissouri good news! 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds TRO, Denies AG’s Motion
In a terse two-sentence decision issued today, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by the federal district court on Friday. As a result, registrants in Missouri are not required to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween this year. “We are grateful that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decided to protect registrants as well as their families and homes,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “It was a difficult battle and we won!” The specific ruling today…
Read MoreMissouri TRO Challenged by Attorney General
The Attorney General of Missouri has filed a motion for emergency stay that, if granted, would allow the government to enforce a state law that requires registrants in that state to post a sign on the front door of their homes on Halloween. This motion was filed in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals after business hours on Friday. According to this motion, the federal district court lacks jurisdiction to issue a statewide Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). The motion then requests the appellate court either to stop the TRO completely…
Read MoreMO: Briefs Filed Regarding Request to Stop Missouri’s Halloween Sign Mandate
Source: ACSOL Briefs have been filed by both parties, in support of and in opposition to, a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). If the motion is granted, registrants in Missouri would not be required to post signs on the front door of their homes on Halloween. Plaintiff’s reply brief was filed today as required by the court. That brief focuses on the fact that the sign mandate violates the First Amendment because it is compelled speech, required by the government and objected to by the registrant. The brief…
Read MoreMO: Motion for TRO Filed to Stop Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement
A motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was filed today in federal district court asking the court to stop enforcement of a Missouri state law that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. If the motion is granted, enforcement of the Halloween sign requirement could be stopped statewide. “It was important to make this request today so that the court could issue its ruling prior to Halloween,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci, who is now the lead attorney in the case. …
Read MoreMO: Hazelwood man’s Halloween displays were lavish. A sex offender law forced him to quit
Source: stltoday.com 10/9/23 ST. LOUIS — Thomas Sanderson’s Halloween festivities were a neighborhood tradition. For more than two decades, the Hazelwood resident put together a “lavish display” featuring animatronic figures and creatures, lights, music, fog machines, a bonfire and — of course — candy. But on Halloween in 2022, a half-dozen police cars descended upon Sanderson’s property and asked to search his home. Sanderson had been convicted of a sex offense in 2006, and police argued he had violated a state law that prohibits people on the sex offender registry…
Read MoreACSOL News Alert: Federal Lawsuit Challenges Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement
A lawsuit was filed in a federal district court this week challenging a state law in Missouri that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The plaintiff in the case, Thomas J. Sanderson, was arrested last year for violating that and other requirements of the state law at issue. The basis of the legal challenge is the First Amendment that not only allows citizens to speak but also protects citizens from compelled speech which has been defined as a requirement to utter…
Read MoreMO: Missouri governor explains why he vetoed bill that included Blair’s Law
Source: kctv5.com 7/6/23 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Missouri’s governor has vetoed S.B. 189, which included Blair’s Law to increase the penalty for celebratory gunfire, but he explained his reasons for doing so in a letter. Blar’s Law was named after 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane, a Kansas City girl who was killed by celebratory gunfire on July 4, 2011. According to a press release, Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the bill due to the following provisions that were included: “Section 610.140 – could allow criminals convicted of sexual offenses, including sexual…
Read MoreMO: Nearly 30 years after guilty plea, Boone County woman may have sex offense record cleared
Source: columbiatribune.com 4/11/23 A nearly 30-year-old sex offender case is coming back to Boone County. It is not to decide the offender’s guilt or innocence, but whether changes in law meant they ever were required to register as an offender in the first place. The main reason the case is coming back to Boone County is so that Department of Mental Health records can be accessed to determine if Liana _____, formerly Liana M. Bradford, completed the required treatment programs to clear her record under the Tier 1 offender parameters…
Read MoreMO: Sex offenses bill package heard in Senate Committee
Source: missourinet.com 4/26/23 Missouri is reviewing whether to update its sex offender registry requirements for those who are convicted of committing crimes against children and the mentally disabled. A Senate committee is considering the public safety bill, sponsored by Representative Justin Hicks of Lake St. Louis. “It amends the sex offender list to ensure that individuals that have committed child sex crimes are classified as tier three offenders, which would equal a lifetime registration requirement,” he says. “It codifies the language from that was rolled on in January from the…
Read MoreMO: MO Supreme Court sends Boone County sex offender case back to circuit court
Source: komu.com 4/4/23 JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to send a Boone County woman’s case back to circuit court after she said she should be removed from the sex offender registry. The 4-3 decision by the Court reversed the circuit court’s judgment and sent back the case for further proceedings. Read the full article
Read MoreMO: Proposed Missouri Violent Offender Registry
Source: missourinet.com 1/23/23 State Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, has reintroduced a piece of legislation for the creation of a violent offender registry. Under the bill, those convicted of first- and second-degree murder would be placed on a list similar to the sex offender registry. “The theory here grows out of a contact I had with a constituent actually before I was even elected,” according to Rep. Roberts. “I made a promise to this person at the time that I would file this every year until we either pass it or…
Read MoreMO: No Branson sex offender Halloween violations involved children
Source: bransontrilakesnews.com 11/15/22 The Branson Police Department announced a check of sex offenders on Halloween 2022 had 25% out of compliance with laws related to the holiday. … Schmitt said none of the violations involved any contact with children. Read the full article
Read MoreMO: Police: Registered sex offender arrested after handing out Halloween candy in Hazelwood
Source: fox2now.com 11/4/22 Police arrested a registered sex offender Friday accused of violating state law and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween in Hazelwood. Prosecutors have charged Thomas ____ with one count of “failure to comply with Halloween related restrictions for sex offenders.” As part of Missouri state law, registered sex offenders cannot go outside to interact with children, cannot have outside lights on and are required to post a sign stating no candy or treats are available at the home on Halloween night. Read the full article
Read MoreMO: Missouri proposes online list of murderers out on probation
Source: myleaderpaper.com 3/18/22 (The Center Square) – Missouri residents soon could see whether any paroled murderers live in their neighborhoods. State representatives could hear House Bill 1705, which would create a separate list to Missouri’s sex offender registry that names parolees out of prison for first- or second-degree murder. The offenders would see their names fall off of the list once their parole time has been served. Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, said his bill would not intermingle the sex offender list with the tally of paroled murderers. “It does not…
Read MoreKS: Victims advocate lawmakers to force convicted peeping suspects onto sex offender registry
Source: kshb.com 2/7/22 KANSAS CITY, KS. — On Tuesday, the Kansas State Senate is set to hear a sex offender law in Topeka. Kansas Senate Bill 385 would require people convicted of certain breach of privacy offenses, like peeping, to register as a sex offender. This is something victims and advocates have been fight for after several peeping cases here in the Kansas City area. Former Johnson County prosecutor Jason Covington has been working on these type of cases for years. “No place was safe. It could be a retail…
Read MoreMO: Convicted sex offender sent to prison for loitering in park
Source: yahoo.com 11/2/2021 A Jasper County judge sent a 46-year-old man to prison for two years Monday on a conviction for hanging out in a Joplin park in violation of a state law governing convicted sex offenders. Tommy J. _____ II was found guilty Sept. 13 of loitering in a public park at the conclusion of a bench trial before Judge Dean Dankelson in Jasper County Circuit Court. Dankelson sentenced Tommy on Monday to two years in prison on the conviction. A probable-cause affidavit states that Tommy, who has a…
Read More