A federal judge has told Nebraska to keep juvenile sex offenders off the state sex offender registry if they weren’t tried as adults — at least for now. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Tuesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf gives a temporary reprieve to dozens of people who received letters from the Nebraska State Patrol telling them they must register as sex offenders. The letters cited a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision. Full Article
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NE: Sex offender residency restriction dropped by council
An ordinance that would have banned convicted/registered sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school or child care facility in York was given a second public reading and then dropped for good. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Nebraska FEARLESS the subject of newly-published article: creation and how it helps registered citizens and their families
[nebfacts.blogspot.com – 6/26/18] Nebraskans Unafraid’s FEARLESS is the subject of a newly-published research paper. The paper, written by Lisa Sample, Brooke Cooley, and Tusty ten Bensel, looks at the creation of FEARLESS and how it helps registered citizens and their families. Here is the abstract from the article. The term sex offender carries expectations that include a continuous level of sexual criminal risk and untreatable mental health conditions that govern sex offending behaviors. These role expectations by the public can socially isolate individuals who have been convicted of a crime…
Read MoreNE: Governor vetoes criminal conviction set-aside bill
[journalstar.com] Gov. Pete Ricketts issued his first veto of the session Wednesday, rejecting a bill (LB350) that would allow a person convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, with a sentence other than probation or a fine, to petition the court to set aside their conviction once their sentence is completed. Ricketts said the bill weakened confidence in the criminal justice system with its dramatic expansion of the ability of serious felonies such as murder, arson, human trafficking, armed robbery, drug manufacturing or distribution, and assault on a police officer to…
Read MoreNE: LB693 would create new offenses, including “unmanned aircraft harassment by a registered sex offender”
[nebfacts.blogspot.com] It remains to be seen if this bill will get off the ground. The Judiciary Committee heard testimony on LB693, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Carol Blood, which would regulate the use of unmanned aircraft (drones) in the state. Much of the bill’s language prohibits the use of drones to trespass or spy on another person. Read more
Read MoreNE: Bill would expand authority for mental health professionals
[UPDATED links 2/18/18] [nebfacts.blogspot.com] The Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on another bill worth watching. While not focusing exclusively on registered citizens, LB964 does use the fear of the “dangerous sex offender” as a selling point. Mental health professionals would have the same authority as law enforcement to place people in emergency protective custody under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 14. LB964, introduced by Omaha Sen. Mike McDonnell, a mental health professional could take a mentally ill and dangerous person or a dangerous sex offender…
Read MoreNE: Class action lawsuit filed on behalf of juveniles placed on sex offender list
The attorney who successfully sued to keep a 15-year-old boy’s name off the state’s Sex Offender Registry now is seeking to file a class-action lawsuit for those who the Nebraska State Patrol did list. Attorney Joshua Weir said it ruined the lives of the seven — listed only as Johnny Doe I through VII — and dozens of others. Full Article
Read MoreUnderstanding sex offenders: the untold story
I’ve made people’s stories my life’s work. I’m a person who talks to people sitting next to me on airplanes. I engage people at grocery stores, and even while sitting in those flimsy robes in the hospital, waiting for a mammogram. I generally like people. And I constantly “interview” them, even when I’m not working. I consider myself open-minded. I’d rather ask questions than answer. I try not to judge. But one fall day last year, a random call to the newsroom caught me off guard: A co-worker shouted across…
Read MoreNE: 8th Circuit says Nebraska’s sex offender list doesn’t apply to boy
The 8th Circuit Court has ruled in favor of a 15-year-old boy whose family sued the Nebraska State Patrol to keep him from being put on the state’s sex offender registry for a juvenile case in Minnesota. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Judge asks why state wants to put boy on sex offender list
Federal appellate judges focused their questions this week on an attorney for the state, asking why Nebraska is pushing to put a 15-year-old boy on the state’s public sex offender registry rather than use “good old police discretion.” Full Article
Read MoreNE: STATEMENT OF OPPOSITION TO NE LB 300
Below is a statement of opposition to a Nebraska bill that eliminates all statutes of limitations on civil lawsuits against people accused of sex crimes. You may find it useful against similar statutes in other states. Full Statement
Read MoreNE: Ruling that allowed kids in sex offender’s home spurs lawmaker
LINCOLN — Reactions ranged from bewilderment to outrage over a Nebraska Supreme Court decision earlier this year that allowed two girls to remain in the home of a felony sex offender. And the decision set a clear precedent, said Brandon Brinegar, the Kearney lawyer who represented the biological father who had tried to remove the girls from the sex offender’s residence. Brinegar said lawmakers would have to act to prevent similar rulings in the future. That’s just what a state senator from Omaha intends to do in the upcoming session…
Read MoreNE: Rethinking Nebraska’s sex offender registry
Do all the people on Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registry really need to be there? Do you think we should know the whereabouts of every sex offender in the state? Some people don’t think so. Groundbreaking research at UNO found that most sex offenders do not reoffend. Research showed that putting every sex offender on a public website can lead to harassment and may contribute to conditions that make reoffending more likely. Full Article
Read MoreNE: State appeals decision barring state from adding boy to state’s sex offender list
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska’s attorney general is appealing a federal judge’s decision to block the state from putting a 13-year-old boy who moved to Nebraska from Minnesota on its public list of sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Judge bars state from adding boy to state’s sex offender list
A federal judge has blocked Nebraska from putting a 13-year-old boy who moved here from Minnesota on its public list of sex offenders. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf said if the boy had done in Nebraska exactly what he did in Minnesota he would not have been required to register as a sex offender “and he would not be stigmatized as such.” “It therefore makes no sense to believe that the Nebraska statutes were intended to be more punitive to juveniles adjudicated out of state as compared to juveniles…
Read MoreNE: City Council Rejects Sex Offender Residency Restrictions
FALLS CITY – City council discussed and took action on whether or not to draft an ordinance restricting the distance a registered sex offender(s) can live to a school or a licensed daycare. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Older teens not the only ones caught sexting
The young couple had dated a year and a half when their relationship was exposed. He was 15 and she was 14, and they were exchanging nude pictures and videos of themselves through their cellphones. But the private exchanges would not stay confidential. Earlier this year, Bellevue school officials found images on the boy’s phone. Then Bellevue police got involved, carrying out a search warrant to go through the teen’s phone over a concern about Child Pornography. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Omaha Church Hires a Formerly Registered Citizen
Here’s a day-brightener: Omaha’s Lifegate Church hired as a pastor a man who used to be on the Iowa sex offender registry. [The pastor] didn’t serve any jail time and his name has been removed from Iowa’s sex offender registry after 10 years. In a news release, Lifegate Church said, “In considering Mike and Sharla for our Lifegate team, we fully informed ourselves through an exhaustive research, interview, prayer and consulting process that lasted several months.” Full Article From Nebraskans Unafraid
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