Local and county politicians around the state hopped on a populist bandwagon nearly a decade ago, hurriedly passing laws that outdid the state’s effort to keep convicted sex offenders from living or even walking near schools, parks and daycare centers — in the absence of any real evidence that stricter laws were needed. Full Editorial
Read MoreTag: New York
NY: Court of Appeals voids sex offender laws
ALBANY — The state’s highest court ruled Tuesday that state law restricting the residency of registered sex offenders supersedes local and county laws, rendering them obsolete. The 5-0 decision by the Court of Appeals marked defeat for Nassau County and any other municipality in New York state hoping to restrict the offenders to within certain distances of schools, parks, playgrounds, daycare centers and other places where children are likely to be. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Senate approves tougher penalties, requirements for sex offenders
The New York State Senate passed a package of seven bills Monday aimed at increasing penalties and establishing tougher requirements for sex offenders. Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Klein, co-leader of the state Senate Majority Coalition and leader of the Independent Democratic Conference, would ban level 2 and level 3 sex offenders from being placed in homeless shelters or emergency and temporary housing if children are currently living in the facilities. The state Senate also passed measures to establish a crime if an individual knowingly harbors, houses or employs…
Read MoreNY: Where should sex offenders live?
Albany – A local attorney told the state’s top court Monday that a county law restricting the residency of convicted sex offenders within 1,000 feet of schools should be superseded by state law and not be enforced. Full Article
Read MoreNY: NY may need to free sex offenders
State mental health officials are trying to decide whether they will have to release civilly confined sex offenders because of a recent ruling from New York’s highest court. The odds are some of the offenders will be freed. The more pressing question may be: How many? Full Article
Read MoreNY: Parents for Megan’s Law touts record on sex offenders as it seeks to expand into Nassau
Parents for Megan’s Law, a nonprofit that monitors convicted sex offenders in Suffolk County, has alerted police to 173 cases in which offenders allegedly reported inaccurate addresses, contributing to 38 arrests, according to the agency and new county data. Full Article
Read MoreTier 2 Sex Offender Coming To Buffalo
____ ____ ____ was convicted of engaging in a sexual act with another by force and the threat of serious violence in 1992. ____ was convicted of forcibly raping an eighteen year old girl. ____ was 25 and physically intimidating and mentally unhinged due to drug and alcohol addiction at the time of this vicious act. Now the Statler City Hotel, Lace-Up Promotions and the City of Buffalo are being used to promote this individual. The reputation of all are being used in a manner that causes new injuries to the…
Read MoreNY: Nonprofit To Expand Nassau County Sex Offender Program
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – Starting next year, the Long Island-based group Parents for Megan’s Law will begin monitoring the online activities of Nassau County’s registered sex offenders. The monitoring will include tracking posts on Facebook and Twitter and forwarding leads to police, Newsday reported. Full Article
Read MoreNY: West Seneca Neighbors Dismayed Albany Judge Will Hear Sex Offender Group Home Case
WEST SENECA, N.Y. — The battle to move sex offenders out of a group home in West Seneca will continue in Albany. On Tuesday, the judge moved the case on the state’s policy on sex offenders and housing from Erie County Court to Albany County.Since February, residents have repeatedly expressed outrage that seven registered sex offenders are living in a group home on Leydecker Road in West Seneca. They say the state moved the men to their neighborhood without notifying them. “You’re putting the fox in the hen house,” said…
Read MoreNY: Judge rules on difficulty for sex offenders to live in Brooklyn
Forcing sex offenders to stay 1,000 feet away from schools, playgrounds and daycare centers if they were convicted before that state law was enacted is unconstitutional, a new Brooklyn Supreme Court ruling has found. Full Article Also see: Devine v Annucci (decision)
Read MoreAnti-Airbnb Coalition Creates Map to Find Nearby Sex Offenders in NYC
ShareBetter, the anti-Airbnb campaign in New York City, launched a tool Monday that allows short-term renters to search neighborhoods in the city for sex offenders and building code violations. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Judge Finds State Limits on Sex Offender Moves Illegal
A judge has found the state’s 2005 restrictions on sex offender movement violate constitutional bans on retroactive punishment when applied to a man convicted of sexual abuse in 2002 and effectively banished him from many parts of Brooklyn as a result. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Lewis determined that Executive Law §259-c(14)—which forbids sentenced offenders from “knowingly entering into” publicly accessible areas within 1,000 feet of school grounds and other institutions where minors are present—violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution in the case of ____ ____, convicted…
Read MoreNY: Editorial – Monitoring sex offenders
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli fears municipalities across the state are not insistent enough that convicted sex offenders follow post-release laws about notifying police where they are living. In our specific region, this does not appear to be a valid complaint. Once convicted, most felons serve their time and generally are released with the understanding that they’ve paid for their crime. Not so with sex offenses, however. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Judge Rejects Sex Offenders’ Challenge to Residency Laws
The claims of nine convicted sex offenders that New York state, county and town sex offender registration requirements and residency restrictions are unconstitutional have been dismissed by a Brooklyn federal judge. But Eastern District Judge Pamela Chen (See Profile) also dismissed without prejudice their claim that state residency laws preempt more restrictive local laws. Full Article
Read MoreLiberty and justice for all – and yes, that includes sex offenders
As thousands of students poured through the Spine and milled about the Student Union on the first day of classes, phones and computers all over campus buzzed and beeped, announcing an incoming email that would set one of their classmates apart. When SUNY recommended to UB students be contacted directly about the presence of a Level 2 sex offender on campus, it singlehandedly brought an end to the short-lived possibility that ____ ____ could experience a normal school year. Full Article Related: Sex Offender Enrolls at UB
Read MoreNY: Non-Sex Crime May Trigger Management, Panel Says
The state may initiate civil management proceedings against a sex offender who, while on supervised release, committed a non-sex crime, a state appeals panel has held. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Housing Restrictions Keep Sex Offenders in Prison Beyond Release Dates
Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live. The law, which has been in effect since 2005, restricts many sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Those unable to find such accommodations often end up in homeless shelters. Full Article
Read MoreNY: New Law – Sex Offenders Need Not Apply
A new law prohibiting anyone with previous sex offense convictions from becoming a volunteer firefighter is an important advancement, but will not drastically change the firefighter vetting process, several area fire chiefs said Tuesday. The legislation prevents registered sex offenders from joining or remaining members of volunteer fire and ambulance companies by requiring applicants to submit to background checks for prior sex offense convictions, according to a Monday announcement from State Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, who sponsored the bill. Full Article
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