TRENTON, N.J. (CN) – Polygraph testing is par for the course when New Jersey releases sexual offenders on permanent supervision, but the state’s parole board is barred from using such tests as evidence, a state appeals court ruled today. The decision comes in answer to a lawsuit five convicted sex offenders brought in 2013. Full Article Related Decision N.J. court upholds lie detector tests for sex offenders
Read MoreTag: Parole
CA: Most Sex Offender Parolees Exempt from Ban
Three-quarters of California’s paroled sex offenders previously banned from living near parks, schools and other places where children congregate now face no housing restrictions after the state changed its policy in response to a court ruling that said the prohibition only applies to child molesters, according to data compiled at the request of The Associated Press. Full Article In other news outlets http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-exclusive-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-ban-35750104 http://www.redding.com/news/wire-news/most-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-from-ban http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015-12-14/ap-exclusive-most-sex-offender-parolees-exempt-from-ban http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/1214/AP-Exclusive-California-sex-offenders-exempt-from-ban-on-housing-location
Read MoreCDCR Withdraws Halloween Sign Requirement Statewide
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced in federal district court its decision to withdraw a statewide requirement that sex offender parolees post a sign on the front door of their residences on Halloween. Immediately following that announcement, CA RSOL withdrew its request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). “This is a significant victory for more than 10,000 registered citizens and their families,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “They are no longer faced with the risk of significant injury.” CA RSOL and plaintiff John Doe were…
Read MoreCA RSOL Challenges Halloween Sign Requirement in Federal Court [updated with complaint]
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) and a registrant on parole filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging a requirement that registrants on parole post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The requirement is levied by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as a blanket restriction on all registrant parolees in San Diego. “CDCR’s requirement that all registrant parolees post a sign on the front door of their residence violates the First Amendment because it compels speech,” stated Janice Bellucci, attorney…
Read MoreGA: Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Sex Offender Law
The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over a state statute that dictates how “sexually dangerous predators” are classified. ____ ____ was designated a “sexually violent predator” in 2013, which is the highest risk designation and requires him to wear an electronic monitor for the rest of his life. ____ was convicted for exposing himself and performing a sexually explicit act via webcam to an individual he believed was a 14-year-old girl, according to court documents. Full Article Case Info
Read MoreOrdinance would offer rewards for sex offender apprehension
LOS ANGELES – A proposed ordinance introduced Tuesday would allow the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to offer rewards of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the apprehension of sex offenders who abscond while on parole or probation. Full Article
Read MoreNV: Sex offenders challenge Nevada supervision law
More than a dozen sex offenders are challenging the Nevada Parole Board’s authority to impose conditions on their lifetime supervision. The offenders, identified only as Does 1-16, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against several state and local officials, including Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt. According to the lawsuit, the Parole Board has relied on an unconstitutional Nevada law to place movement and residency restrictions on convicted sex offenders who are under its supervision. In some cases, those restrictions have prevented the plaintiffs from attending religious services or associating with certain…
Read MoreKY: No place to live, sex offenders kept in prison
____ ____ ____ served out every bit of his eight-year sentence for sexual abuse and should have been released from prison more than a year ago. But he is still behind bars and could be for up to four more years, with state taxpayers footing the bill for his medical expenses and incarceration. The reason: He was charged with violating the terms of his conditional release from prison before he even got out, because he couldn’t find a legal place to live as a sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreKS: Ruling prohibits blanket ban on Internet use for parolees
WICHITA, Kan.- A blanket ban on Internet use unlawfully deprives parolees convicted of sex crimes of more liberty than necessary because the Internet has become a necessary part of modern life, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said the wording in a standard condition of supervised release used by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office for the District of Kansas conflicts with a 2001 ruling from the court because it suggests probation officers can completely ban a means of communication. The court noted…
Read MoreCalifornia Senate passes bill giving longer sentences to sex offenders who remove GPS tracker
Violent sex offenders who disable their GPS tracking devices would receive longer prison sentences under a bill prompted by Orange County serial killings and approved unanimously Tuesday by the state Senate. The bill by state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, cleared the Senate floor and is headed to the Assembly. Full Article Related Senator Patricia Bates Press Release SB 722 After sex offenders accused of killing 4 women, state bill would crack down on those who tamper with GPS monitors [UPDATED]
Read MoreAfter sex offenders accused of killing 4 women, state bill would crack down on those who tamper with GPS monitors [UPDATED]
Following a high-profile murder case involving two Orange County parolees, state lawmakers are again considering more time behind bars for sex offenders who tamper with GPS monitoring devices. Offenders currently face a mandatory six months in jail for removing or disabling GPS bracelets. But under a bill introduced this year by state Sen. Pat Bates of Laguna Niguel, they could face up to three years in prison. … Bates called the state’s current penalties for tampering with GPS monitoring devices a “slap on the wrist” and argued that elevating the…
Read MoreCalifornia loosens rules on where sex offenders can live
California officials announced Thursday the state will stop enforcing a key provision of a voter-approved law that prohibits all registered sex offenders from living near schools. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it will no longer impose the blanket restrictions outlined in Jessica’s Law, which prevented all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, regardless of whether their crimes involved children. Full Article Related UT San Diego SF Chronicle CBS Sacramento KCRA
Read MoreHousing the unwanted
Under state law, ____, as a paroled sex offender, cannot live within 1,000 feet of schools—making large swaths of Brooklyn off-limits. Parole conditions also prohibit him from fraternizing with other ex-convicts and limit contact to family and friends screened by parole officials. So when he was finally released from an upstate prison in January, ____ was confused to find himself living with dozens of sex offenders and other parolees in an illegal rooming house in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Full Article
Read MoreMore parole agent caseloads exceed limits under new sex offender rules
Since two sex offenders were charged with killing four women while under state and federal watch, California has changed how it supervises such parolees, increasing scrutiny of some and relaxing the monitoring of others. A Times analysis of state data shows that the number of parole agents with caseloads exceeding state limits has increased under the new system, further stretching California’s already strained ability to oversee freed sex offenders. Full Article
Read More$18 Million in Taxpayer Dollars for a Program That Feeds the Sex-Offender Industry and Does Little Else
The Associated Press not only buries the lead in a story about California’s paroled Registered Citizens now being subject to periodic polygraph exams. The AP utterly misses the point. Never mind that polygraphs simply are not reliable. They’re boogie-men used mainly to scare people into admitting to crimes they probably didn’t commit. The real story here, the story The AP can’t see, is about the sex-offender industry. Full Opinion
Read MoreCalifornia making sex offenders take lie-detector tests
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the first time, California will make paroled sex offenders take periodic lie detector tests as a way to gauge their behavior patterns and perhaps prevent new sex crimes. The move came in response to several high-profile cases involving parolees who raped and killed. Full Article
Read MoreReview finds parole agents swamped with sex offender caseloads
Nearly two-thirds of parole agents who monitor sex offenders juggle caseloads that exceed department standards, a state corrections review reported Wednesday in response to an Orange County murder case. Agents are supposed to supervise between 20 and 40 parolees, depending on how many are high-risk offenders. But more often than not, the state Office of the Inspector General found, agents are overburdened. Full Article
Read MoreMA: SJC Ends Lifetime Parole for Sex Offenders
The Supreme Judicial Court today ruled that lifetime parole for sex offenders violates the state’s constitution, The Boston Globe reports. In a 6-1 decision where Justice Robert Cordy was the dissenter on some issues, the state’s highest court said judges alone have the power to sentence people. The state law that created “community parole supervision for life” for sex offenders unconstitutionally gives the Parole Board that same power. Full Article
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