Source: ACSOL The Second District Court of Appeals has issued a decision that overturns a decision by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denying a registrant’s petition for removal from the registry. According to today’s appellate court decision, the trial judge’s decision was improper because the District Attorney failed to prove that the registrant poses a current danger to public safety. “This decision is very important because it upholds a prior appellate court decision, People v. Thai, which ruled that the burden of proof is upon the District Attorney, not…
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UT: More than 100 convicted sex offenders missing from the registry
Source: youtube.com / KSL 10/26/23 The Utah Department of Corrections is auditing the state’s sex offender registry and hiring additional staff after the KSL Investigators discovered more than 100 convicted sex offenders missing from the registry. Watch the video
Read MoreCanada: Liberal bill updating sex-offender registry in response to court decision becomes law
Source: ctvnews.ca 10/27/23 OTTAWA – A Liberal bill that adds victims’ input to the process for publication ban decisions and changes how the national sexual offender registry works has received royal assent. The new law requires judges to ask prosecutors if they have sought a victim’s input when seeking a publication ban, and requires victims’ preferences about receiving information about their case after an offender’s sentencing to be entered into the record. It also adds new entries to the list of offences that can result in someone being added to…
Read MoreTN: Registry to life sentence: TN courts remove dozens from sex offender registry after legal challenges
Source: newschannel5.com 8/9/23 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It’s costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars as more people file lawsuits claiming they shouldn’t be restricted by a registry that didn’t exist when they were convicted. Dozens of people have since been removed from the registry as a result, with dozens more potentially on the way. Thomas spent more than 20 years on Tennessee’s Sex Offender Registry but now considers himself a free man. His case is still being appealed, so we’ve agreed to stick with first names for his protection.…
Read MoreOK: Sex offender searches in Oklahoma prove more complicated than one would think
Source: kjrh.com 5/12/23 TULSA, Okla. — The case involving registered sex offender Jesse McFadden has rocked the Henryetta community. Investigators have already taken in mounds of electronic evidence from inside the home that has victims’ families concerned about possible sex ring ties. The case has prompted a lot of you to dig into your own communities and the sex offender registry. One woman alerted 2 News that a simple web search isn’t as easy as it sounds and there could be some serious flaws. “This started by the McFadden case…
Read MoreHow SCOTUS Promoted Pernicious Myths About Sex Offender Registries
Source: reason.com 3/1/23 This Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that approved the retroactive application of Alaska’s sex offender registry, deeming it preventive rather than punitive. That ruling helped propagate several pernicious myths underlying a policy that every state has adopted without regard to its justice or effectiveness. Writing for the majority in Smith, Justice Anthony Kennedy took it for granted that collecting and disseminating information about people convicted of sex offenses made sense as a public safety measure. But that premise was…
Read MoreCanada: P.E.I. has 199 people on the National Sex Offender Registry, but that number may drop
Source: msn.com 11/16/22 The number of people on P.E.I. who are on the National Sex Offender Registry could drop after a recent Supreme Court decision. Since 2011, any Canadian who has been convicted of two or more sexual offences is automatically listed on the registry for life. The Supreme Court has determined that is unconstitutional, saying the list should be based on an offender’s risk to reoffend. … Mullin believes the Supreme Court decision could make the registry more effective, without minimizing the effect on victims. “I think this decision…
Read MoreCA: Wheatland man guilty of murder: Influenced by conspiracy theories, Banks had ‘hit list’ of potential victims
Source: appeal-democrat.com 11/3/22 As the spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation continues to creep into every corner of American life, the consequences of movements such as QAnon have shown to be fatal – the most recent well-covered example being the attack on Paul Pelosi at his home allegedly by a man who fell deep into the conspiracy rabbit hole. On Oct. 28, a Wheatland man, 44-year-old Rory Banks, who also seemed to be affected by misinformation online, was found guilty by a Yuba County jury for the May 12, 2021,…
Read MoreUK: A man arrested for stealing a meat pastry took his own life after police incorrectly labelled him a pedophile
Source: businessinsider.in 6/25/22 A man arrested for stealing sausage rolls is alleged to have killed himself after police release papers incorrectly stated he’d been accused of a child sex offense, an inquest heard. Brian Temple, 34, was arrested for the alleged theft from British bakery chain Greggs in Teesside, England in 2017, according to Teesside Live. When discharged, his custody release papers wrongly stated that he had been detained for “engaging 13-15 year old in sexual activity,” a court heard, per the outlet. Temple showed his release papers with a…
Read MoreEmily Horowitz: The Real Monsters – Sex offender registries don’t make us any safer. Abolishing them would.
Source: inquest.org 6/3/22 Watching the Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, I was struck by how Republican senators pounced on the judge’s thoughtful, considered, and mainstream sex offense sentencing. My research examines why our sex offense policies are based on fear-driven myths and how excessive criminal-legal responses do not genuinely and effectively address sexual violence — and do create new harm. And at the time, based on this knowledge, I wrote about the spectacle, where politicians like Josh Hawley accused Jackson of “endangering our children” and not…
Read MoreME: Lindsey Daggett doesn’t care that residency restrictions don’t work. She wants them for “justice”
Source: bangordailynews.com 5/31/22 Lindsey Daggett was 15 years old when she confided in a family member that she had been sexually abused. The man who had molested her for nine years was her mother’s boyfriend. … A bill to require statewide residency restrictions for offenders of sex crimes against children didn’t go forward in the fall because the Maine Legislature was only considering emergency legislation. If reelected, Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais, said she plans to submit the bill again, at Daggett’s urging. … “I was tired of being ashamed and…
Read MoreDE: Proposed sex offender registry legislation doesn’t make communities safer
Source: delawareonline.com 5/27/22 House Bill 306 is before the Delaware State Legislature. For the 4,500-plus Delawareans who appear on the state Sex Offender Registry the proposed legislation changes the “Restrictions” designation on the front of their driver’s licenses from the current “Y” to “SO.” The bill retains the words “Sex Offender” that already appear on the back of licenses. HB306 proposes nothing to make the public safer. Delaware drivers licenses use federally compliant standards, and law enforcement technology provides immediate knowledge of a person’s registry status without relying on any specific…
Read MoreNamibia: A Sex Offender Register for Namibia? … Right Idea, Wrong Solution
Source: namibian.com.na 5/19/22 IN 2017, hundreds of people gathered outside a house in Katutura after hearing reports that a man living there was abducting children and dismembering their bodies. According to news reports, police deployed 20 police vehicles and a helicopter, and ended up having to use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. At least two people were injured in the chaos, and several police vehicles were damaged. The rumours that led to the riot were entirely untrue. This was not an isolated incident of vigilante action.…
Read MoreAK: Data shows Arkansas 3rd highest rate of registered sex offenders in U.S.
Source: 5newsonline.com 5/16/22 ARKANSAS, USA — There are 767,000 registered sex offenders across the nation and 18,000 of those live in Arkansas. The data says that just under 600 registered sex offenders per 100-thousand residents. This data comes from safehome.org. Senior industry analyst, Corie Colliton says since there is no national sex offender registry, they’ve been compiling the data from each state since 2019. “Arkansas does have a high number of child sex abuse victims per 100,000 minors in the state. It was higher than any other state. Almost…
Read MoreVA: Convicted Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act
Source: justice.gov 5/5/22 BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – A convicted West Virginia sex offender pleaded guilty today to failing to provide information related to foreign travel as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). According to court documents and statements made in court, Andrew Todd Smith, 32, of Peterstown, Monroe County, admitted that he traveled to South Africa in November 2021 without providing the required advanced notification. Smith was required to register as a sex offender under SORNA after he was convicted of three counts of third-degree sexual assault…
Read MoreKS: Internet child sex crimes convictions will require registration as offenders in Kansas
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Source: wibw.com 5/5/22 TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A bill to allow those convicted of drug offenses to seek relief from the offender registration act and require those convicted of internet child sex crimes to register as a sex offender has been signed by the Kansas Governor. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says on Thursday, April 5, she signed Senate Bill 366, which will create a way for drug offenders to seek relief from the Kansas Offender Registration Act and allows expungement of the offense if relief is granted. The bill also…
Read MoreSD: This South Dakota man was removed from sex offender registry after 10 years: ‘You still have the chance’
Source: news.yahoo.com 5/1/22 Taylor Hughes was stuck in Mitchell because the roads to Plankinton were closed. A spring snowstorm had blown in and the convicted sex offender had no way to get back to his home. It was 2018, and Hughes had three years left before he could petition to be removed from the sex offender registry. His mom had suggested he stay at her apartment for a day or two. If it was longer than three days though, Hughes was risking his chance to start over, since sex offenders…
Read MoreSC: SC Legislature can’t keep delaying fix on sex-offender registry
Source: postandcourier.com 4/29/22 Even though it’s supposed to be independent and uninfluenced by the political branches of government, the S.C. Supreme Court still manages to be a good team player. Too bad the Legislature isn’t. Nearly a year ago, as The Post and Courier’s Seanna Adcox reminds us, the high court ruled unanimously that South Carolina’s toughest-in-the-nation sex offender registry is unconstitutional, because it gives an unappealable lifetime sentence to people most of us wouldn’t think of as dangerous sex offenders. Think 15-year-old boys who had consensual sex with their 15-year-old girlfriends,…
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