India Likely to Launch Sex Offender Data Base Next Month

[sputniknews.com – 8/31/18] The registry is aimed at helping law enforcement agencies to identify repeat offenders while making people aware of those involved in crimes that are sexual in nature, however, human rights activists are concerned the draconian step might do more harm than good. New Delhi (Sputnik) — With demands to ensure justice for sex offense victims growing louder every passing day, the government of India has decided to adopt a sex offender database. The database would store the profile and personal details of convicted offenders and also those…

Read More

Bermuda: Do not make sex offender registry public

[royalgazette.com – 8/23/18] Government expert: Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility A forensic psychiatrist said there was no clear evidence to show that public sex offender registries result in a reduction in the reoffending rate — and that they could even increase the risk of further crimes. Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility, said research showed only about 12 per cent of sex offenders go on to commit a second similar offence. He added the figure…

Read More

Study: Oregon Has the Fewest Sex Offenders Per Capita

[portlandmercury.com – 8/21/18] A new study shows that Oregon has the fewest sex offenders per capita of any state, with only 195 sex offenders per one million residents. The company that put out the study, called A Secure Life, looked at a database of registered sex offenders in official state registries to get a count, then compared that data to the overall state population. Oregon, has a total of 707 sex offenders in that database, which makes the state home to the fewest number of sex offenders overall AND the…

Read More

Singapore: Unofficial sex-offender registry raises risk of vigilantism

[straitstimes.com – 7/26/18] The unofficial registry of convicted sex offenders is nothing more than harassment and more punishment for former offenders who have already served their time (Unofficial registry of sex offenders draws mixed views; July 15). It needs to be removed so that people who have this stigma attached to their name can have a hope of living a normal, law-abiding life, just like other released offenders. Unless they are recalcitrant and violent offenders, why should they be forced to wear the scarlet letter even after they have served…

Read More

NY: A Jury Rejected the Charges, but He Still Has to Register As a Sex Offender for Life

[reason.com 4/30/18] New York’s highest court says accusations can be considered for registration purposes even when the defendant was acquitted. In New York a defendant can be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life based on accusations a jury rejected. So the state’s highest court ruled last week in a case that illustrates how fear and loathing of sex offenders lead to results that would be recognized as unjust and illogical in any other context. __________’s 13-year-old niece, identified in court documents as A.B.,…

Read More

India Sex Offenders’ Registry Not the Answer

[hrw.org 4/27/18] Reeling from protests across the country demanding justice for victims in the recent spate of sexual assaults, Indian authorities are under pressure to respond. One step the government has decided to adopt is a sex offenders’ database, which will store the profile and personal details of convicted offenders and those accused of such offenses. Children accused of such crimes may also be included in the database. For several years, some senior government ministers have been calling for mandatory registration of sex offenders. It reflects public concern that children…

Read More

NC: Lawsuit moves forward in twice-delayed hearing on Motion to Dismiss

[narsol.org 4/18/18] By Robin Vander Wall . . . At a hearing in federal court (Middle District, NC) on Monday, April 16, 2018, NARSOL, NCRSOL, and two John Doe plaintiffs were represented by Attorney Paul Dubbeling to defend against the state of North Carolina’s Motion to Dismiss a lawsuit filed in January, 2017 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code (Civil Action for deprivation of rights). Forty six named defendants were represented by Attorney Lauren Clemmons of the N.C. Attorney General’s office.…

Read More

IL: Bill to close sex offender registry loophole expected to die in Illinois House committee

UPDATED LINKS 4/23/18 [ilnews.org] Friday is the deadline for bills to move out of Illinois statehouse committees, or the bills will die this session. One measure has overwhelming support, but isn’t moving. House Bill 816 gives a judge discretion to require someone convicted of battery to register as a sex offender, if the crime was sexually motivated. Read more RELATED LINKS: Stephanie’s Law gets hearing, still remains in committee [ilnews.org 4/23/18]  

Read More

FL: Florida registry gets a new look

[floridaactioncommittee.org] The FDLE sex offender database has gotten a new look. The homepage of its sex offender search has a nautical feel, with a lighthouse logo and a ship-wheel icon. Aside from the design change, the ability to search by status (absconded, deceased, deported, etc.) appears to be gone from the new search query, though the results still appear. Another notable change is that vehicle and vessel information is no longer on a separate page, but appears below the registrant listing. The vehicle information, which is supplied by the DMV…

Read More

Canada: Calgary man suing police, feds for demanding fingerprints because of his birth date is same as a sex offender

[calgaryherald.com] A Calgary man says he was forced to provide his fingerprints or give up a 12-year career of coaching youth hockey, all because he shares the same date of birth as a pardoned sex offender. And after a fruitless five-year odyssey for an explanation for what he feels is a violation of his constitutionally protected Charter rights, retired oil engineer Jim Besse is now suing the RCMP, Calgary police, the Calgary police commission and Chief Roger Chaffin. “I have always been upfront, saying, ‘Take five minutes and tell me…

Read More

Those on sex offender registries targeted for telephone scams

[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Scams offering to get someone off the registry for a fee have been around for a while. A new scam has appeared within the past few months, and as of this writing has targeted registrants in some form in at least four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and New Mexico, with New Mexico being the most recent. All involve telephone calls to registrants claiming to be from someone at the registry office or police department and claiming the registrant is somehow out of compliance. From…

Read More

KS: Convicted of a Drug Crime, Registered with Sex Offenders

[themarshallproject.org] By Maurice Chammah In Kansas, even many minor drug offenders must appear on the state’s public registry. A new bill would change that. Amid the farm animals and food stalls at the Kansas State Fair last September, Amy Byers came upon a booth run by the state’s Bureau of Investigation. There was a computer you could use to search your address and find out if you live near a sex offender. You could also search by name. When her friends began joking that she should type in her own…

Read More

SD: Fixing South Dakota’s offender registries

[rstreet.org] My name is Eli Lehrer and I’m here to testify on H.B. 1244. I am president of the R Street Institute, a conservative think tank headquartered in Washington. I also serve as adviser to the Criminal Justice Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). My comments on this bill represent only my personal views and are not necessarily those of ALEC or of R Street. I have worked in association with the justice system for almost two decades and have written widely on corrections and policing issues…

Read More

How one lawyer proves her faith in criminal rehabilitation

[mystatesman.com] Any criminal justice system has two purposes: The first is to punish those who have broken the law; the second is to bring about rehabilitation in the lawbreaker, so that he or she will turn his back on a life of crime and embrace a law-abiding life in society. The first is accomplished largely within the closed ranks of the legal system, through courts, convictions, punishments, and time served, either behind bars or under community supervision. The second can only take place within the broader system of society and…

Read More

PA: Wolf signs bill to protect victims of sexual abuse crimes

[theprogressnews.com] HARRISBURG — Governor Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed House Bill 631 into law, now Act 10 of 2018, the primary intent of which is to provide for greater public safety by ensuring convicted sexual offenders remain subject to registration requirements in the wake of recent court decisions impacting Pennsylvania’s implementation of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ron Marsico, would ensure that as many as 12,000 sexual offenders remain on Pennsylvania’s registry and subject to the regulations in place at the time of…

Read More

VA: It’s Time to Reduce, Reconstruct, Reclassify, Rethink and Reform the Virginia Sex Offender Registry

[restoringintegritytovirginiaregistry.blogspot.com] Action Item for EVRYONE! A Virginia Court of Appeals Ruling was Based on One Word in Virginia Code § 9.1-903. that Virginia Has Never Implemented, So the Ruling is Incorrect. Almost a week and a half ago the Court of Appeals of Virginia made a ruling that a Virginia Sex Offender Registry mandate/requirement is NOT punitive. I only learned of this ruling yesterday when I found an article on VA Lawyers Weekly that I was unable to read because I don’t have a subscription. Sex offender registry law not…

Read More

NY: “All Sex Offender Registries Should Be Abolished”: Reason/Soho Forum Debate

[narsol.org] That’s the highly controversial resolution that will be argued at the next Soho Forum/Reason debate, on Monday, February 12 at New York’s Subculture Theater from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Emily Horowitz will argue the affirmative position. She is professor and chair of the sociology and criminal justice department at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, where she founded a program that helps the formerly incarcerated complete college. Marci A. Hamilton will take the negative. She is Fox Professor of Practice and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in…

Read More

Samoa passes law enforcement only Sex offender registry

[floridaactioncommittee.org] Samoa just passed a sex offender registry. There are two important differences, however, between theirs (and most other countries that have a registry) and the US. Firstly, the registry and accompanying requirements will not be imposed retroactively against those who are not in custody as of it’s enactment. and secondly, the registry is for law enforcement only. Read more  

Read More