SC: Man charged with 35 child sex crimes in Charleston pleads guilty, gets no prison time

Source: live5news.com 11/22/23 [Note: ACSOL is posting this as an example of unusual sentencing] CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A man facing dozens of charges in connection to attempted child sexual exploitation is now out of jail and will spend no time in prison despite his guilty plea this week. Edward Borne, who is originally from Texas was slapped with 35 charges in Charleston County in July 2023. An investigation by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office shows Borne solicited someone he believed was underage for sex and encouraged them to…

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IL: Former B-N piano teacher sentenced to life in 2nd sexual assault case

https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2022-08-01/former-b-n-piano-teacher-sentenced-to-life-in-2nd-sex-assault-caseSource: wglt.org 8/1/22 A former piano teacher serving 450 years for sexual assault of one of his students was sentenced to life in prison Monday for similar charges related to a second student. Aaron ____ , 41, was convicted in April in connection with an ongoing sexual relationship with a minor girl that lasted years and began when she was a minor. The life term handed down by Judge Casey Costigan is in addition to the 450 years Aaron received in January, also given by Costigan. Read the full article…

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Emily Horowitz: The hollowness of the child porn smear: Ketanji Brown Jackson has been bold and prescient

Source: nydailynews.com 3/24/22 Soon after her nomination, it was reported that as a law student in 1996, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a Harvard Law Review note analyzing the constitutionality of sex offense registries and that during her judicial career she did not always give the maximum sentence in child pornography cases. Unsurprisingly, she was immediately accused by Sen. Josh Hawley of “endangering our children” and not “protecting the most vulnerable.” These entirely meritless allegations show the extreme risks of speaking the truth about our disastrous and cruel sex offense…

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Russia: Repeat Child Sex Offenders To Be Sent To Penal Colonies In The Arctic For Life

Source: yourtango.com 1/9/22 Russia will begin to change child sex laws later this month by sending repeat child sex offenders to penal colonies in the Artic — for life. Parliamentary speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, said, “Those convicted for such crimes should serve life sentences in the harshest conditions — in the extreme north (of Russia) or in mines. These b******s should undergo the hardest labor, so they remember the crimes they committed every day — and regret them.” Volodin also continued by saying these offenders cannot be called human. The new…

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FL: Florida Supreme Court makes it risky for a defendant to tell a judge ‘I’m innocent’

Source: floridabulldog.org 12/7/21 The Florida Supreme Court is sending this message to criminal defendants: If you think you were wrongly convicted, keep it to yourself. Ignoring long-standing law, the justices decided that when defendants dare to dispute their guilt instead of owning the crime, state trial judges may pile on extra prison time. The court ruled last Thursday in the case of Alvin Davis, a 43-year-old black man with a lengthy rap sheet that includes convictions for attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. After a jury…

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CA: Unanimous Opposition Expressed to Re-sentencing Regulations

[ACSOL] During a telephonic hearing marked by significant technical difficulties, more than 20 members of the public expressed their opposition to regulations proposed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that would exclude groups of people, including those required to register as well as those sentenced to Life Without Parole, from re-sentencing opportunities.  A total of 43 members of the public participated in today’s hearing. “If the current version of these regulations is made final, we will challenge the regulations in court,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. …

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OH: Does Sentencing Fit the Crime? Ohio Sex Offense Charges and Rates of Recidivism

[blogs.lawyers.com – 4/17/21] There is little doubt that our society is unforgiving when it comes to sex crimes, especially those involving children. The physical, emotional, and psychological toll sexual abuse takes on its victims cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, not everyone agrees on the appropriate way to punish sex crimes. In particular, the relatively low rates of recidivism among sex offenders have led some to question, including sex crimes lawyers in Dayton and state-wide, whether we should rethink our approach to sentencing and put a greater emphasis on treatment. Penalties for…

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LA Times Editorial: End irrational sentencing

[latimes.com – 12/30/20] The explosion in California’s prison population can be traced to first-term Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976, a bill that was supposed to remove racism and irrationality from prison terms but in the end did the opposite. Fourth-term Gov. Brown, who left office last year, understood the problem well. He presided over a prison system that has been under federal court order since 2011 to reduce unconscionable crowding — the result of gratuitous “enhancements” piled on by lawmakers and voters over…

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TN: Win in Tennessee – District Court Denies State’s Motion to Dismiss and Grants Injunction on Ex Post Facto Grounds

[floridaactioncommittee.org –  8/10/20] A Tennessee Federal District Court last week denied the State’s Motion to Dismiss and ordered an injunction preventing them from enforcing the sex offender registry against an individual whose offense pre-dated the enactment of the ordinance. The best part of this case was that the court based its opinion on Ex Post Facto grounds! Read the full article Link to PDF of the decision [eagle.com]  

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Our System Is Not Doing the Thing It Says It Intends to Do: Deliver Justice

[jacobinmag.com – 8/5/20] Carceral solutions to sexual violence won’t deliver justice. We need investments in public services that will actually reduce sexual violence. In the last few years, the #MeToo movement has brought renewed attention to sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and the ways they are used by mostly powerful, wealthy men to maintain social and economic hierarchies. At the same time, the push for decarceration and opposition to policing have exploded into a national movement. For leftist feminists, these two movements raise urgent questions about how to fight sexual violence…

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Kat’s Blog: Mississippi Senate Bill 2009

Here’s an example of a Bill being passed “before” it was thoroughly thought through. On July 1, 2020, Mississippi Senate Bill 2009, also known as Carly’s Law, was passed. The Bill prohibits future contact with the crime victim by a convicted “sex offender”; and for related purposes. Here’s a summary of the Bill. Section 1. 1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for a person required to register as a sex offender under section 45-33-25 to commit any of the following actions with respect to the…

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VOTE NO on CA Prop. 20! Stop Harsher Sentencing and DNA Collection

[ACSOL] The November 2020 ballot measure in California that would significantly increase the number of violent felonies (from 27 to 51) resulting in harsher sentencing has a number: Proposition 20.  Of that total, the number of sex offenses would increase from 9 to 14. “We urge registrants, family members, friends and supporters to vote NO on Proposition 20,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “This is the time to show up, stand up and speak up against the possibility of future injustice.” The ballot measure would also allow law enforcement to collect DNA from…

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MA: Tougher child rape penalties pushed

[gloucestertimes.com – 12/3/19] BOSTON — Convicted child rapists who commit new crimes could be sentenced to life without parole under a proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker to toughen sex offender laws. Baker’s proposal, which went before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, would increase the penalty for rape of a child with force by someone who has already been convicted of sexual offenses to life without parole. It establishes new charges for the rape of multiple children with force, which would carry a mandatory life sentence. It also would require…

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OH: Reagan Tokes Act passes Ohio House

[10tv.com – 6/21/18] A bill named after murdered Ohio State student Reagan Tokes cleared a major legislative hurdle. The Ohio House version of the Reagan Tokes Act was passed 83-3 during a floor vote Wednesday afternoon. “This is huge day, certainly thrilled that this received such bi-partisan support,” Rep. Kristin Boggs, D – District 18 one of the primary sponsors of the bill. … House Bill 365 would dramatically change how violent felons are sentenced to prison and how they are watched once they are released. The legislation followed a…

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WV: West Virginia’s Fake News Regarding Sex Offenders

[blog.womenagainstregistry.org – 5/24/18] I thought it started out as a good news article from The Exponent Telegram in West Virginia. A judge was reading sex offender rules to a defendant at a sentencing hearing. The author of the article correctly noted that defendants at a sentencing hearing are focused on “sentencing” and probably not absorbing much of the information the judge is providing them regarding the requirements surrounding life on the registry. I had to agree that newcomers to the registry should be informed of what is expected of them,…

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