Source: filtermag.org 12/11/24 Coming into the Tennessee men’s prison system nearly 30 years ago, I assumed that my murder conviction would make me the most hated of my incarcerated peers. I imagined a life of solitude, persecution and ridicule. I did not yet know that prison has a social hierarchy in which one type of conviction is always at the bottom, but it isn’t murder. In the early years of my sentence, incoming prisoners with sex-related convictions would be taken straight to protective custody (PC), i.e. solitary confinement. These days,…
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TN: Tennessee will remove HIV-positive people convicted of sex work from violent sex offender list
Source: abcnews.go.com 7/19/24 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — HIV-positive people who were convicted in Tennessee of sex work under a decades-old aggravated prostitution law will no longer be required to face a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” under a lawsuit settlement finalized this week. Last year, LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Volunteer State’s aggravated prostitution statute, arguing that the law was enacted in response to the AIDS scare and discriminated against HIV-positive people. Read the full article
Read MoreTN: ‘Disturbing’ recordings from inside child-predator sting shows police, MAGA operatives ignoring laws
Source: newschannel5.com 7/16/24 Recordings show police discussing luring predator suspect to a jurisdiction where he may not leave the jail alive NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — What happens when you give people with bizarre conspiracy theories a gun and a badge? Secret recordings from inside the troubled Millersville Police Department provide a sobering answer to that question. Those recordings — obtained from what was supposed to be a sting operation to nab sexual predators who prey on innocent children — show that, in their zeal to make some big cases, Millersville’s…
Read MoreTN: Death penalty for child rapists does more harm than good. Tennessee erred on new law
Source: tennessean.com 7/7/24 If you expand the pool of potential capital defendants to include non-lethal child rape, you substantially increase the potential for wrongful convictions. Against the advice of child service providers and experts, the legislature recently passed a bill to expand the death penalty to individuals who sexually abuse children. As the mother of three young children, I understand the desire to punish people who commit these reprehensible crimes. However, as someone who has served as a victim-witness coordinator for the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, a probation officer,…
Read MoreTN: Tennessee Governor OKs Bill Allowing Death Penalty for Child Rape Convictions
Source: usnews.com 5/14/24 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has approved legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, a change the Republican-controlled Statehouse championed amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases. Lee, a Republican, quietly signed off on the legislation last week without issuing a statement. The new Tennessee law, which goes into effect July 1, authorizes the state to pursue capital punishment when an adult is convicted of aggravated rape of a child. Those convicted could be…
Read MoreTN: Sixth Circuit vacates sweeping injunction against Tennessee sex offender registry laws
Source: courthousenews.com 5/15/24 The appeals court panel ordered a federal judge to review the statutory scheme one requirement at a time to determine if any portion violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. CINCINNATI (CN) — The entirety of Tennessee’s sex offender registry law cannot be thrown out because a handful of requirements may be unconstitutional, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday. In its decision the court vacated an injunction granted by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger and asked the Clinton appointee to tailor relief for a class of…
Read MoreTN: Sex Offender Treatment Class: Four Years, $10,000 and No End in Sight
Source: filtermag.org 5/6/24 Recently, my wife and I were having a quiet dinner at home when armed officers arrived without warning. They ordered me to stand against the wall so they could take a mug shot. While my wife and I sat on the couch, they looked through my phone, photo albums, computer, car—whatever they wanted. These shakedowns occur once a month without warning. The mug shot was to keep the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry (SOR) up to date. In 2009 I took a plea deal and spent the next…
Read MoreTN: SB0181 Bill Would Revise Tennessee’s Decades-Old Law Targeting HIV-Positive People Convicted of Sex Work
Source: usnews.com 1/23/24 A proposal advancing in the Tennessee legislature would stop requiring lifetime registration as a violent sex offender for anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would no longer be the only U.S. state to impose a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” on anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV under a proposal that advanced Tuesday in the legislature. The controversial statute still on the books is being challenged in federal court by…
Read MoreTN: HB1617 Legislation Filed For Upcoming Session Will Push For Extension On Time Sex Offenders Are Included On Sex Offender Registry In Tennessee
Source: tennesseeconservativenews.com 12/13/24 [see HB1617 for update] The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] – The new General Session is just a few weeks away, and already a flurry of bills are being filed for introduction and consideration in what will be the 114th General Assembly. One of those bills, House Bill 1617 (HB1617), sponsored by Representative Bryan Richey (R-D20-Maryville), if signed into law will extend the amount of time a person who has been convicted of a sexual offense and obligated to register as a sex offender must remain on…
Read MoreTN: Tennessee argues to reinstate sex offender registry requirements at Sixth Circuit
Source: courthousenews.com 12/7/23 CINCINNATI (CN) — Reporting requirements for sex offenders convicted before 1995, which can include in-person reporting, administrative fees and movement restrictions, do not violate the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Volunteer State argued Thursday at a federal appeals court. The state sought to overturn the ruling of a federal judge who found the exhaustive regulations punitive in nature when applied to individuals convicted before the registration system was established. A class of convicted sex offenders filed suit in 2021 and claimed the onerous…
Read MoreTN: U.S. Dept. of Justice says Tennessee HIV law discriminates
Source: wlns.com 12/1/23 LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The U.S. Department of Justice has notified the state of Tennessee it has determined the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing a law targeting sex workers living with HIV. A 1991 Tennessee law considers sex workers who are HIV-positive to be violent sex offenders, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. “Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the…
Read MoreTN: Class action lawsuit challenges retroactive placement on Tennessee’s sex offender registry
Source: tennessean.com 11/29/23 Eight people on Tennessee’s legally troubled sex offender registry filed a federal class action lawsuit last week asking that thousands of people with decades-old convictions be removed from the registry. The eight plaintiffs, who are using pseudonyms in the lawsuit, all have convictions from before or shortly after 2004, when the state’s current sex offender registry law, the Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act, was passed. They are seeking class status for people on Tennessee’s sex offender registry whose convictions predate the law…
Read MoreTN: Issues with the Sex Offender Registry
Source: newschannel5.com 11/16/23 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Local constitutional rights attorney Kyle Mothershead joins Levi Ismail on OpenLine to advocate for people who struggle with still being registered as a sex offender – even years after conviction. Watch the video
Read MoreTN: A registrant who is HIV positive is considered a sexually violent predator
Source: filtermag.org 11/2/23 In the mid-’90s at Washington State Penitentiary, a corrections officer (CO) and I had been yelling at each other for a while until eventually he ordered me back to my cell. When he called me back out to go see the sergeant, the CO in the security booth at the end of the hall buzzed open the electronic sliding door, then shut it in my face each time I tried to go through. After the third time, I turned to the glass he was sitting behind and…
Read MoreTN: Tennessee’s legal struggles with its sex offender registry could cost taxpayer
Source: tennessean.com 10/29/23 NOTE: since we posted this article the website blocked it with pay-only access Dozens of people have scored legal wins against Tennessee’s sex offender registry law since federal judges ruled it violates constitutional protections against retroactive punishment. The situation could cost Tennessee taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. Judges have repeatedly ruled against the law, and a recent development has made it so those with convictions from more than 20 years ago can be removed in a matter of weeks if they can…
Read MoreTN: Prosecutors said she was a victim. She still had to register as a sex offender in Tennessee
Source: tennessean.com 10/29/23 NOTE: since we posted this article the website blocked it with pay-only access As things stand, she’ll be considered a violent sexual offender the rest of her life. She’s had to say this hundreds of times, and she knows how people tend to react. But she hopes you’ll give her a chance to explain this time. A newspaper headline about the circumstances that led to her arrest, guilty plea and eventual placement on Tennessee’s sex offender registry described her as a “sex slave.” Court documents show…
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 MoreTN: Man sentenced to life for sex crimes against child
Source: wate.com 5/15/23 A Tennessee man who is a registered sex offender will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty of having sex with a minor and taking her across the country. Watch the video
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