Source: washingtoncountyinsider.com 6/8/24 The chairman in the Town of Trenton is speaking out about steps being taken to proactively protect the people in his community as Washington County officials have been notified about the possible placement of a violent sex offender. Mike Lipscomb was notified by the Washington County Sheriff prior to the news being released that Outagamie County was looking to place a violent sex offender in a group home in the Town of Trenton. Lipscomb, Sheriff Martin Schulteis and the county attorney jumped into action in an effort…
Read MoreTag: Wisconsin
WI: Seventh Circuit considers challenges to Wisconsin sex offender laws
Source: courthousenews.com 4/18/24 One case challenged who gets defined as a sex offender, while another raised questions about where sex offenders can feasibly live while on supervised release. MADISON, Wis. (CN) — The Badger State’s sex offender laws faced scrutiny on Thursday, with a Seventh Circuit panel hearing back-to-back arguments against them in the state capital. The first two cases of the day were brought by people listed on the Wisconsin sex offender registry. Plaintiffs in both cases argued — through the same attorney but for very different reasons…
Read MoreWI: Gov. Tony Evers signs law requiring more sex offenders to be placed on registry for life
Source: jsonline.com 4/2/24 MADISON – Wisconsinites convicted of multiple counts of a sex offense will be required to register as sex offenders for life even if the counts were part of the same incident, under a bill signed by Gov. Tony Evers. The law effectively nullifies a 2023 state Supreme Court ruling holding that multiple convictions stemming from the same criminal complaint do not necessarily classify someone as a repeat offender. The governor’s signature brings resolution to a question officials have debated for years. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled…
Read MoreWI: At least 30 registered sex offenders live in WI nursing homes, records show
Source: wisn.com 2/22/24 When a family decides to admit their loved one to a nursing home, there is an implied level of trust the facility and its staff will keep that individual safe. … Wisconsin law does not require nursing home leadership to notify staff, residents or their families a registered sex offender lives on the property. “That facility is going to address those issues on a case-by-case basis,” Wisconsin Healthcare Association CEO Rick Abrams said. “If notification is appropriate, I have great confidence that they will do that. But…
Read MoreWI Action Alert: Fight SB874 that would put many people back on lifetime GPS registration
Source: docs.legis.wisconsin.gov Call to action for Wisconsin registrants… Last year the high court in Wisconsin struck down former AG’s interpretation that multiple counts on the same case constituted multiple convictions for the purpose of registration and GPS monitoring. A bill was introduced last week that if passed would codify the former AG’s interpretation and put many people back on lifetime GPS registration. The bill is retroactive and seems like it will actually put more people on GPS monitoring than even before. The original statue would have required lifetime GPS monitoring…
Read MoreWI: Wisconsin slow to take GPS bracelets off ex-cons, despite ruling
Source: captimes.com 11/7/23 The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has been slow to release hundreds of people from GPS monitors it forced them to wear for life — long after they completed their sentences for sex offenses — in the five months since a state Supreme Court ruling challenged the practice. That’s according to multiple sources including former offenders, who told the Cap Times the Department of Corrections is not following the spirit of the Supreme Court decision or its own statements after the ruling in May. The Department of Corrections…
Read MoreWI: Investigation into alleged circulation of child porn among students
Source: TMJ4 News A search warrant says a Nicolet High School student told a school resource officer two weeks ago that, “A video depicting two other Nicolet students engaging in sexual acts had been posted online.” GLENDALE, Wis. — Glendale police are investigating alleged child pornography being circulated among students at Nicolet High School. A search warrant says a Nicolet High School student told a school resource officer two weeks ago that, “A video depicting two other Nicolet students engaging in sexual acts had been posted online via Instagram.” Court…
Read MoreUPDATED 8/21/23: Corrections to the Paris, Wisconsin 6,500 Feet Residency Restriction by the 7th Circuit
UPDATED Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 8/21/23 Attorneys with the Paris case (6500-foot residence restriction) have contacted us [Florida Action Committee] to correct misstatements that were made in our most recent post. They let us know there is much to be optimistic about in the court’s decision as they are putting some brakes on municipal ordinances that have spiraled out of control in Wisconsin – something they have never done before. We should not be reading this decision as countenancing 6500-foot zones more generally. Attorney Adele Nicholas will be continuing to fight these…
Read MoreWI: Wisconsin releases sex offenders from GPS bracelets after court ruling
Source: captimes.com 8/8/23 The state Department of Corrections has begun releasing certain sex offenders from lifetime GPS tracking after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision undermined the agency’s justification for keeping people on electronic monitoring beyond their sentences. The department confirmed to the Cap Times that it is in the process of identifying everyone who was forced to wear the GPS devices for the rest of their lives as the result of a now-debunked interpretation of state statute by former Attorney General Brad Schimel. As of Tuesday, it remained unknown precisely…
Read MoreWI: Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling gives hope to offenders on lifetime GPS
Source: captimes.com 7/3/23 Benjamin Braam has already decided a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling means he can stop recharging an electronic tracking bracelet the state forced him to wear for the rest of his life. The high court’s decision involved a case unrelated to Braam, but it shot down the rationale that former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel used to justify the lifetime monitoring of one-time sexual offenders even after they completed their sentences and were no longer under court-ordered supervision. Authorities from the state Department of Corrections “called me…
Read MoreWI: Defense win! Multiple convictions in same case on same date don’t require lifetime sex offender registration
Source: wisconsinappeals.net 5/30/23 State v. Corey T. Rector, 2023 WI 41, 5/23/23 affirming a case certified by the court of appeals, 2020AP1213; case activity (including briefs) Rector pleaded to five counts of possessing child pornography in a single case. He’d never been convicted of anything before. The sentencing judge ordered that he be placed on the sex offender registry until 15 years after the end of his sentence or supervision. The Department of Corrections then wrote the judge to say that, in its view, any two or more convictions of…
Read MoreWI: The Child Victims Act aims to support survivors of childhood sexual abuse
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Source: weau.com 5/8/23 EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Wisconsin legislators have proposed a new bill that would help survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Child Victims Act extends the amount of time that victims of child sexual abuse can file private lawsuits against their abusers. The new length of time for survivors would be up to 45 years old, the same amount of time that they’re able to file criminal charges. Sexual assault advocate at Family Resource Center in Eau Claire, Amanda S., said sexual assault is considered one of…
Read MoreWI: MURPHY’S LAW: Supreme Court Race All About Sex Offenders
Which is strange because the state high court will probably never rule on such cases. Just one day after the February 21 primary election, state Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz released her first ad for the general election, an attack on her opponent Dan Kelly entitled “Predator.” “Dan Kelly won’t keep our communities safe,” the ever-ominous voice of such ads informed us. “As a lawyer Kelly defended child sex predators who posed as ministers in order to prey on vulnerable young girls.” The ad goes on, adding more lurid detail,…
Read MoreWI: Mauston facing legal uncertainty over living facility for sex offenders: ‘They’re still going to need a place to live.’
Source: wiscnews.com 2/9/23 Tammy Most and her husband have three children, their youngest being an 8-year-old daughter. They moved into their house near the heart of Mauston’s historic downtown area in 2012, but they didn’t know that their new home would come with a constant state of unease. … Directly across from Most’s residence sits 108 Wisconsin Street. It’s a modest two-story duplex, and it’s served as a rental property since 1997. The City of Mauston is contemplating legal action that would evict its tenants — at least three sex…
Read MoreWI: Oshkosh city council approves $1 million project to expand sex offender housing
Source: fox11online.com 1/10/23 The Oshkosh City Council is giving the go ahead for a county-owned housing facility for sex offenders. Residential housing for sex offenders in Winnebago County has been in the works since early last year. After a meeting in Oshkosh Tuesday night, the last hurdle was cleared. “These are individuals who’ve served their time, gone through treatment,” Oshkosh board member Lynnsey Erickson said. “Continuing treatment, under intense supervision, we can’t just throw these people away.” The Oshkosh Common Council approved the city’s conditional use permit, meaning a facility…
Read MoreWI: Wisconsin Supreme Court considers dispute over ‘repeat offender’ law
Source: captimes.com 10/20/22 The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case challenging the state’s interpretation of its repeat offender law as it pertains to crimes including sex offenses. At issue is whether multiple convictions stemming from the same criminal complaint warrant classifying someone as a repeat offender. The state argues that should be the case. Its argument relies heavily on a 2017 legal interpretation, issued by then-Attorney General Brad Schimel, of a 2006 state law requiring the state Department of Corrections to place certain sex offenders…
Read MoreWI: Man who had sex in park with 13-year-old girl to serve 90 days in jail
Source: yahoo.com 9/5/22 Sep. 5—CHIPPEWA FALLS — A 21-year-old Fairchild man accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl at a park in Chippewa Falls in July 2021 will serve 90 days in jail. Dylan J. ____ pleaded no contest Friday in Chippewa County Court to an amended felony count of third-degree sexual assault. He was originally charged with three counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child under age 16. Along with the jail sentence, Judge Steve Gibbs ordered _____ to complete a sex offender treatment course, serve three…
Read MoreWI: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has restored a lawsuit over Hartland’s limit on sex offenders
Source: jsonline.com 8/12/22 A small Wisconsin town’s attempt to ban more sex offenders from living there flunks one of two tests that would make it unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision sent the matter back to a lower court for argument about the second test, and whether the local law should be thrown out. Hartland adopted an ordinance in 2018 after it felt it had more offenders per capita than other Waukesha County communities. A sex offender who wanted to move there sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to an…
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