Published 1/10/22 in The Tennessean with a first paragraph adapted to Tennessee. By Sandy . . . The attorneys general of 35 of the United States and two territories have signed a letter condemning recent revisions to the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Model Penal Code on sexual crimes. This is contrary to what evidence shows […]
Laurie Jo Reynolds is an artist, policy advocate, and organizer who has spent two decades countering the demonization, warehousing, and social exclusion of people in the criminal legal system. Reynolds currently collaborates with the Chicago 400, formerly incarcerated people who have been forced into homelessness due to housing banishment laws. They are leading an inspiring legislative […]
The second day of NARSOL’s 2021 Houston conference opened with attorney Paul Dubbeling. Mr. Dubbeling addressed the audience on the topic of affecting change using an integrated approach. The initial step, he stressed was education. This lays the groundwork and therefore can be considered the most important. Education, explained Paul, consists of three forms, and […]
By Larry . . . The case of The People of the State of Michigan v. Paul Betts is an awesome win for our cause. The Michigan Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the retroactive application of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et seq., as amended by 2011 PA 17 and […]
Also published in the July edition of Criminal Legal News. By Sandy . . . For those not tuned in to current trends or social media, cancel culture is most likely new, even unheard of, although according to Merriam-Webster, its first known usage was in 2016. The basic definition is “the practice or tendency of […]
Poetry Magazine is a prestigious publication, well known in the literary world, and it recently published a special edition, one containing exclusively the works of those who have been incarcerated. Among the offerings was a poem by Kirk Nesset, a former English literature professor who was released from prison last year after a sexual offense conviction […]
By Sandy . . . Over the past almost ten years, I have written many editorials and expository articles based on things that are happening in the world of our advocacy, especially things involving consequences of being on the registry. Looking back at our archived Digest copies, the first one I find there in which […]
In re Gadlin, S254599 (CASC) Opinion Released 12-28-20 By Larry . . . This appeal was handled by Janice Bellucci, an attorney in California, who is well known for her work on behalf of those required to register. The case arose as a result of a ballot proposition approved by California voters in 2016. Proposition […]
Associated Press . . . The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that inmates who have been convicted of nonviolent sex crimes may be eligible for early parole consideration as part of a ballot measure that nearly two-thirds of voters approved of four years ago. “The initiative’s language provides no indication that the voters intended to allow […]
A longer version of Dr. Fortino’s piece appears in the FEBRUARY issue of Criminal Legal News. By Michael Fortino, Ph.D. . . . Fueled by a “moral panic” that evolved through the mid-2000s, the war on “sex offenders” paralleled the war on drugs and was slated to eventually replace it as our nation’s drug war […]