By Rochelle Dean . . . In a settlement agreement with South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson along with State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel those wrongly convicted of sodomy in the state of South Carolina will now be taken off of the Sex Offender Registry in the Palmetto State. The announcement comes after arguments in Mary Geiger Lewis’s courtroom…
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Releasing the most vulnerable to COVID-19 from our prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers is critical to stopping the spread of the deadly virus in facilities and our broader community. Yet, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are not using their authority to safely and swiftly reduce incarcerated populations right now. BOP and DOJ…
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By Clifton French . . . Could the sex offender registry soon be a thing of the past? The American Civil Liberties Union wants to possibly get rid of it, saying the registry doesn’t work. Right now, there are two cases out of Michigan, including a class action lawsuit, claiming several parts of the registry are unconstitutional. “In August 2016,…
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By Providence Journal staff . . . The ACLU of Rhode Island and the state have settled a lawsuit over a state law capping at 10 percent the occupancy of registered sex offenders at the Harrington Hall homeless shelter in Cranston. The law had been set to go into effect on Jan. 1 of this year, and resulted from displeasure among…
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By Rory Fleming . . . When large nonprofit organizations otherwise committed to making the American justice system less draconian hire people with violent criminal records, they send a strong message that justice-involved people change, and are capable of not only reentry but success. But these same organizations do not have anyone on the sex offender registry on staff, regardless of…
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By Robin . . . Unpersuaded by the court-appointed counsel’s encouragement to read a prison inmate’s pro se lawsuit liberally enough to include a First Amendment complaint, the Tenth Circuit has affirmed a lower Court’s judgment dismissing a challenge to Oklahoma’s requirement that citizens convicted of an “aggravated sex offense” must have their driver’s licenses (and state-issued identification cards) stamped…
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By Isabella Vi Gomes . . . For 12 years, Miami-Dade’s registered sex offenders have been barred from living within 2,500 feet of any school, playground, or daycare. They’re effectively homeless by law, and today hundreds live in squalor in makeshift “tent cities” under bridges, near trailer parks, and on roadsides. After New Times reported on a camp near Hialeah, county officials called these encampments…
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By Miriam Aukerman . . . Our communities deserve effective public-safety measures that are based on facts and sound research, not wasteful and counterproductive measures born of fear. We all want to be safe. We have to demand our legislators pass laws that work and actually keep us safe. That’s especially true when it comes to sexual offenses. A Michigan…
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ACLU of Michigan . . . We recommend that all registrants stay SORA-compliant until there is a final judgment. State criminal courts are not bound by federal appellate decisions (except for U.S. Supreme Court decisions), and is not yet clear how Michigan state courts will apply the Does v. Snyder decision. We strongly recommend full compliance to avoid criminal charges or other consequences.…
Read MoreIn Illinois, it’s freedom of speech; read the press release here. In Alabama, it’s religious freedom; read about it here at AL.com.
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