By Robin Vander Wall . . . In June, 2017, a registered sex offender in Halifax County was visited by the sheriff’s office for his biannual verification check. Eight days later, and after successful verification of his address, the same registered sex offender was charged with kidnapping and attempting to rape a 1-year-old child. So much for the usefulness of…
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By Shelly Stow . . . From North Carolina comes this all-too-familiar story: Law enforcement is patting itself on the back for “tracking” those on the sex offender registry. In the typical it’s-a-dirty-job-but-somebody’s-got-to-do-it style of reporting, the journalist lauds Investigator J. Moore and the other two in the sex offender unit for spending all of their working hours verifying that…
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After more than a year since NARSOL was joined by NCRSOL and two John Doe plaintiffs in a civil rights challenge to North Carolina’s SORNA scheme, we finally have a hearing set before Judge Loretta Biggs. On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 9:30 am, our attorney, Paul Dubbeling, will face off against the state’s attorneys in the federal courthouse located at…
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By Sandy . . . It’s official. Winter is here. Temperatures are plummeting in states across the nation. Cold-weather emergency shelters are opening in response, most of them managed by Christian churches and organizations. The post I wrote dealing with one of these elicited much interest and a high number of comments. This is largely due to their policy, by…
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By Sandy . . . What do these headlines have in common? “U.S. Marshals protect trick-or-treaters from the threat of sex offenders.” “ ‘Operation Blackout,’ annual Halloween Tennessee sex offender sweep, underway” “Operation Lights Out aims to keep your children safe on Halloween” They all appeared in the week or so leading up to Halloween. They all connect Halloween, persons…
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By Michael Hyland . . . RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – With the North Carolina State Fair underway, law enforcement officers are aiming to keep sex offenders off the premises. “They put a perimeter around the fairgrounds, a quarter of a mile. And, when a person comes through that perimeter with an ankle bracelet on or whatever they have, it sets off…
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By John Bacon . . . Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former Congressman who pleaded guilty in May to sexting with a 15-year-old girl, was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison. Weiner, 53, also faces spending the rest of his life as a registered sex offender for his lengthy and lurid social media contacts with the North Carolina teen. Weiner cried in…
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Our next teleconference of Advancing Advocacy has a very special guest. Current president of North Carolina RSOL (NCROSL), Robin Vanderwall, will share how NCRSOL has grown steadily since its launch in Spring, 2016, and has quickly engaged its resources in building membership and joining legal actions. Some of this was by design as NCRSOL capitalized on a couple of high…
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By Lenore Skenazy . . . When Lester Packingham beat a traffic ticket a few years back, he couldn’t contain his joy. He went online and wrote, “No fine. No court cost, no nothing spent. Praise be to GOD, WOW! Thanks, JESUS!” For this he was arrested and convicted of a heinous crime: using Facebook. Who is legally forbidden to…
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By Sandy . . . “There are three principal features of North Carolina’s law that make it a stark abridgment of the Freedom of Speech.” These words, spoken by attorney David Goldberg, opened the oral arguments of the petitioner Lester Packingham to the Supreme Court today, Monday, February 27. At 21, Mr. Packingham was convicted of taking indecent liberties with…
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