By Tim Botos . . . A sex offender moved into the Avondale neighborhood a few years ago. “And a lot of residents weren’t happy about it,” said Anthony DeGirolamo, president of the Avondale Community Improvement Association, comprised of the 374 homeowners who live in the upscale area, west of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But residents had no…
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By Sandy . . . A mother whose son is incarcerated in a federal prison in Ohio and may have Covid-19 reached out to me. After verifying the facts she had given me, I wrote an article and sent it to all of the major newspapers in Ohio. The Vindicator printed it. They have edited the end, seriously weakening my…
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Updated 12/20/19 By Sandy . . . For persons listed on a sexual offense registry, homelessness is sometimes a reality, and the uncertainty of finding emergency shelter or homeless facilities that welcome registrants is even more of a reality. I have for a week been identifying such places, and, even though I am sure there are more – many more, I…
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By “Megan” . . . I didn’t know Matt before his offense. He was in the military for 8 years, was deployed to Afghanistan, and saw lots of things. Some of the stuff he still won’t talk about to me or anyone else. He was there during a very active time in the war. Once he got back, he was…
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By Robin Vander Wall . . . The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws was thrilled to honor the ACLU of Michigan with our Hawthorne Award and David Feige with our Braveheart Award at the 2018 NARSOL National Conference on June 8, 2018. The ACLU of Michigan was responsible for successfully litigating Does v. Snyder which held enhancements and…
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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 Katie Wedell . . . Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list. Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an…
Read MoreAnother false, inflated, misleading statistic.We should be used to them by now. The most infamous, of course, is the “frightening and high” recidivism risk assigned to those on the registry every time a politician opens his mouth to justify a new law or restriction targeting registrants. RSOL has dealt with that one in re-printing Steve Yoder’s excellent piece on the…
Read MoreEditor’s note: Dennis is a new RSOL Advocate in Ohio, joining Dolly in Ohio RSOL; as part of his application for the position, he included this first-person account. By Dennis, guest blogger I joined RSOL a few months ago and agreed to become an RSOL Advocate for the State of Ohio. I’ve been working with some of the local RSOL…
Read More(Names have been changed to protect identities.) By Sandy Rozek—We’ve heard it all our lives: If you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear from law enforcement. But what if you are doing nothing wrong and law enforcement comports itself in such a way as to create fear? When Ann heard the doorbell ring, and then ring again accompanied by…
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