By Lenore Skenazy . . . For many men serving time for committing sex offenses in Texas, their prison term never really ends—even if they complete their sentence. That’s because they’re required to enter a live-in mental health facility before returning to society. That facility—in Littlefield, Texas—is actually a former maximum security prison in the middle of a dirt field. “It…
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Registrants in some Texas counties have received telephone calls telling them they need to come in and give a DNA sample. Texas Voices investigated and, finding that these calls were legitimate, issued information and warnings to its members. “Texas Rangers have identified 3,300 registered sex offenders in Texas who owe the state a DNA sample for entry into CODIS,” they…
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By Sandy and Robin . . . In Wisconsin a new battle is being launched in what is getting to be an old war. Civil rights attorneys Adele Nicholas and Mark Weinberg, seasoned soldiers in this war fought on behalf of persons forced to live as someone on a sex offender registry, have launched this latest skirmish due to a…
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By Warren Brown . . . Kyle City Council will consider passing a new ordinance which would restrict where some individuals on the Texas sex offender registry can reside, regardless of whether or not the offender is on probation or parole. The ordinance, brought to council by Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett, specifically targets offenders convicted of crimes involving minors.…
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By Sandy . . . In a recent column, Dear Abby makes the unqualified statement that a person with a Level 3 or Tier 3 designation on the sexual offense registry means that the individual is “. . . the most dangerous and most likely to reoffend.” From those in the know, this drew immediate criticism and protest. In 2003,…
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By Michael M. . . . Imagine what it would be like to be Jason Schoenfeld, a disabled military veteran who was convicted of aggravated assault of a child, sent to prison for 18 years, and then released at the end of his term to a halfway house in Houston, Texas. At the halfway house, he stayed in relatively comfortable…
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By Eric Dexheimer . . . KJ grew up in Meadows Place, a 1-square-mile Houston bedroom community of modest 1970s and ’80s tree-shaded homes. In late 2007, she returned as a 33-year-old seeking to settle in a community she recalled warmly. “I have great memories of this place,” she said. KJ — she asked that her name not be used…
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By Sandy . . . With hurricane season upon us, and some especially dangerous ones already sweeping through Texas, Louisiana, and now Florida, we are beginning to hear of bad situations and civil rights violations. From Texas, the reports are fairly consistent that registrant evacuees on parole or probation were required to report to police or sheriff headquarters and be sheltered…
Read MoreBy Scott Henson . . . Texas Voices, a group made up of families of people on Texas’ sex offender registry and others who support reform of Texas sex offender statutes, has been quite active this session, and it’s a good thing. As Grits told their indefatigable leader Mary Sue Molnar when the organization began, every other criminal justice reform…
Read MoreBy Steve Blow . . . If the goal is more stigma and shame, the operation succeeds spectacularly. For starters, the entrance is hidden around back of Dallas police headquarters, behind a rusting door, next to a small sign: “Sex Offender Registration Entrance Only.” Inside, the atmosphere only gets worse. The dreary waiting room is almost always filled to capacity…
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