By Matt Clarke . . . As repeatedly reported in Prison Legal News, for over a decade registered sex offenders have been targeted by vigilantes and assaulted, robbed and murdered due to their past crimes. And as noted in this issue’s cover story, that is part of the dark side of sex offender registries, which allow public access to offenders’…
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NARSOL has filed an amicus brief in an important case challenging Oklahoma’s “unique identifier” requirement on state-issued driver’s licenses. Ray Neal Carney is a current resident of the Oklahoma prison system. His conviction was for a sexual crime, and after examining the conditions of registration upon his release, he filed a lawsuit protesting a number of the restrictions he will…
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By Sandy….. The words on the email burned through my computer screen: “I’ve lost more conventions today. My business will not survive this and I don’t know if I will find a way to pay my bills. I have no choice but to try, though. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that I have a woman that…
Read MoreBy Chris Zoukis . . . Since the initial airing of “To Catch a Predator” in 2004 on Dateline NBC, vigilante-style advocacy groups targeting child sex offenders have been popping up in major urban populations across North America. Known as Anti-pedophile Activism, these groups not only hold demonstrations, but they also use social media to spread the word about their activities,…
Read MoreBy Michael Rosenberg . . . The criminalization of the speech of registered citizens ensures Tom and Jane Public can continue with a campaign of blissful ignorance; the proliferation of enthusiastic comments beneath news articles in which our rights are violated is a quick study illustrating the detrimental effect of our inability to use our right speech when and where it…
Read MoreBy Shelly Stow . . . I watched the film Untouchable through live streaming as it was shown at the RSOL National Conference that has just concluded in Atlanta, Georgia. This film could well have been named, “Portrait of a bitter, angry man.” Ron Book’s daughter Lauren was sexually assaulted by a nanny the family had hired for Lauren. The…
Read MoreBy Daniel Walmer . . . It was every parent’s worst nightmare. Seven-year-old Megan Kanka left her New Jersey home on July 29, 1994, for a summer afternoon bike ride around her neighborhood, but she never returned. Instead, neighbor Jesse Timmendequas lured her into his home by promising her a puppy. He then raped and murdered her, dumping her body…
Read MoreBy Norm Pattis . . . I’m not hopping on the bandwagon circling the Santa Clara County, California, courthouse. Don’t add my name to the million-plus names of those calling for the scalp of Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky. Far from a goat, Judge Persky is a hero. Would that there were more judges like him. Judge Persky presided over…
Read More“Brock, some of us will follow your time in prison and after. We will make sure that your 20 minutes of action are not forgotten, and that women will be warned where ever you take up residence…May you never have one moment of peace for the remainder of your miserable life.” This is one of thousands of comments posted online,…
Read MoreBy Shelly Stowe . . . Mr. Grassley, like you, we grieve with families of children who are victimized and abused, and we especially grieve that virtually all of this type of crime is committed by the family members and others close to their young victims. Like you, we would like to see a strong commitment to keeping our nation’s children…
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