As Congress joins national discussion about sex abuse, university athletics seem above the law

As Congress joins national discussion about sex abuse, university athletics seem above the law

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: Anderson Cooper's Daytime Show to do Show on the N...

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: Anderson Cooper's Daytime Show to do Show on the N...: Yesterday, I received an e-mail from an assistant to the producer from the Anderson Cooper's daytime TV show about possibly appearing on ...

Sex Offender Reports, Charts and Other Papers: Double/Triple/Quadruple Counting of the number Reg...

Sex Offender Reports, Charts and Other Papers: Double/Triple/Quadruple Counting of the number Reg...: This originally appeared in my old website HERE , now being brought forward to this blog. See also: The Fleecing of America: Are States U...

Sex Offender Issues: Savior, Please - Josh Wilson

Sex Offender Issues: Savior, Please - Josh Wilson: Video Link

Florida Action Committee Community Call.

You have been invited by FloridaActionCommittee to join a live Community Call. FAC Membership Call (Join in) Host: FloridaActionCommittee - info@floridaactioncommittee.org Episode: FAC Membership Call   Call ID: 114125 Personal Message from the Host: All members call. New callers may want to join us from 7:30-8pm for casual 'get acquainted' conversation (Q&A on FAC). Agenda: Our FAC call this Thursday will have to do with the  members' viewpoint. FAC would like to know your  biggest concerns right now with the ways that FAC  can be more effective in assisting you to advocate for  sex offender issues. If you can't be on the call please email info@floridaactioncommittee.org with those concerns.  Membership Overview Letters to legislators, media and other pertinent agencies Scheduled Time: Date: Thu, December 1, 2011 Time: 08:00 PM EST How to participate: Call in: Dial: (724) 444-7444 Enter: 114125 # (Call ID) Enter: 1 # or your PIN Join from your computer: Click here to join the call or just listen along (Optional) Become a TalkShoe member Facebook user? You can join this Call directly through the  TalkShoe Community Calling Facebook application. Listen to the Recording: If you missed this event or want to hear previous recorded  episodes click here. Note: Check if century-link is your long-distance provider. Talkshoe  may consider this as an internet chat and may discontinue service.

http://sexcrimeswitchhunt.wordpress.com/

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Sex_Predator_Bust_in_Santa_Clara_Bay_Area-120438359.html 

Again the reference of sexual predator and sex offender are mingled and both are used in the same wide brush stroke.

VA - No jail time for former state police captain (Edward Hope) after se...

2011 Shiitake Awards - Cast your Vote

It is time to cast your vote for the 2011 Shiitake Awards, everyone!

Follow this link to vote via Survey Monkey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/67HYHXL

With this, nominations for 2011 are now officially CLOSED. Voting will continue until December 31, 2011.

Sex Offender Issues: AR - Sex Offender's Records Expunged, Name Stays o...

Sex Offender Issues: AR - Sex Offender's Records Expunged, Name Stays o...: Video Link

Abolish the Sex Offender Registry: I know a wrong when I see it

Abolish the Sex Offender Registry: I know a wrong when I see it: I am old now in the Fall of my years and I have time to reflect on my past life I was raised in the Deep South and remember segregation, whi...

Abolish the Sex Offender Registry: People should not have to wear a scarlet letter

Abolish the Sex Offender Registry: People should not have to wear a scarlet letter: In my previous blog, I told a story about my Father and I do not want my readers to think he was a bad man. Daddy and Mother where good Chr...

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: High Tech Companies Making Big Bucks Off RSO's

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: High Tech Companies Making Big Bucks Off RSO's: From: Mother Jones http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/jessicas-law-surveillance-corporations To Cash In on a Predator State laws that...

The False Rape Society: How does this happen in the United States of Ameri...

The False Rape Society: How does this happen in the United States of Ameri...: See here .

Sandusky charges bring focus on Pa. sex crime laws

Sandusky charges bring focus on Pa. sex crime laws

North Carolina sex offender sentenced 5.5 to 7.5 years(!) for Facebook friending of victim

http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2011/11/north-carolina-sex-offender-sentenced-55-to-75-years-for-facebook-friending-of-victim-.html

Oops! Wrong Names Posted on Ohio Sex Offender Site

http://www.officer.com/news/10453205/oops-wrong-names-posted-on-ohio-sex-offender-site

Scanner ramps up school security - more panic out of Pennsylvania

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_769211.html?_s_icmp=NetworkHeadlines

Has the state made being labeled a sex offender too easy? | sex, county, state - Gaston Gazette

Has the state made being labeled a sex offender too easy? | sex, county, state - Gaston Gazette

Sex Offender Issues: UK - Criminals and cyber bullies to be banned from...

Sex Offender Issues: UK - Criminals and cyber bullies to be banned from...: Original Article 11/25/2011 By Christopher Williams Criminals who commit offences online and cyber bullies will be banned from the in...

Let's.attack Walmart...get attention and then some...

http://montana.watchdog.org/2011/11/25/7067/

Someone do the math here for each offender and the date charged. Age 32, sentence 1995
age 41 sentenced 1988 and 26 YO sentenced in 1999. And none have committed another crime since?


– Rex Kistler, 32, now listed by the SVOR as being noncompliant and address verification overdue, listed the rest stop and Walmart parking lot at 1500 N. Seventh Ave. in Bozeman as his place of residence. His information was last updated Nov. 15. He was charged for second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Michigan and sentenced Sept. 26, 1995. No further details of the offense were listed, nor were any victims listed. He was supposed to register with the Bozeman Police Department, according to the website.
– Fermin Jake Villanueva, 41, charged for third-degree sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl in Laramie, Wyo., has reportedly told officials he lives in the Super Walmart parking lot at 4000 Highway 93 South in Missoula. He was sentenced Aug. 16, 1988. His information was last updated Sept. 2, according to the SVOR.
– Jessie Anthony Garramone, 26, told the state he was living at the Walmart parking lot at 2750 Prospect Ave. in Helena. He was charged in Illinois for aggravated criminal sexual assault involving a 5-year-old boy and sentenced Dec. 1, 1999, according to the SVOR. Garramone’s information was updated Aug. 2.
Both Villanueva and Garramone were in compliance in registering with their local police departments, according to the state website.

Child porn offenders sentenced - Farmington Daily Times

Child porn offenders sentenced - Farmington Daily Times

"The two cases mark the vast differences in sentences between the state and federal government."

Lawyers wanted...

Sex Offender Issues  -  Nov 21, 2011 (edited)  -  Public

If you are a lawyer who defends those who have been accused of or convicted of sex crimes, let us know and we will add you to our Lawyers circle.

If you would also like to advertise on our blog, see the following link:

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/p/contact-us.html#Advertisements

We will place a link to your organization on the left of our blog, and also on our Facebook page, also on the following page on our blog:

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/p/support-us_07.html#.Tgdg6IJm8wk

#soissues #SexOffenderIssues #SexOffender #Lawyer #SexCrime #Advertise

Pennsylvania Sex Offender Bill Flying Under the Radar

http://www.premierdefensegroup.com/blog/pennsylvania-sex-offender-bill-flying-under-the-radar/

FL - 12-year-olds investigated for sex crime after they kiss at school

Bill Blathers Molester Monday - Satire for 11/28/2011: Sex Offender's Spouses and Children are NOT victims

The November  28tht episode of "Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers" asks the question:   Have the wives and daughters of registered sex offenders become the new victims of sex offender registry laws?   (Are you kidding?)  Not as long as children continue to suffer from sex abuse at the hands of registered sex offenders.  Tune-in and join the debate, live on Monday night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Molester Mondays" telephone participants will be invited to respond to these two intense emotions of disgust and fear in the ever escalating concerns over sex offenders living among us.

About Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers" radio role-play training

The main purpose of Molester Mondays is to provide interactive role-play practice and basic talking-points training to those who wish to speak out in the effort to reform sex offender registry laws.  The "radio show" is designed to be adversarial in its approach so as to challenge those who participate. 

Molester Mondays has a talking points workshop open to all and will begin 20 minutes before the recorded radio program portion begins.  Join the show's creator, Tom Madison for about twenty minutes leading up to the start of the show. 

To access the show, go to TalkShoe.Com and find "Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers" (Show Call ID:  113956), then log-in to your Talkshoe account and participate.  You may also use your telephone by calling Talkshoe at 724-444-7444 and entering the call ID of 113956 to listen in and participate.

Once dialed into the TalkShoe phone system, use *8 to enter the queue of those waiting to interact with the host.

Workshop times are scheduled just ahead of the regular show at 5:45pm Pacific / 7:45pm Central / 8:45 Eastern.

Molester Mondays IS RECORDED LIVE and will follow the workshop at its regular times of:  6:05pm Pacific / 8:05 Central / 9:05 Eastern times.  Use the same show call ID of 113956.

Molester Mondays schedule (all times are Eastern):

8:45pm - Talking points workshop with Tom Madison (not recorded).

9:05pm - Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers" (recorded live).

10:15pm - After the show comments (not recorded).

Happy Thanksgiving, wherever you might be!

Who do you think exploit sex offender issues for fame and fortune?

One more week until the Shiitake Awards voting begins. For those familiar with us, get your last minute nominations in. 

For those unfamiliar with the Shiitake Awards, it is an annual awards show hosted by Once Fallen spotlighting politicians, media hounds, and even everyday zeroes who exploit sex offender issues for fame and fortune. 

Voting occurs all December long, and nominations end November 30, 2011. 

http://shiitakeawards.blogspot.com/

Colorado - Some Local Police Overcharge for Registration Fees

Colorado - Some Local Police Overcharge for Registration Fees

Through the Eyes of the Offender: So when is child development NOT a crime?

Through the Eyes of the Offender: So when is child development NOT a crime?: K-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love... then comes the POLICE: 12-year-olds investigated for 'sex crime' after they kiss at school Read more: ...

Reform Sex Offender Laws in Wisconsin: Help Us Bring Our Community Together... An Opportu...

Reform Sex Offender Laws in Wisconsin: Help Us Bring Our Community Together... An Opportu...: We are in the process of sending out a letter to each and every offender on the State Registry. It is a slow process because we are hand wr...

Vigilante blogger out to ruin lives....

http://absolutezerounites.blogspot.com/2011/11/vigilante-blogger-danielle-schneider.html

Sex offender Patrick Rojas sues victims parents for blogging about him (Updated 11-9-2011)


Crazy that one person wishes to make money off someone else's pain. Vindictive Danielle needs to seriously look at her own life. Tsk, tsk...


I truly pity someone so unhappy with their own life that they feel that have to ruin another....  

What do they say, "what goes around comes around"....

Sex Offender Issues: IN - Young Kids Hard Time - Act One

Sex Offender Issues: IN - Young Kids Hard Time - Act One: Video Description: Young Kids, Hard Time is an extraordinary new series from Calamari Productions and MSNBC that throws back the veil on th...

Young Kids Hard Time - Act One from Calamari Productions on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/calamari

The False Rape Society: Former Marshall student cleared

The False Rape Society: Former Marshall student cleared: This is an interesting case. One has to wonder why it was reported, but not followed through on? A former Marshall University student has b...

Penn State Rape Victim Denies Assault, Jerry Sandusky's Lawyer Claims

http://news.yahoo.com/penn-state-rape-victim-denies-assault-jerry-sanduskys-095445077.html?fb_action_ids=324924757522372&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline

Boy, 6, accused of sexual assault

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The parents of a 6-year-old boy accused of sexual assault are suing Grant County, Wis., officials, contending they violated their son's civil rights.

The first-degree sexual assault charges against the boy came after a 5-year-old girl's mother suspected a game of playing doctor between the two kids had gone too far last fall, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday.

The parents' lawsuit, filed in federal court in Madison, seeks damages and an injunction against Grant County District Attorney Lisa Riniker. The suit also names a sheriff's deputy and a social worker as defendants.

The lawsuit states the boy, identified as D in the suit, the girl and the girl's 5-year-old brother were playing doctor when the girl's mother walked in. The girl's mother told investigators she suspected D had put his finger in the girl's anus.

D's parents, identified in the suit as Jennifer and Kurt D., said D had a medical condition prior to the play date that required rectal exams.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported in the spring that a judge rule against dismissing a juvenile court petition for protective services filed by Riniker last November. The report stated the girl said D only touched the outside of her buttocks.

Karen and Kurt D's lawsuit contends the whole investigation was biased because the girl's father is a "well-know political figure in Grant County," and that former Grant County Sheriff's Sgt. James Kop "waged a relentless campaign to discredit and embarrass and humiliate 6-year-old D."

The suit also claims Riniker tried to coerce D's parents into signing a consent decree by insinuating she would have the boy removed from their custody.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/11/18/Boy-6-accused-of-sexual-assault/UPI-44451321665489/#ixzz1eIttXptD

Protecting Kids from Sex Offenders - Views from the Senate

http://www.bridgton.com/protecting-kids-from-sex-offenders/

Virginia atty - Sex Offender Registry Issues

Virginia, like every other state in the country, has a Sex Offender Registry, which lists everyone in the state who has been convicted of certain sex crimes.  The statute that established the Sex Offender Registry was first passed in 1994, and it has been amended every few years every since.  In virtually every case, the amendments have made the Sex Offender Registry requirements tougher, and now some people on the Sex Offender Registry can’t go on school property, or near a school bus, or to a playground.
There are four things that a lawyer can do for someone on the Registry:

http://www.snookandhaughey.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/sex-offender-registry-issues/

Talkshoe with Bill Blathers - Are Sex Offender Registry Laws Tough Enough?

Hosted by: Bill Blathers Title: Are Sex Offender Registry Laws Tough Enough?

Time: 11/21/2011 08:45 PM EST Episode Notes: Molester Mondays Green Room - Learn your talking points - Starts at 8:45pm ET Molester Mondays - Starts at 9:05pm ET - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What is the history of Sex Offender Registry (SOR) laws in the United States? What social, political and medical philosophies were influential at one point in time then fell away into obscurity? Tune in and find out about SOR law history.

Little Rock: HALL PASS: Preventing sex offenders on school grounds

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/180713/2/HALL-PASS-Preventing-sex-offenders-on-school-grounds

"Type of Policing"....

Sex offender on 12 month curfew

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/2162-sex-offender-on-12-month-curfew.html

After reading this article from the UK, ask yourself the defference in how these people are treated. Are they getting help with thier issues. Are they being ignored or cast from thier homes to live under bridges? Hmm....At least some countries are trying to get it right and humanely done with promise.

"However defence agent Tommy Allan argued that it would be safer to sentence him in the community where he could be helped with his issues, while facing the threat of jail if he failed to comply.

Sheriff Napier agreed and imposed a three year community payback order during which Hall will be placed on the sex offenders’ register.

He must also spend the next year staying at home from 7pm until 7am every night and take part in a joint sex offenders’ programme"

Vancouver - Chilliwack 'superheroes' must stop vigilantism: police

Chilliwack 'superheroes' must stop vigilantism: police

Virginia - assessment of sex offenders flawed, study says - risk assessment

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/va-assessment-of-sex-offenders-flawed-study-says/2011/11/15/gIQAefmLON_blog.html

Convicted sex offender sentenced to 20 year - failure to register

http://kingsvillerecord.our-hometown.com/news/2011-11-06/Front_Page/Convicted_sex_offender_sentenced_to_20_years.html

2011-11-06 / Front Page

Staff Report

A convicted sex offender who failed to register was sentenced to 20 years in prison recently. According to information provided by Kleberg- Kenedy County District Attorney John Hubert, Andres Garcia, 26, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct. 26 in the 105th District Court.

Study Finds Fault With Sex-Offender Restriction Laws : Clinical Psychiatry News

Study Finds Fault With Sex-Offender Restriction Laws : Clinical Psychiatry News

IN RE RYAN - Filed: November 9, 2011.

IN RE RYAN - Filed: November 9, 2011.

How effective are background checks in protecting children from abusers?

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/how_effective_are_background_c.html

Child abuse: We’re making the problem worse

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/13/child_abuse_were_making_the_problem_worse/singleton

Request from Matthew 25 Ministries

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Visit us on the web: www.matthew25ministries.org

Britain - Sex attack sentencing needs reform

http://www.student-direct.co.uk/2011/11/08/sex-attack-sentencing-needs-reform/

US legal system should differentiate between types of sex offenders - Interesting Comment

sandyj321 has made a comment on US legal system should differentiate between types of sex offenders:

This law is step 101 NWO. Every Person on the planet will be in this system before they even know what hit him. The Illuminati pay off senators and congressmen to pass these agregious unconstitutional laws and a normal teen fooling around is now charged as "SEXUAL OFFENDER". Got $20,000 for a trial at which you will be found guilty anyway (STACKED DECK against you)? Just plea to a big fat lie, get in the "system" DEPT OF EDUCATION teaches NOTHING about law. NO NEED TO TEACH KIDS MIRANDA!!

Tomorrow night, Monday, November 14th - Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers

Tune in and listen to what the family members of sex offenders have to say about registry laws.

When it comes to America's Convicted Sex Offenders, do we really know who these people really are? Do we understand how wide the Sex Offender Registry (SOR) laws are? Does the news media present a fair and balanced view of sex offenders in the news?

Sex offender family members are often on the front lines of this contentious issue since it is their addresses that are also shared on public sex offender registry websites even though the laws are aimed at protecting the nearby neighborhood children.

Tune-in and let the opinions fall where they may and learn something about America's Sex Offender Registries at the same time.
This Podcast was created using www.talkshoe.com
       
     
      Sex Offender "Cures", Faux Treatments and Other Science FictionsMonday, November 07, 2011 9:04 PMMolester Mondays Green Room - Learn your talking points - Starts at 8:45pm ET
Molester Mondays - Starts at 9:05pm ET
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What do we know about the mental health of those sexual deviants on the Sex Offender Registries?

Should all Registered Sex Offenders be Civilly Committed to protect the community from these dangerous monsters?

Should society pay for castration surgeries to help indigent sex offenders in an act of kindness to them?

Do Mentally Disordered Sex Offenders have the right to you that they are cured when we all know they are sick?Media files

Sex-offender law must be fixed - Editorial with reckless thinking

http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/11/sex-offender_law_must_be_fixed.html#comments

People need to comment on this article. Careful Pennsylvania with what is pushed and wished for. It is a slippery slope upward and worse when lives are covered and finally buried in its muck-slide.

Cops Enlist Data-Tracking Software in the Fight against CHILD PREDATORS

Cops Enlist Data-Tracking Software in the Fight against CHILD PREDATORS

Florida - Life Sentence for Possession of Child Pornography Spurs Debate Over Severity

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/us/life-sentence-for-possession-of-child-pornography-spurs-debate.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

By ERICA GOODE

Published: November 4, 2011

Does downloading child pornography from the Internet deserve the same criminal punishment as first-degree murder?

A circuit court judge in Florida clearly thinks so: On Thursday, he sentenced Daniel Enrique Guevara Vilca, a 26-year-old stockroom worker whose home computer was found to contain hundreds of pornographic images of children, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But the severity of the justice meted out to Mr. Vilca, who had no previous criminal record, has led some criminal justice experts to question whether increasingly harsh penalties delivered in cases involving the viewing of pornography really fit the crime. Had Mr. Vilca actually molested a child, they note, he might well have received a lighter sentence.

“To me, a failure to distinguish between people who look at these dirty pictures and people who commit contact offenses lacks the nuance and proportionality I think our law demands,” said Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University, who highlighted Mr. Vilca’s case on his blog, Sentencing and Law Policy.

Sexual offenses involving children enrage most Americans, and lawmakers have not hesitated to impose lengthy prison terms for offenders. In Florida, possession of child pornography is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Mr. Vilca was charged with 454 counts of possession, each count representing one image found on the computer.

Steve Maresca, the assistant state attorney in the case, said that in his view, Mr. Vilca “received a sentence pursuant to the sentencing guidelines.”

“Too many people just look at this as a victimless crime, and that’s not true,” he said. “These children are victimized, and when the images are shown over and over again, they’re victimized over and over again.”

But Lee Hollander, Mr. Vilca’s lawyer, called the sentence ridiculous.

“Daniel had nothing to do with the original victimization of these people; there is no evidence that he’s ever touched anybody improperly, adult or minor; and life in prison for looking at images, even child images, is beyond comprehension,” he said.

Mr. Hollander said Mr. Vilca had consistently said he did not know the images were on his computer. He refused a plea bargain of 20 years in prison, after which the state attorney increased the charges. The sentence will be appealed, Mr. Hollander said.

Troy K. Stabenow, an assistant federal public defender in Missouri’s Western District, noted that most people assume that someone who looks at child pornography is also a child molester or will become a child molester, a view often mirrored by judges.

But a growing body of scientific research shows that this is not the case, he said. Many passive viewers of child pornography never molest children, and not all child molesters have a penchant for pornography.

“I’m not suggesting that someone who looks at child pornography should just walk,” he said. “But we ought to punish people for what they do, not for our fear.”

State and federal laws, which generally increase penalties based on the number of pornographic images, reflect the idea that acquiring child pornography requires extensive time and effort and thus is a measure of a defendant’s involvement and interest. But with the rise of the Internet, it is possible to download hundreds of images in a matter of minutes, making the size of a stash a less than reliable indicator, Mr. Stabenow and other criminal justice experts said. It is now a rare case that does not involve the possession of hundreds, or even thousands, of images.

As a result, many federal judges have issued sentences lower than those called for by federal guidelines, which add months for multiple images and other aggravating factors. And even when such sentencing enhancements are enforced, the sentences — which can sometimes be 18 or 20 years — are often well below what Mr. Vilca received. The federal guidelines, for example, recommend a minimum of 57 to 71 months in prison for possession of 600 or more images of very young children.

Paul Cassell, a former federal judge who is now a law professor at the University of Utah, said there was no question that “consumers of child pornography drive the market for the production of child pornography, and without people to consume this stuff there wouldn’t be nearly as many children being sexually abused.”

Mr. Cassell is involved in efforts to get restitution for victims of child pornography, and has filed a petition in one case with the Supreme Court. But he said that while he was not familiar with Mr. Vilca’s case and did not know what other facts might be involved, “in the abstract, a life sentence for the crime of solely possessing child pornography would seem to be excessive.”

“A life sentence is what we give first-degree murderers,” he said, “and possession of child pornography is not the equivalent of first-degree murder.”

A version of this article appeared in print on November 5, 2011, on page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Life Sentence for Possession of Child Pornography Spurs Debate Over Severity.

Florida - The end of ‘Bookville’ homeless camp under the Tuttle? - Other Views - MiamiHerald.com

The end of ‘Bookville’ homeless camp under the Tuttle? - Other Views - MiamiHerald.com

BY VALERIE JONAS AND WALTER G. BRADLEY

vjonas@earthlink.net

Where did all the sex offenders go after their eviction last year from under the Julia Tuttle Causeway? Reporter Robert Lyle’s WLRN radio series tracked down several former residents of this unlamented monument to the law of unintended consequences, and we want to add further information.

The causeway colony, the subject of lurid international headlines and a recent novel by Russell Banks, resulted from local laws that restrict sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet — one-half mile — from places that children gather, like schools, parks and school bus stops. In a dense urban county like ours, there is almost no affordable housing outside these boundaries. The inevitable consequence of these laws was to force sex offenders into homelessness.

The state had already passed a carefully-considered 1,000-foot law that would have allowed shelter for most of the county’s offenders. Furthermore, a geo-mapping survey proved there were far more registered sex offenders in the county than affordable housing units outside the 2,500-foot zone. Finally, social scientists have achieved rare unanimity about two issues: (1) housing instability increases the risk of recidivism among all offenders, and (2) residing near a school or park does not increase the already-low recidivism rate by the vast majority of sex offenders.

But lobbyist Ron Book, driven by his daughter’s widely-reported abuse by the family nanny, championed the residency restrictions. He insisted they were necessary to protect children, and that there was adequate housing outside the banishment zone. He derided those who disagreed as advocates for predators; he called their studies “suspect.”

The link between Book’s campaign and the causeway colony was so direct that those who lived there came to call it “Bookville.”

Once Bookville became an international embarrassment, it paradoxically fell to Book, as chairman of the Homeless Trust, to find shelter for its occupants. After boarding up the camp, Book used federal stimulus money to buy short-term stays (6-12 months) in housing, costing up to $1,000 a month for offenders who, without Book’s laws, could have lived for free with friends and family.

These arrangements were controversial for reasons other than funding source, duration and cost. Book placed 13 predators (“real bad guys,” he said) within a half-square mile in the quiet family neighborhood of Shorecrest. “We ran the Shorecrest ZIP code and it just popped up as an eligible site. So I drove it and determined that it would be a good fit to relocate the sexual predators,” Book explained. Shorecrest’s residents do not agree with Book’s assessment of “fit.” He placed another 43 in a cramped trailer park “teeming” with children.

Whatever the merits of Book’s resettlement efforts, he cautioned they were temporary: “I can’t pay rent for these people forever. It runs for a period of time and runs out.” Indeed, soon afterwards, Book declared an end to the Trust’s aid for the Bookville exiles: “As far as we’re concerned, our help for people under the bridge is done.” He acknowledged, however, that without this aid, many would “end up back somewhere on the streets,” adding ominously “We just don’t know where.”

How right Book was. Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s registry (the numbers change monthly) reveals that of 1,960 sex offenders/predators in Miami-Dade County, 256 — about one out of seven — have absconded. Absconders are those sex offenders who have stopped reporting their whereabouts, or cut off their ankle monitors, or otherwise escaped supervision. Of those who have not yet absconded, 191 are homeless. They sleep under bridges, or in lots and fields throughout the county. Somewhere between this rainy season and the end of winter, some of these homeless offenders may also abscond.

Boarding up Bookville hasn’t solved the problem of these laws. It has merely created another set of problems.

Valerie Jonas is a South Florida attorney specializing in criminal defense appeals. Dr. Walter G. Bradley is professor and chairman emeritus of the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami medical school.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/05/2487554/the-end-of-bookville-homeless.html#ixzz1d4BcLX71

Western Australia - Nationals support sex offenders website

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-07/sex-offenders-public-register/3639132?section=wa

FL - New Restrictions On Renting To Sex Offenders

Texas Removes Sex Offender Designation From 176 Parolees

Texas Removes Sex Offender Designation From 176 Parolees

Registration fees not listed - please submit your state

Registry Fees Fact GuideBy: Derek Warren Logue
Created: November 2, 2011, Updated Nov. 4, 2011

Latest article on OnceFallen. If your state has registration fees not listed, let Derek know. Unfortunately, some states are harder to collect info from than others.

http://www.oncefallen.com/registryfees.html

"INTRODUCTION

Registration fees are becoming popular in a select growing number of locations. Perhaps the biggest story on this issue in recent memory is the ordinance proposed by the city of Lake Charles, LA, which would have increased yearly registration fees to $600 per year. As of this writing, the law is on hold due to a temporary injunction [1].

Obviously, registry fees and the fear over possible legal trouble for failing to pay fees is a very real concern. Some state laws consider failure to pay registry fees part of the criminal charge of “failure to register [2].” Exacerbating the possibility of arrest for failure to pay fees is due to the fact that registrants have far higher rates of unemployment than the average citizen. In Oklahoma, “nearly 40%” of registrants are considered “unemployed, disabled, or retired
[3]”; Washington State’s unemployment rate for registrants was 25% in 2005, with a 9% rate of homelessness [4].
 

While many locations have these laws, is it constitutional? There have been few stories regarding sex offenders arrested for failing to pay fees, and even fewer court cases addressing the fees. This article will cover the very sparse commentary on this subject."

Tomorrow night, Monday November 7th - Molester Mondays with Bill Blathers

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=113956&cmd=tc

What a great time! Learning to talk to that monster Bill Blathers made me want to scream. However, I kept my composure and let him have it with my suave personality and wit. He would belittle himself with rash, inhumane words but I held steadfast. He wouldn't bring me to his level...a level that judges another because he is afraid of what he doesn't understand. He doesn't know the facts and truths behind this issue at all.

Tomorrow night, Monday November 7th

Tampa Police and U.S. Marshals canvassed the city on Halloween ensuring sex offenders steered clear of trick-or-treaters

My personal opinion - a waste of taxpayers' money and more debt to Florida.

Finally a decorous article with some truth to it. But notice the title of the link below compared to the title of the article. Still lumping them the same. Predators vs sex offenders.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/218303/8/Police-pinpoint-sex-predators-on-Halloween-find-no-tricks

TAMPA, Fla. -- While thousands of kids dressed up to collect treats, police and U.S. Marshals canvassed Tampa to make sure sex offenders weren't playing any tricks.

More than a dozen teams crisscrossed the city to make contact with more than 200 sex offenders and predators. Authorities verified none of them were welcoming trick-or-treaters.

Officer Mike DiStefano and his partner, Officer Paul Triolo, usually know before they even get out of their car if there will problem, just by looking at the outside of the house. "We're looking to see if they have their lights on, if they have any decorations, if they're handing out candy," Officer DiStefano told us.

The pair covered an area north of downtown Tampa, near Ybor City. The neighborhood has one of the largest populations of sex offenders in the Bay area. Still, while 10 News followed them, the officers found no violations.

Most sex offenders seemed familiar with the laws on Halloween. Officer DiStefano asked one offender on Palm Avenue, "You know all the rules right?"

The man responded, "I'm here ain't I? I stay in here, don't answer the door...I ain't crazy. I've been doing this for 6 ½ years."

Once police verified his identity, the man waived goodbye. "Alright guys, y'all have a great day."

Tampa Police and U.S. Marshals credit their constant monitoring of the city's sex offenders with the few problems they find on Halloween.

The Daily Mail > Archives > News > Operation Halloween sheds insight into sex offender parolees

The Daily Mail > Archives > News > Operation Halloween sheds insight into sex offender parolees

Older video but things haven't changed

RSO Blues - By Fenix by ZMan6919

You mean I can vote?!?!” - Arkansas Time After Time (ATAT)

 The question forged to Robert Kim Combs, Executive Director of Arkansas Time After Time (ATAT), came as many do: After the weekly broadcast of "It Could Be You," the talk-radio show he hosts.
 
 The caller, an ex-offender still classified by legal definition as a felon, was amazed and happy to learn from Combs' interview guest -- the internationally esteemed civil rights and criminal defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig -- that here in Arkansas, after release from prison and completion of parole or probation, convicted felons may reclaim the right to vote with a simple trip to the county clerk's office.
 
 A graduate of Princeton University who earned his Juris Doctorate at Southern Methodist University, Rosenzweig started accruing professional gravitas in Little Rock in 1977 and has, since 1989, served as a legislative liaison for the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (AACDL).
 
 Comprised of many if not most of the defense attorneys in the state, the AACDL, in affiliation with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), works to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crimes or other misconduct.
 
 Under the AACDL banner, Rosenzweig, working together with other preeminent attorneys like Patrick Benca of West Memphis Three acclaim, Didi Sallings, Executive Director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, various members of Sallings staff and others with AACDL, monitors legislative issues and makes recommendations to elected officials regarding the constitutionality or potential legal ramifications of proposed or enacted laws.
 
 “There are problems particularly dealing with the investigation of these alleged offenses in several ways,” Rosenzweig said about sex crime issues in Arkansas. “One is that a number of investigators, especially in some of the smaller areas, are ill-trained. A second is that a number of these investigations are outsourced to groups like the so-called child advocacy centers which unfortunately are infested with ideologues who are unable to concede that a number of these cases are ill-founded; that they arise from messy divorces or other family antagonisms, or in the case of very young children from literal misunderstandings.
 
 “Consequently,” Rosenzweig continued, “they will tend to find 'crimes' that don't exist and there are several things that are going to need to happen to fix the problem. One is that you're going to have to have somewhat more leadership in DHS and the State Police. You're going to have to require more training than what is being done,” he elaborated. “The idea of outsourcing investigations to private entities is a horrible idea. If there is anything that needs to be done by a governmental agency, it needs to be the investigation of alleged crimes.”
 
 Of particularly problematic concern to Rosenzweig, the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Registry is a 'private' Department of Human Services (DHS) black-list which, once a person's name is on it, can prevent him or her from being employed in occupations which involve routine interactions with children.
 
 While this seems like a good idea, Rosenzweig explained that even when there is no criminal accusation or when the accused is found not guilty or the allegations of sex-crime or child abuse are dropped, DHS can an often does pursue Child Maltreatment Registry proceedings.
 
 Unlike criminal proceedings which play out in a court of law and may, upon conviction, compel registration as a sex offender, “These (DHS) hearings used to be a complete joke,” said Rosenzweig. “But they are better now in some respects,” he added. “And their rulings can be appealed to the circuit court.”
 
 Rosenzweig also discussed how registered sex offenders may, after a period of time stipulated by law, petition to be removed from the sex offender registry, but noted that once a person is on the DHS maltreatment list, it is nearly impossible to get his or her name removed. Thus, Rosenzweig stressed, whenever anyone is accused or suspected of being a perpetrator – no matter if it is by an officer of the law or by a DHS employee and even when they are innocent – they should immediately contact an attorney who is conversant with these issues.
 
 A grassroots legislative advocacy group dedicated to making communities safer and reducing recidivism with effective common-sense laws, Combs said the overarching mission of the volunteer organization he serves and the radio program they produce is to “develop a cooperative sense of community rather than take an adversarial approach among people on the sex-offender registry, victim's advocacy groups and the authorities in the state.”
 
 “It Could Be You” airs weekly, noon to 1pm, on Little Rock's “Voice of the People” KABF, 88.3 FM. An audio recording of Rosenzweig's full radio interview is available online at the ATAT website.
 
 ATAT meets the third Sunday of each month, 2pm to 4pm, in the West Room on the 1st floor of the Main branch of the Central Arkansas Library, 100 Rock St., in downtown Little Rock. Meetings are open to the general public.
 
 For more information, visit www.ArkansasTimeAfterTime.org or contact Robert Kim Combs, executive director, 501-563-2197.
 
 -30-
 
 PDF of this release on ATAT letterhead:
 http://www.arkansastimeaftertime.org/pdf/atat_nwerls_ltrhd110111.pdf
 
 More about “It Could Be You”:
 http://www.arkansastimeaftertime.org/radio/index.htm

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: 60 Days Until Eviction

The Jessica's Law Nightmare in California: 60 Days Until Eviction: I have exactly 60 days now to find a new home because the city is building a new park less than 2,000 feet from where I live. A park is gett...

Crackdown on Iowa sex offenders increases costs, not public safety

Crackdown on Iowa sex offenders increases costs, not public safety

My editorial on Halloween Laws - Fallen One

http://once-fallen.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-editorial-on-halloween-laws.html

Monday, October 31, 2011

Below is a brief editorial on Halloween Laws I wrote for a class. Since people stated it was good, I decided to share it here.

I was a child of the 1980s, and like most children, I went trick-or-treating. Outside my own little world, a new era of Predator Panic was forming. Missing children were plastered on the milk cartons in the fridge while local daycare centers were searched for underground tunnels, pentagrams, and literature from the Church of Satan. When we got home, mom and dad would confiscate our bags, and, much to our dismay, some choice candies were taken to “test for poison.”

Like the poison candy and the Satanic Ritual Abuse reports of the 1980s, our current laws targeting sex offenders are based upon urban legends. Much like the claims of high recidivism rates, as mentioned by Blathers, the myths of Halloween being a “sex offender smorgasbord” is based on fear rather than fact.

There are much more real threats to your children on Halloween night than the remote chance of a sex offender targeting your child on Halloween. Recent reports have discovered that traffic accidents with child victims are at their highest during Halloween. Should we ban all cars from driving because they pose a greater threat during Halloween than people on the public registry?

The problem with Halloween laws, as with many sex offender laws, are based upon wrongful assumptions and thus do not work as intended. Halloween laws were created to combat a virtually non-existent threat. After all, there is a definitive lack of reports of sex crimes committed by convicted sex offenders occurring on Halloween. So if in previous years there were no sex crimes committed by registrants, and I pass a new law to ban all registrants from participating on Halloween for this year and no sex crimes were committed by registrants this year, can I assume the laws had any effect on a non-existent problem? I think not.

It is time we as a society look at issues in our society from a rational standpoint and put stop scaring people with urban legends. If a sex crime is to occur on this night, it will be far more likely to occur within the child’s own home by a loved one not on the list. If you are worried about your child’s safety on Halloween night, then go with them, or take them to the many Halloween parties run by local churches or civic groups. And while sifting for those non-existent poisoned candies, try not to be as greedy with the choice candy as your parents were.