Monday, April 11, 2016

MN: Willmar City Council to continue discussing restrictions for sex offenders

West Central Tribune

There have been concerns about the restrictions causing offenders to live in only a few small areas of town, causing density issues. “That makes a lot ...

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Florida Action Committee Recent Posts

FAC Sends Letter to Judge Regarding Dennis Hastert Sentencing

April 11, 2016

Below is the text of a letter from FAC to Dennis Hastert's sentencing judge. April 11, 2016 Honorable Thomas M. Durkin US District Court Judge Northern District of...
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MUST LISTEN: US sex offenders – crime and consequences

April 11, 2016

Ron Book is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Florida - the archetypal Mr Fixit for those with the money and means to get laws changed and causes promoted. But when he...
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Dennis Hastert – how can this happen?

April 11, 2016

This past Friday, Federal Prosecutors announced that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert sexually abused at least four boys when he coached wrestling at a high school in...
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Florida sex offender registry: double-digit growth

April 11, 2016

More than a dozen people a day walk into the Orange County Sheriff's Office and register as sex offenders. The county is home to more than 2,200 of them. The Orange County...
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Illinois Law Requiring Sex Offenders To Report All Internet Activity Violates Free Speech Rights

April 8, 2016

With the goal of keeping tabs on sex offenders, the state of Illinois has veered way off course. Its offender registration statute requires individuals to report every nook and...
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FAC President Quoted in Naples Daily News

April 8, 2016

Although it wasn't an article about sex offenders per-se, FAC President Gail Colletta contributed a quote to a Naples Daily News article about housing for ex-felons. "'Sorry, we...
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Administrator Defends Sex Offender Rehabilitation Program on Woodville Highway

April 8, 2016

TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- The group behind the sex offender rehabilitation program at Good Samaritan Network on Woodville Highway is speaking out about the program. Andy Messer,...
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Florida sex offender registry: double-digit growth

A recent study by researchers at the Florida Legislature found that the number of registered sex offenders living in Florida communities has increased 44 percent over the past 10 years.

The statewide total is more than 26,000, according to the researchers at the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.

If you add in all the other sex offenders that the state is required to register — those who live out of state and those locked up in jail or prison — the number climbs to more than 66,000.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Articles Regarding US Supreme Court Decision in Nichols v. United States

The Hill | Apr. 4, 2016
Supreme Court sides with sex offender in registry dispute
By Lydia Wheeler

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that registered sex offenders do not have to update their status on a state registry when they move out of the country.
In an 8-0 decision, the justices said a straightforward reading of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act did not require Lester Nichols to notify Kansas that he moved to the Philippines in November 2012. The case, however, will have little impact since Congress recently passed legislation that requires sex offenders to notify the government when they leave the U.S.

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Scotus Blog | Apr. 4, 2016
News item – the convicted sex offender wins, unanimously
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By Evan Lee

In the abstract, it seems unlikely that the United States Supreme Court would rule unanimously in favor of a convicted sex offender. It seems even less likely that Justice Samuel Alito would lead the charge. But Nichols v. United States, handed down Monday morning, provided the perfect storm. Lester Ray Nichols was convicted in 2003 of traveling in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. After his release from federal prison in December 2011, he settled in Kansas, where he satisfied his obligation to register as a convicted sex offender. About a year later, he suddenly disconnected his telephone lines, tossed his apartment keys into his landlord’s drop box, and boarded a flight to Manila. He notified no authorities that he was moving to the Philippines – or that he was moving at all.

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United States Supreme Court

Nichols v. United States
OPINION: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-5238_khlo.pdf
CASE FILES: www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/nichols-v-united-states/

Four posts with hard-to-find information for US citizens with a criminal record who may be traveling internationally

Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Mar. 25, 2016

Traveling to Mexico with a criminal record

http://ccresourcecenter.org/2016/03/25/traveling-to-mexico-with-a-criminal-record/

Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Jan. 29, 2016

Mexico vacations out for sex offenders?

http://ccresourcecenter.org/2016/01/29/mexico-vacations-not-sex-offenders/

Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Jun. 18, 2015

Canadian travel restrictions based on criminal record

Most Americans can freely visit Canada. However, if you have a criminal history, you may be refused entry. This post describes the circumstances in which a criminal record (including DUIs) will result in your being inadmissible even as a visitor, how long inadmissibility lasts, and what you can do to regain the right to travel freely to Canada.

http://ccresourcecenter.org/2015/06/18/traveling-to-canada-with-a-criminal-record/

Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Jan. 2, 2015

International travel restrictions based on criminal record

Below is an excerpt from Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction: Law, Policy & Practice, this one about restrictions on international travel based on criminal record. The first section discusses the subject in general terms, while the second section describes restrictions on travel to Canada for individuals with a foreign conviction, and the methods of overcoming these restrictions.

http://ccresourcecenter.org/2015/01/02/international-travel-restrictions-based-criminal-record/

Federal: Challenge to “Scarlet Letter” travel law moves forward

Collateral Consequences Resource Center | Apr. 4, 2016

Last week a federal judge heard the first arguments in a lawsuit challenging certain provisions of the recently-enacted International Megan’s Law (IML), including one mandating that the passport of any American required to register for a sex offense involving a minor be marked in “a conspicuous location” with a “unique identifier” of their sex offender status.

CONTINUED:
http://ccresourcecenter.org/2016/04/04/challenge-to-scarlet-letter-travel-law-moves-forward/#more-9167

AL: Criminal justice bill amended to reduce benefits to sex offenders

Alaska Public Radio Network

Criminal justice bill amended to reduce benefits to sex offenders ... The Senate Finance amended the bill to make it harder for sex offenders to ... “But it's also going to show that jail time is the way the public condemns certain issues.

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Florida Action Committee Recent Posts

ACLU Files Appellate Brief in Miami-Dade SORR Case

April 5, 2016

The ACLU has filed it's appellate brief on behalf of Florida Action Committee and several homeless registrants living along the railroad tracks in Miami-Dade County. The Brief,...
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New Jersey Advocacy Group Calls for Reform of Sex Abuse Laws

April 5, 2016

For Immediate release: Contact Person: April 4,...
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BREAKING NEWS: Registrant Successful in Supreme Court Challenge

April 4, 2016

The US Supreme Court decided in favor of a registered sex offender in Nichols v. United States. The SCOTUS decision came out today and it is the first time in recent memory that...
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No experts support residency restrictions for sex offenders

April 4, 2016

"No experts support residency restrictions for sex offenders" is the conclusion of law professor and researcher Eric Janus in an article in Minnesota Lawyer. “I don’t think you...
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Surveillance Video and 911 call of Perrywinkle Abduction Released

April 4, 2016

This week, State Attorneys released surveillance video and 911 call recordings from the night of Cherish Perrywinkle's abduction. Let's start by saying every member of the...
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Sunday, April 3, 2016

Janus: No experts support residency restrictions for sex offenders

Minnesota Lawyer | Mar. 31, 2016

“I don’t think you can find any experts — or a person who actually deals with
sex offenders — who thinks residency restrictions are effective,” said Mitchell
Hamline law professor Eric Janus.

By Mike Mosedale

As Minnesota lawmakers mull a bill that would authorize local units of government to enact tough new restrictions on where sex offenders can live, its advocates face one major obstacle: finding a single authority in the field who believes it’s a good idea. At least, that’s the opinion of Mitchell Hamline law professor Eric Janus, who has written extensively on sex offender laws and policies.

“I don’t think you can find any experts — or a person who actually deals with sex offenders — who thinks residency restrictions are effective,” said Janus. “It’s amazing and quite uniform. That goes from Departments of Corrections to county attorneys and prosecutors to state task forces. Everybody says it’s a bad idea. It inhibits re-entry. It inhibits stability. It inhibits supervision. And most likely it increases recidivism.”

While that’s been the consensus among researchers for years, Janus noted, more courts across the country are finding reasons to strike down residency restrictions. “It hasn’t been unanimous, but there’s been a bit of a tipping point.

MORE:
http://minnlawyer.com/2016/03/31/janus-no-experts-support-residency-restrictions-for-sex-offenders/

Florida Action Committee Recent Posts

Court Rules Public Has Access to Sex Offender Hearings

April 1, 2016

An appeals court has ruled the public cannot be excluded from a courtroom when a judge is considering whether a sex offender should be committed indefinitely after his prison...
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Reporter Looking for R&J Offenders to Interview

April 1, 2016

A reporter from Minnesota Public Radio is seeking interviewees for her radio show. Below is her message and contact information: My name is Natalie Jablonski, and I’m a...
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April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 1, 2016

Massachusetts state representative Paul Heroux has written a couple stories exposing the TRUTH about sex offender registries. He is one of very few (very, very, very few)...
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Don’t harass sex predator, judge tells Pasco sheriff’s office

April 1, 2016

DADE CITY — Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Linda Babb signed a protective order this week that prevents the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office “from further harassment” of a...
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Lauren Book, Running Unopposed, Raises $1.3 Million Despite Criticisms

April 1, 2016

Plantation resident Lauren Book, 31, has raised about $1.3 million for her state senate campaign, though she's running unopposed. Her charity was also awarded a million dollars...
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Florida man freed from prison early — underage romance led to ‘sex offender’ tag, harsh sentence

March 31, 2016

TALLAHASSEE Carlos Manuel Delgado was released from Columbia Correctional Institution in Lake City on Wednesday afternoon — 13 years, 4 months and 24 days before the end of his...
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Attorney: Sex Offender Passport Marker Would Be Dangerous

March 30, 2016

Marking passports to identify sex offenders would wrongly imply that they had engaged in child sex trafficking or child sex tourism and expose them to danger, an attorney told a...
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No Decision YET in International Megan’s Law Injunction

March 30, 2016

We just heard from those in the courtroom that today's hearing for an injunction temporarily preventing the implementation of the International Megan's Law (IML) is complete....
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Law Creating Passport Mark for Sex Offenders Faces First Challenge

March 30, 2016

A new federal law requiring the State Department to mark the passports of certain convicted sex offenders is expected to face its first test in federal court on Wednesday. A...
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Florida is one of three states with lifetime disenfranchisement

March 30, 2016

Florida, Iowa and Kentucky are the only states to impose lifetime voting bans for felons unless their rights are restored by the governor. Prior governor Crist automatically...
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International Megan’s Law: America’s Global Embarrassment

March 30, 2016

What sounds like a good law in a twenty-second sound bite sometimes turns out to be less clear when one digs below the surface. Such is the case with International Megan’s Law,...
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Closer look: Finding statistics to fit a narrative

March 29, 2016

Licensed Professional Counselor Robert Longo has been vocally opposed to public registries for convicted sexual offenders for years. “I actually met with a group of people in New...
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Operation Predator: The Results are In

March 29, 2016

The results are in from "Operation Predator", the joint operation of state and federal officers that included sheriff's offices from 39 counties in Florida, and they are pretty...
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When facts aren’t facts: A look at the effectiveness of sexual offender registries

March 28, 2016

The passages of sexual offender registries have grabbed headlines as steps toward public safety against unchanging “predators” who are being released back into society. The...
Read More »

On a Personal Note

Thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts regarding the issue of citizens’ rights, particularly addressing certain sex offenders’ crimes that do not fit the devastating, inequitable and endless punishment given.

As you know, many young men and women lives across the nation are being destroyed by incarceration, life-time registry and restrictive laws that do more harm than good. For those individuals, there is no second chance.

Below is a personal letter to President Obama:
* * * *
“Dear President Obama,

I truly agree with your sentiments that individuals, such as ex-felons, should be able to receive a second chance at life. Since we all know that one can veer off that path of life and travel along rough, rocky terrain, sometimes running off and ending up in some ditch. We all have made our fill of mistakes and sometimes those held a costly consequence that changed life forever. So we lived through it, trying harder to make things right with family, friends and those around us, but what about those who aren’t able to make things right even if they tried…because they’re labeled as too dirty, a leper, a person who is rejected from society and home.

But what if they’re a seventeen year old and had sex with a fifteen year old, consensual at that? Or they’re a teen that had gotten so enraged after a breakup that he sent out naked pictures of his girlfriend on his cell phone or email? Or an individual urinates where someone just happens to see them?

All are wrong and a travesty but do they deserve the life of no second chance with a registry that ends all. They are labeled, no jobs, no where to live…they have been deemed a menace to society, a plague. These certain circumstances, and many other situations similar to these, I believe still deserve a second change.

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

After my son’s early release and two years of prison, I thought I had handled that fact graciously knowing after serving his time he would be able to get that fresh start, that second chance. He was an exemplary inmate, GED, college courses and vocational classes. Little did I know that a second chance on the outside was the farthest from the truth? He now struggles and lives in a trailer park sharing a trailer with another and surrounded by others in the same rocking boat, one to float endlessly in shark infested waters. I see him little because of probation requirements (he couldn’t live with us because we were 800 feet near a school). My family is afraid of what would happen to them if he lived with them…vigilantism. My son has no other place to stay since others condemn him of his crime that is screamed from the highest rooftop. Sex offender, sex offender!

Not all sex offenders are pedophiles or predators but some are simply young kids that make one stupid and rash decision that eventually changes everything, and they have no idea what they’ve done until their life is never their own. Exactly, where is that second chance for those sex-offenders who are lumped together with pedophiles and predators? Now, it makes me sick to think of my son’s future and many like him that are on the registry and many with no second chance…ever. I am asking you as a mother and as another concerned citizen of the United States that these laws are looked at again and taken into serious consideration in what they are doing to the Constitution of the United States, not for sex offenders in general but the future rights of every citizen, before anymore are put into effect. They unjustly strip an offender of their rights and place them in a guillotine that can be easily set off by anyone and at anytime. Where is the second chance for ex-sex offenders in the present, pending and future laws?”
* * * *
What truly saddens me is the weakness and deterioration of what the sex offense issue is doing to our once, great nation. Across Europe, others are seeing the injustice and disregard of rights, but we ignore this problem and it makes me wonder where humanity is heading….

We have become a hysterical society in which our latest witch-hunt is a sex offender--no matter his/her crime.

Below is a email sent from a foreign advocate to a father of a sex offender:
* * * *
“The tragic story of your son's death is just so sad that it's difficult to explain how. It was very hard to read your letters. It seems almost unbelievable that this can take place in a democracy! From our point of view, there is no justice in this. Not in any way: not for you, your son, the former girl friend – or even the state.

It is an abusive legal system. It seems barbaric. And we are so very sorry that this takes place. That's why it's so important for us to try to neutralize the debate with this…, hopefully making some changes. ….. to show the every day life of the sex offenders, trying to show how they keep on being punished, even after served prison time…..But we will for sure tell the story of the injustice that your son has been exposed to.”
* * * *
I appreciate everyone's commitment and backing to protect everyone's civil rights, plainly as noted in the Constitution of the United States and is presupposed, giving ALL men are “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”

"One To See Change" Pages

Monday, April 11, 2016

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Traveling to Mexico with a criminal record

Mexico vacations out for sex offenders?

International travel restrictions based on criminal record

Sunday, April 3, 2016

One To See Change Past Posts

One to See Change Blog List

On a Personal Note