FAC Contributor #1, Author at Florida Action Committee (FAC)

Miami-Dade to hear Bovo Amendment tomorrow

FAC Contributor #1 — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 21:59:02 +0000

Tomorrow, the Miami-Dade County Public Safety and Health Committee will consider a proposed amendment to the county’s “overnight camping” ordinance, which effectively enables police officers to arrest transient sex offenders on sight. More about the proposed change can be found here: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/miami-dade-commissioners-want-cops-to-arrest-homeless-sex-offenders-on-sight/

Our President, Gail, who was planning to speak on our behalf, was called out of state when her son was involved in a car accident. She will not be able to attend.

We are looking for volunteers to speak at this meeting on our behalf (or on your own behalf).

If you are able to, please contact legal@floridaactioncommitee.org.

Information about the meeting follows

Public Safety and Health Committee (PSHC)

Meeting


Date/Time:	December 13, 2017 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Address:	111 NW 1st Street 2nd Floor Commission Chambers Miami, FL 33128
Contact Person:	Daysha McBride
Phone Number:	305-375-1293
Link:	http://www.miamidade.gov/COB/downloadsandlinks.asp



The Public Safety and Health Committee will be responsible for oversight of Miami-Dade County’s law enforcement and public safety functions, animal services, and its public health systems.

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The Dobbs Wire: Who should join the fight against the registry?

FAC Contributor #1 — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 19:49:23 +0000

Scarlet letters: In a new essay Guy Hamilton-Smith opens with a wide view of this punishment-crazed country and then comes in for a close-up look at 21^st century scarlet letters. The number of people forced to sign the sex offense registry continues to climb and is now close to 900,000. Evidence mounts that registries do not improve public safety or reduce recidivism but cause much damage to the lives of registrants and their kin. Meanwhile lawmakers are pressing for even tougher registration laws and are enacting new registries for non-sex offenses! Pushing back these draconian laws is a huge fight that will take lots of people. Those on the registry are struggling to raise their voices. Who will help them? Hamilton-Smith raises a rarely discussed but important issue, the role of criminal justice reformers in battling the registry. Have a look at his remarkable essay published by In Justice Today. –Bill Dobbs, The Dobbs Wire

In Justice Today | Dec. 12, 2017

Sex Registries as Modern-Day Witch Pyres: Why Criminal Justice Reform Advocates Need to Address the Treatment of People on the Sex Offender Registry

By Guy Hamilton-Smith

Excerpts: More than any other nation on the planet, we rely on incarceration as the fix for our social ills. America’s unprecedented prison boom spawned advocates who work tirelessly to put the police state toothpaste back into the tube. For the first time since the data was tracked, state and federal prison populations declined in 2014, albeit slightly, from historic highs.

Yet amidst this wave of reform, one group of people continue to languish in the collective “harsher is better” mindset: sex offenders. If America has a civil death penalty, putting people on the sex offender registry is it. In a recent experiment, when individuals were given the choice between being labeled a child molester or dying, most chose death.

The numbers of those currently on the registry are staggering, and continue to increase each year. Absent seismic shifts in criminal justice policy, the trend will likely continue. As with witches, the modern-day sex offender largely a creature of our own creation, acting as a sort of repository for many of our collective moral anxiety around sex.

While a baked-in ick factor often turns many erstwhile warriors into silent observers, awareness and informed response is badly needed from those within the criminal justice community. Reformers urgently need to draw public attention to the cruel and unnecessarily harsh treatment afforded to sex offenders within the justice system. MORE:

https://injusticetoday.com/sex-registries-as-modern-day-witch-pyres-why-criminal-justice-reform-advocates-need-to-address-the-aca3aaa47f03

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CT: Sentencing Commission Tackles Sex Offender Registration Reform

FAC Contributor #1 — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 20:18:54 +0000

HARTFORD, CT — The public got a chance Monday to weigh in on three proposals that would change Connecticut’s criminal justice system in very different ways.

One proposal would change which sex offenders would have to continue to appear on the sex offender registry, another proposes a constitutional amendment on pretrial release and detention, and a third would reduce a state sentence for a misdemeanor offense by one day to prevent more severe immigration consequences.

The Sentencing Commission is preparing to make its recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly for the start of the 2018 legislative session.

The testimony from about 30 members of the public was emotional at times.

Cindy Prizio, executive director of Connecticut for One Standard of Justice, was unhappy with the recommendations regarding the sex offender registry because it would not apply to all sex offenders.

The proposal would give those on the registry an opportunity to petition to shorten their registration period or apply for removal from the public registry. In order to do so the registrant would have to show that they have reduced their risk to the community. Under the new system a person could be on the registry for shorter periods than under the current system, and others would be on for longer periods.

“This draft proposal is steeped in feel good laws,” Prizio said. “I don’t think you needed to meet for two years to get to it.”

She said her group would never support it.

“We are not a disposable people and we are fighting for our rights,” Prizio said.

Thomas Ullman, a former public defender from New Haven, took issue without Prizio’s stance on the issue.

“I find it hard to believe every member of the organization would be opposed to legislation that would aid all the future registrants as well as those in the past who have no ability to get off the registry at this time,” Ullman said. “The extreme position you have would realistically never have the support of our legislature at this time.”

He said taking such an extreme position means 300 to 500 people will have no way to get off the registry.

Prizio said she understands this is politics and “you give a little to get a little,” but as a “victims advocate you don’t want to do harm to your victims.”

She said her son can’t be with his family and he’s isolated. She said he had more social support in prison. She said suicide and homelessness are very real for this population.

SOURCE

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UK Sex Offender killed

FAC Contributor #1 — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 19:01:56 +0000

A 69 year old man, who was arrested in 1999 was found murdered in his UK apartment. His daughter was also found dead.

Authorities believe the daughter was killed after she walked in on the suspects as they were attempting to dismember her father’s body.

There is speculation that the man was killed by two male vigilantes.

The post UK Sex Offender killed appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Lawyer in LA looking for ClearMyCase complainants

FAC Contributor #1 — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:31:30 +0000

A lawyer from Louisiana has posted the following to us:

If anyone has paid Clearmycase.com money for services and feels that they have not provided the services paid for, please contact me at investigatingclearmycase@gmail.com.

I am a lawyer in Louisiana helping a client who is trying to recover fees from clearmycase.com, and I would like to find out if other people’s experiences with clearmycase.com have been similar to my client. I would especially like to hear from Louisiana residents.

The post Lawyer in LA looking for ClearMyCase complainants appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Death of sex offender in Georgia State Prison suspicious

FAC Contributor #1 — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 12:42:10 +0000

Charles Lee Broady was halfway into a three-year sentence for failure to register as a sex offender when he was found dead, hanging in his cell.

Next week, Broady was supposed to appear in Federal Court in a case he brought against the Georgia Department of Corrections after officers allowed gang members to attack him. The previous attacks had been so bad that, after one, his heart stopped and he had to be revived.

His family suspects foul play.

The post Death of sex offender in Georgia State Prison suspicious appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).

Zachery Anderson denied termination of probation

FAC Contributor #1 — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 12:25:34 +0000

For someone who probably should not have been prosecuted in the first place, Zach Anderson is certainly continuing to get a raw deal from the system.

Now 22, when Zach was 19 he had sex with someone he met on line who claimed she was 17. Turns out she was only 14. Even though she admitted to lying about her age, Zach was sentenced to jail time, probation and 25 years on Michigan’s sex offender registry.

Following much public outrage and a legal challenge, that sentence was vacated and Zach wound up getting his name removed from the registry. Still, probation conditions are nearly impossible to comply with and recently Zach was alleged to have committed a violation for having “incidental contact” with two people who were under 18. Incidental contact meant he and another happened to be at the same place at the same time, regardless of the fact that it was at his home and at church.

Friday, the Andersons were hoping that the Judge would terminate Zach’s probation six months early, but no luck. The Judge denied the request and Zach will remain on probation until six months.

Unfortunately, when dealing with a system that does not try to support successful re-entry, but instead sets up traps to try to put people back into jail, six months off from wrangling a compliance obstacle course would have been meaningful.

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A new scarlet letter for harassment charges

FAC Contributor #1 — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 14:10:04 +0000

In an effort to encourage a more equitable system of justice in this country — something to which any number of legislators, unprincipled prosecutors and judges seem opposed — I believe it would be in our best interest to treat all those charged with sexual harassment and sexual misconduct the same way we treat all sex offenders.

While the term “sexual misconduct” has a rather benign sound to it, it nevertheless can include anything from sexual assault to sexual abuse.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Matt Lauer, Al Franken, Roy Moore, Bill Clinton, Georgia H.W. Bush, Charlie Rose or John Conyers doing the touchy-feely thing or some other form of sexual harassment or misconduct. Unwanted touching or misconduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual battery and/or assault (laws differ from state to state) and deserve to be punished in the same manner as all other sex offenses.

To that end, I am proposing that each state be required to create a Sexual Harassment/Misconduct Registry modeled on the existing sex offender registries.

SOURCE

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PORTSMOUTH, NH – Public Pool Ban for Sex Offenders Unconstitutional

FAC Contributor #1 — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 12:26:46 +0000

A request to ban a registered sex offender from swimming in a community pool has been declined.

City officials said they can’t legally ask him to leave.

“Unless this gentleman should do something out of the ordinary, in terms of being a pool user, he has the right to continue to use that pool,” said Robert Sullivan, attorney for the city of Portsmouth.

The Portsmouth indoor pool is open to the public, including children.

Residents have been raising concerns over the presence of registered sex offenders at the pool.

“I went to the pool several times,” Sullivan said. “I interviewed a number of people about the observations they might have made about this person. For example, I asked them if they had seen him perform any lewd acts – that kind of investigation.”

Sullivan also contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire. The organization indicated it would protect the offender’s legal rights, saying: “The concern in these types of cases is that there is an equal protection clause problem. That would be the case if regular members of the public are able to access these public facilities, but a sex offender is precluded from accessing these facilities. The sex offender would be being treated unequally.”

Officials agree banning the man would be unconstitutional.

“I concluded that it would be violative of the man’s constitutional rights if the city were to prohibit him from using the public pool, merely because of his status as a registered sex offender,” Sullivan said.

The city pool is adjacent to Portsmouth High School, but police said the sex offender is not breaking any laws or conditions.

Officials said that while they can’t do anything to ban the man from the pool presently, if anyone witnesses the man doing anything wrong, they should contact the city.

SOURCE

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Children on sex offender registries at greater risk for suicide attempts, study suggests

FAC Contributor #1 — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:15:19 +0000

A new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that children who were legally required to register as sex offenders were at greater risk for harm, including suicide attempts and sexual assault, compared to a group of children who engaged in harmful or illegal sexual behavior but who were not required to register.

The most troubling findings, the authors say, pertained to suicidal intent and victimization experiences. The study found that registered children were four times as likely to report a recent suicide attempt in the last 30 days, compared to nonregistered children. Registered children were nearly twice as likely to have experienced a sexual assault and were five times as likely to have been approached by an adult for sex in the past year. Registered children also reported higher rates of other mental health problems, more peer relationship problems, more experiences with peer violence and a lower sense of safety.

The findings, which were published online last week in the journal Psychology, Public Policy and Law, highlight the consequences of placing children on sex offender registries.

“The process of subjecting children to sex offender registration and notification requirements not only conveys to the child that he or she is worthless, it also essentially alerts the rest of the world that a child has engaged in an illegal sexual behavior,” says study lead Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD, a professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Mental Health and director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. “Not only is this policy stigmatizing and distressing, but it may make children vulnerable to unscrupulous or predatory adults who use the information to target registered children for sexual assault.”

Thirty-eight states subject children under age 18 to sex offender registration for offenses adjudicated in juvenile court while all states subject children to sex offender registration for offenses adjudicated in adult court (i.e., when children are waived to criminal court). This practice has been controversial from its beginnings in the mid-1990s due to concerns about the stigmatizing effects of labeling children–often for life–as “sex offenders.”

For the study, the researchers surveyed 256 children ages 12 to 17 across 18 states who had received treatment services for engaging in harmful and/or illegal sexual behaviors. Of these, 74 had been required to register as sexual offenders and/or subjected to public notification in which law enforcement alerted others to the child’s status as a registered offender. Some children were even included on public sex offender registry websites. Five girls were included in the sample, although analyses were ultimately reported only for the 251 boys. Compared to nonregistered children in this study, registered children had worse outcomes on measures assessing mental health problems, peer relationships, safety and exposure to sexual and nonsexual violence.

To identify registered and nonregistered children for this study, researchers obtained referrals from frontline practitioners (e.g., psychologists, counselors, social workers) who treat children for problem sexual behaviors. Children completed surveys by phone, on hard copies or on computers and steps were taken to assure confidentiality. Most of the children identified as male (98 percent) and were on average 15 years old. Half were white, more than one-quarter were African American and 18 percent identified as Hispanic. Most participants, 86 percent, identified as heterosexual.

“Policymakers have argued that if sex offender registration improves community safety it is worth the costs associated with it, which begs the question, does registrations work? Does it make communities safer? The answer is a resounding no,” says Letourneau. “On top of that, our study suggests that these requirements may place children at risk of the very type of abuse the policy seeks to prevent, among other serious negative consequences. Our hope is that this study will convince even more policymakers that the time has come to abandon juvenile registration.”.

Previous research by Letourneau and others demonstrates that less than three percent of children adjudicated for a sexual offense go on to commit another. However, despite numerous studies, including this one, that have evaluated the effects of sex offender registration and notification policies, none have found any evidence that suggests that such policies prevent sexual abuse and assault or make communities safer and, in fact, the results from this study suggest that these policies may be harmful to children.

Previous research has examined the unintended effects of sex offender registration and notification on adults. This is the first study to look at the effects of registration policies on children.

SOURCE

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