Author: FAC Contributor #1

It’s late March when Lauren Book and I head into the bowels of the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), armed with loose-leaf paper, pencils and the knowledge that we are about to sit face to face with three of the most dangerous sexually violent predators in the state. “This is the most manipulative crowd on the planet,” says Kristin Kanner,

ANN ARBOR—Reported sex offenses were lower in neighborhoods where more registered sex offenders live—a finding that runs counter to public perception about residential safety. A new study by the University of Michigan and Princeton University explored sex offender laws and the location of reported sex crimes by tracking address information of registered sex offenders in Baltimore County, Maryland. The study’s

Click here to listen to a news story broadcast on NPR about the civil rights challenge for registrants.

First let me insert the disclaimer that sexual abuse is a serious crime. Victims of sexual assault are deserving of justice and offenders are deserving of a punishment that is commensurate with the crime they committed. This post is not intended to mitigate or excuse the offenses described, but merely to illustrate that a one-size-fits-all registry and long-term registration does

A new study came out this month on how the misconceptions over sex offender recidivism rates have been allowed to permeate the courts and make for decisions and legislative policy based on incorrect facts. It’s a must read:   https://floridaactioncommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Frightening-and-High.pdf    

We recently reported on a 10-year-old child who’s required to register as a sex offender for abusing younger boys on an Arizona Army base. It’s hard to imagine that a sex offender registry — a public database run by states — would include anybody who wasn’t an adult pedophile or a rapist or seriously dangerous in some way. But sex offender registries