Reforming Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Laws
The Jacksonville Police Department is speaking out against the practice of “Predator Poaching” on their Facebook account. “We want to be clear: Vigilante investigations are dangerous. They can spread false information, compromise evidence and put victims or bystanders at greater risk,” they wrote. “Predator poaching” on social media usually refers to private citizens or online groups posing as minors, luring
Read moreA case with major implications for the constitutional rights of those on the registry is now headed to the Florida Supreme Court. Attorneys for Michael Crist have filed a notice seeking review of an appellate decision that upheld Florida’s requirement that people classified as “sexual predators” have that exact phrase printed in bold letters on their driver’s licenses. Crist, who
Read moreLast week, a Spanish-speaking man in his late 70s wandered into my open bay prison dorm. We have 86 bunks. He meandered to the back, passing row upon row of steel frames, shuffling a metal walker down an aisle, looking for what he assumed was his assigned bunk. Upon reaching a bed in a far corner of the dorm, he
Read moreA grim ethical paradox has emerged from Canberra when a convicted sex offender with terminal cancer died by voluntary assisted dying in prison. A victim has mounted a campaign to pass a law that would prohibit voluntary assisted dying (which is apparently legal in Australia) in prison, feeling “robbed” her perpetrator died on his terms. Lawmakers there indicate that they
Read moreThe BBC recently reported on the closing of the Safer Living Foundation in Nottingham, England—a program that, for more than a decade, quietly and effectively worked with men convicted of sexual offenses to prevent them from reoffending. Despite its proven success, the project shut its doors earlier this year due to lack of funding. Why does this matter? Because the
Read moreA new study shows that research is now looking closely at how digital technology has changed the way people are punished. The sex offense registry in the U.S. is a prime example. What was once described by the Supreme Court as a simple, non-punitive list has now become something very different. Technology has transformed the registry into a system of
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