New Jersey could soon compensate those wrongfully put on sex offender list

Dion Harrell spent two decades on New Jersey’s sex offender registry. He had trouble finding a job. He couldn’t be alone with his kids. For a time, he was homeless. But when a DNA test finally proved his innocence, the state had nothing to offer him for those years. State lawmakers could change that. A bipartisan bill (A1037) would allow people

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Florida’s Senate Bill 560: Renaming the Criminal Punishment Code

Senator Brandes is sponsoring SB 560, the objective of which is “Renaming the Criminal Punishment Code as the Public Safety Code; revising the primary purpose of sentencing under the Public Safety Code from punishing an offender to public safety” This sounds like a great concept. Criminal Justice shouldn’t be about public safety! But will this bill, if passed, take into

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Restoration of voting rights in FL might take longer than hoped.

Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether 2018’s Ballot initiative, Amendment 4 (relating to restoration of voting rights to some convicted felons), could tie financial obligations to voting rights. They seemed inclined to say the state could. Last year, Florida citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to ex-felons

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Typical Scams & Extortion schemes aimed at Sex Offenders

Weekly Update #56 Dear Members and Advocates, One of the benefits of regularly visiting our site or participating in our monthly member calls is access to information you need to avoid unknowingly violating a registration requirement or becoming a victim of the latest scam targeting persons on the registry. This newest scam is a particularly heinous one. Extortionists are using

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Miami Law: Lack of Progress in Housing Persons Required to Register as Sex Offenders

In the decade since the national shame of a colony of sex offenders made homeless by draconian residency restrictions, how far has the city and nation moved in finding humane and successful rehabilitation? Miami Law’s director of Tenants’ Rights Jeffrey Hearne parses the depressing lack of progress. https://soundcloud.com/user-312003365-898363102/s3-e12-bringing-sense-to-sex-offender-laws

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