'Sex Offenders Are Not Second-Class Citizens,' Says Judge While Nixing Alabama Rules on First Amendment Grounds - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Sex offenders are not second-class citizens," writes U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins in a recent decision overturning two provisions of the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act (ASORCNA) on First Amendment grounds. "The Constitution protects their liberty and dignity just as it protects everyone else's."
Those points, which should be obvious, are a sadly necessary corrective to the hysteria that has driven legislators in one state after another to enact indiscriminate, mindlessly restrictive, and covertly punitive laws aimed at sex offenders. ASORCNA, which Watkins calls "the most comprehensive and debilitating sex-offender scheme in the nation," is a prime example.
The lead plaintiff in this case, dubbed John Doe 1, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure in the early 1990s, when he was living in Wisconsin. He received a six-month suspended sentence for each charge and was not required to register as a sex offender, even after moving to Alabama in 1994. But 14 years later, Alabama expanded its registry, forcing Doe to comply with ASORCNA's numerous demands and restrictions under threat of imprisonment. Among other things,
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Federal Lawsuit Against State DOC Alleges Due Process, Civil Rights Violations in Lifetime GPS Monitoring | Madison365
Federal Lawsuit Against State DOC Alleges Due Process, Civil Rights Violations in Lifetime GPS Monitoring | Madison365: A Chicago law firm has filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections alleging civil rights violations concerning the use of GPS monitoring for sex offenders — many of whom have completed their sentences and are not on any form of probation, parole or supervised release — and seeks an injunction to stop the state’s lifetime GPS monitoring program.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Georgia Supreme Court rules against lifetime electronic monitors for sex offenders - JURIST - News - Legal News & Commentary
Georgia Supreme Court rules against lifetime electronic monitors for sex offenders - JURIST - News - Legal News & Commentary:
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously struck down a law that required sexually dangerous predators to wear and pay for GPS monitoring devices 'for the remainder of [their] natural [lives].'...
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously struck down a law that required sexually dangerous predators to wear and pay for GPS monitoring devices 'for the remainder of [their] natural [lives].'...
Monday, March 4, 2019
How should Manitoba deal with its worst juvenile offenders? The answer may lie in Wisconsin | CBC News
How should Manitoba deal with its worst juvenile offenders? The answer may lie in Wisconsin | CBC News:
It's operated in a correctional facility, but run by the staff of an adolescent psychiatric unit. As well, she said, "therapeutic treatment is highly individualized, tailored to the youth" and based on their specific needs.
It's a treatment process Van Rybroek, the centre's director, compares to the constellation of Orion.
"The juvenile treatment program has a lot of stars, and each star is a component that has to do with trying to help this youth stay safe," he said.
A large component of the program involves "decompression" treatment, where youth are gradually moved from a prison cell to other environments, like a classroom or office, where they can experience increasing levels of freedom.
Another piece involves measuring the youth's behavior twice daily, and adjusting their privileges accordingly.
For example, youth making good progress may be moved to a less restrictive setting.
It's operated in a correctional facility, but run by the staff of an adolescent psychiatric unit. As well, she said, "therapeutic treatment is highly individualized, tailored to the youth" and based on their specific needs.
It's a treatment process Van Rybroek, the centre's director, compares to the constellation of Orion.
"The juvenile treatment program has a lot of stars, and each star is a component that has to do with trying to help this youth stay safe," he said.
A large component of the program involves "decompression" treatment, where youth are gradually moved from a prison cell to other environments, like a classroom or office, where they can experience increasing levels of freedom.
Another piece involves measuring the youth's behavior twice daily, and adjusting their privileges accordingly.
For example, youth making good progress may be moved to a less restrictive setting.
Wisconsin Legislature: SB68: Bill Text
Wisconsin Legislature: SB68: Bill Text:
Under current law, in order for an image or video to be child pornography, the
child must be engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Under this bill, an image or video
is child pornography if it depicts the child in a sexually suggestive manner, which
means that it depicts: 1) a child's less than completely and opaquely covered genitals,
pubic area, or intimate parts in a manner that, by means of the posing, composition,
format, or animated sensual details, emits sensuality with sufficient impact to
concentrate prurient interest on the child; 2) any form of contact with a child's
genitals, pubic area, or intimate parts in a manner that, by means of the posing,
composition, format, or animated sensual details, emits sensuality with sufficient
impact to concentrate prurient interest on the child; or 3) a child in any other way
that is for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any person who may
view the depiction where the depiction does not have serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to pre
Under current law, in order for an image or video to be child pornography, the
child must be engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Under this bill, an image or video
is child pornography if it depicts the child in a sexually suggestive manner, which
means that it depicts: 1) a child's less than completely and opaquely covered genitals,
pubic area, or intimate parts in a manner that, by means of the posing, composition,
format, or animated sensual details, emits sensuality with sufficient impact to
concentrate prurient interest on the child; 2) any form of contact with a child's
genitals, pubic area, or intimate parts in a manner that, by means of the posing,
composition, format, or animated sensual details, emits sensuality with sufficient
impact to concentrate prurient interest on the child; or 3) a child in any other way
that is for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any person who may
view the depiction where the depiction does not have serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to pre
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