WI - Milwaukee May Restrict Where Sex Offenders Can Live

Original Article

07/11/2014

By LATOYA DENNIS



The city may limit where ex-offenders can live, because many surrounding communities have done so, resulting in a high rate of placement in the city.

When sex offenders leave prison, state law demands that they return to the county where they had lived prior to incarceration. Nearly 90 percent of the sex offenders who came from Milwaukee County, now live in the City of Milwaukee, because of restrictions suburbs enacted.

Ald. Michael Murphy says the city asked the state to intervene, but because it has not, leaders here may also limit the neighborhoods where ex-offenders can live.

“You will have 117 locations to consider for your future placement, and in reality it will be more like 15 or less and what that impact will be to your operations,” Murphy says.

Under legislation a Common Council committee advanced Thursday, sex offenders could not live within 2,000 feet of a daycare, school, playground and other places where children congregate.

Murphy says if the full council agrees, there will only be one square mile within city limits where sex offenders could live.

Ald. Bob Bauman says while he has opposed residency limits in the past, they will now get his full support, for one reason.

“It increases the perception of Milwaukee as a crime infested second rate place to live and the suburbs are great and look, we can keep out all the undesirable people. And I’m just sick and tired of that paradigm being in place. And the state seems unconcerned because these are Republican suburbs by in large, and heaven forbid those representatives are going to take on these uniform residency rules. So enough is enough the city is going to join the party and it’s your problem now,” Bauman says.

The state Department of Corrections had a representative on hand at Thursday’s hearing, Melissa Roberts. She says if the map for placements changes, authorities could lose track of sex offenders. Right now, many do reside in the city, and police know where.

“The intent of the sex offender registry is to know where sex offenders live and to be able to provide that information to the general public and to law enforcement. Where there are registry restrictions in place and sex offenders don’t have a place to live we obviously have increased homelessness. So we do not know where they live and cannot follow them,” Roberts says.

Roberts says sex offenders are more of a danger to the public when they’re off the grid versus being monitored. When it comes to complaints about the high concentration of sex offenders placed in Milwaukee, Roberts says the majority are from the city.

The issue will come before the full board on July 22.

OH - New search allows check for sex offender email, phone numbers

Original Article

07/04/2014

By Jessie Balmert



Concerned your child is chatting with a sex offender? There’s a new tool to help you check.

A new function on the Electronic Sex Offender Registration and Notification (eSORN) Database will allow parents to input phone numbers, email addresses, social media screen names and video game handles to check if they are linked to a registered sex offender, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced at a news conference Thursday.

If the information is linked to a registered sex offender, a screen will advise parents to contact the local sheriff’s office or the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, DeWine said. Specific information about the sex offender will not be listed, according to a news release from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

From there, deputies can investigate whether sex offenders have violated the law by contacting children, DeWine said.

Sheriffs in Ohio’s 88 counties already collect detailed information about registered sex offenders, but now it will be available for the public to check.

“Our communication capabilities are better than ever before. We can talk on our smart phones, we can email people, we can post pictures and share our experiences through social media. But it’s that kind of access that can open the door for predators to have access to our children,” DeWine said.

Ohio joins seven other states that allow residents to investigate whether sex offenders are contacting their children electronically. The eSORN database contains nearly 18,000 people required to register as sex offenders after convictions for offenses from soliciting sex to rape.

Playlist Link

CA - Sex Offender Board Calls For Registry Overhaul

Nancy O'Malley

Original Article

05/30/2014

California is one of four states that require lifetime registration of all sex offenders. The current registry holds close to 100,000, a number the California Sex Offender Management Board says is too large to handle. The board is recommending an overhaul of the system that would change the criteria for lifetime registration, taking into account the severity of the crime and the likely risk posed by the offender.


Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:

• Marc Klaas, president of the Klaas Kids Foundation
• Tom Tobin, vice-chair of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) and a licensed clinical psychologist

More info:

• Read the California Sex Offender Management Board's recommendation (PDF)
• State Board Says Sex Offender Registry Is a Cluttered Mess that Doesn’t Work
• California Has Realized that Sex Offender Registeries Don't Work

MI - Concentration Camps, Mass Paranoia, and Mass Panic with author Shaun Webb

Original Article

03/14/2014

By Activist Central

Orwellian style novelist Shaun Webb, author of “Behind the Brick” is about a sex offender concentration camp – A futuristic political drama which also deals with the sex offender paranoia. Other books to his credit are “Motion for Innocence … And Justice for All?”, “Black Jacks” and “A Killer for the Queen”.

Mr. Webb is a full time writer and lives in mid-Northern Michigan with his Border Collie Cody. A Motion for Innocence has reached #1 on three Amazon charts: Perspectives of Law, Conflicts of Crime and Court systems.

He is currently working on a new 4 book series entitled Jody Madison. This work deals with young people and bullying. Characteristics include, but are not limited to, the supernatural, bullying (of course), an old oak tree and an entity that befriends the bullied Jody. The book will be released in 4 segments (serial). 2 books in 2014 and 2 in 2015. The work will cover each season of the year.

WI - State Supreme Court To Consider Extended Confinement For Sex Offenders

Original Article

So when are we going to start extending the time other ex-felons get once they are out of prison? Say a murderer or gang member comes out after 25 years, are we then going to evaluate them and then sentence them to more time behind bars in a commitment center because they are still a threat? Why do we do this for only ex-sex offenders and not all other dangerous criminals?  This is pretty much double jeopardy, sentencing someone twice for the same crime, just worded differently, in our opinion.

03/14/2014

By Gilman Halsted



The state Supreme Court is considering a case that could limit the ability of prosecutors to use Wisconsin's sex predator law to lock up sex offenders for longer than their original sentence.

_____ was convicted of first degree sexual assault of a child in 1992. He served time in prison and was released on parole. In 2006, the parole was revoked because he told his parole agent he had touched his nieces and nephews in a sexual way. He was convicted of four counts of fourth-degree sexual assault of a child.

The state Supreme Court overturned that conviction in 2009, however, because his confession was coerced.

Now the state is seeking to commit _____ to the Sand Ridge treatment center as a sexually violent person, based on his 1992 conviction.

_____'s lawyer, Shelly Fite, told the court this week that the civil commitment law known as “Chapter 980” doesn't apply in this case, because a petition for commitment has to be filed before an offender is released from prison. “If he doesn't come within 980, then he gets to enjoy the freedom that anyone enjoys when they reach the end of their sentence,” Fite said.

The prosecutor for the state, Warren Weinstein, says despite his conviction being overturned, _____ did confess to committing a crime that falls under the sexual predator statute.

“The purpose of this statute isn't to punish him for the crime,” Weinstein said. “It's to segregate him from society and treat his underlying mental disorder.”

A decision in this case could clarify under what circumstances the state can use Chapter 980 to confine sex offenders for treatment after they've already served time for their crimes.

FL - Sheriff Happy To See Legislature Pass Sex-Offender Crackdown Bills

Sheriff John Rutherford

Original Article

03/12/2014

By JESSICA PALOMBO



Bills aimed at keeping sexual predators away from children are headed toward Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s desk after unanimously passing the House today. Law enforcement officers helped craft the laws they say should keep prior offenders from falling through the cracks to prey on kids again.
- You need to get off Fantasy Island!

Last summer, the city of Jacksonville was in mourning after the abduction, assault and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. Florida Public Radio’s Karen Feagans was at the girl’s memorial service and described the scene:

“As the prayer service moved outside, three of Cherish’s Sunday-school friends led those gathered in song as the young girl’s family: her mother, stepfather and two sisters sat nearby wearing shirts with a giant photograph of Cherish on the front,” Feagans said.

Donald Smith, the man convicted of killing Perrywinkle, was a registered sex offender. Coincidentally, Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford says, on the same day Smith took the girl from a Wal-Mart, police officers had checked his house to verify he lived at his registered address.

“But because he was not under any kind of community supervision, we couldn't go into his house. We couldn't go in the house, we couldn't look in his computer to see if he was doing something wrong, we couldn't look in his house to see if he was contemplating doing something wrong,” Rutherford says. “And had we had the chance, maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference. But I sure would have loved to have the opportunity.”
- So by going into his home without a warrant, how would that have prevented this tragedy?  It wouldn't!

That’s why he says one of his favorite changes this year’s bills make is requiring community monitoring of sex predators to be carried out after they are released from mental health facilities. Currently their community-monitoring clock starts ticking as soon as they leave prison and go to such a facility—meaning by the time they are released into society they can be free from unwarranted searches.

Another change Rutherford applauds is allowing offenders convicted of lesser crimes to be recommended for mental health treatment. He says Smith had served time for a misdemeanor even though he’d attempted to abduct another little girl.

“If you look at what he was convicted of, that’s one thing. But if you look at what he was originally charged with and the behavior that he was exhibiting in the attempted abduction, then you see that he rises to a much more serious level of concern,” he says.
- They can do this now, can't they?

If Gov. Scott signs the bills, state attorneys and law enforcement will be able to recommend offenders for mental health commitment based on the circumstances surrounding their crimes.
- Lawyers and police should not have this power, therapists whose job it is to treat ex-offenders should have that job.  Also, don't you have a Sex Offender Review Board for this purpose?

Rutherford says he also likes a new requirement ordering offenders to report which county they’re moving to when they leave prison. That county’s sheriff will immediately receive a notification. If the offender fails to check in within 48 hours, the sheriff can issue a warrant for his arrest.

Rutherford says it’s a great improvement over the current system: “When they tell DOC, ‘I’m going to go report to Duval County’ and then they don’t, well, we don’t even know they’re coming.”
- But if he doesn't report to a sheriff within XX days, you can issue a warrant for his/her arrest, so you don't need another useless law for that.  Even with this law, what is to stop them from making up some country they say they will be going to and vanishing if they chose?  Nothing!

Also included in the bills are 50-year prison sentences for raping the elderly, the disabled or children under age 12, as well as more reporting requirements about offenders’ whereabouts. And sex predators won’t be allowed to own or view pornographic material.
- If they are off probation / parole, then how will you tell if they have porn unless you search their home illegally?

But some still criticize the bills for emphasizing punishment but not doing enough to prevent sex crimes in the first place.

“Well I ask you this question: Has it worked so far?” says Gail Colletta, who runs the Florida Action Network, a group advocating for what she calls evidence-based sex offender policies.

“We have more people in our prisons than ever before and our sentences are harsher than ever before,” Colletta says.

She says, as soon as they’re convicted, offenders should be evaluated for future risk to see who can be rehabilitated and who can’t.
- We disagree.  If they are convicted, you do an analysis, then 30 years later they come out, are you going to base what happens next on your assumption 30 years prior?  They should be convicted for the crime(s), sent to jail/prison, get treatment, and before they are released experts come in to evaluate the person to see if they think they are still a threat, as long as it's truthful and not just someone who loves to civilly commit ex-offenders to look "tough!"

“We are individuals. We need to be treated as such. We need to be managed as such. We need to be dealt with as individuals,” she says.

One of the bill’s sponsors, House Criminal Justice Committee Chair Matt Gaetz, addressed that criticism Wednesday during floor debate.
- He should be on an online DUI offenders list for life and made to report his address / employment /etc.

“People could argue about recidivism data until they were blue in the face, but we know one certain fact: no one has ever raped a child while sitting in a state prison,” Gaetz said.
- And nobody has driving drunk in prison as well Mr. Gaetz!

If Scott signs the bills, it won’t be the first time since he’s taken office the state tightened controls on sex offenders: He also signed off on increased penalties for possessing child pornography and for not reporting child abuse.

FL - Bill Creating Sex Offender Advisory Board Passes First Committee Hearing

Janet Adkins

Original Article

03/10/2014

By RYAN BENK



Fernandina Beach Republican Representative Janet Adkins held a town hall meeting in her district last summer, shortly after the abduction and murder of a Jacksonville girl by a registered sexual predator. Since that gathering, both houses of the Florida Legislature worked in concert to create a package of bills dealing with sexually violent predators and sexual offenders. Those proposed measures, likely to pass, mostly deal with the monitoring of cooperative registrants. But Adkins told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Monday the patchwork of new bills left something out – a plan to wrangle those who flee the registry altogether.

“This bill creates the sexual predator and sexual offender strike force within the office of the Attorney General. The purpose of this strike force would be to shine a very bright light on those registered sexual offenders and sexual predators who have absconded from supervision,” Adkins said.

The team would work much like other task forces within the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General would serve as the board’s Chair, the Executive Director of the Department of Law Enforcement as Vice Chair and officials from the Department of Children and Families and various local law enforcement officials from around the state would make up the bulk. Their task? Compile local, state and federal lists of registry absconders to actively pursue. Dr. Suzzone Kline, the former head of the state’s Sexually Violent Predator Program, agrees with bill’s intent but, worried that creating a new task force might divert attention from preventing new crimes as the focus shifts to recapturing runaways.

“People that are already caught are less likely to reoffend than the ones that we haven’t identified yet. So, pulling our resources and making – doing bills to try identify people that we haven’t already identified, I think would serve our state better. But, I can certainly understand why people want to make sure they know where all the sex offenders are,” Kline said in a phone interview Monday.

And in a state that has close to 8-thousand registered predators and offenders, knowing where they all are is a Herculean task. However, estimates of the number of absconders remain comparatively low. According to the Department of Corrections, which oversees most of the efforts to recapture those who don’t meet their obligations, close to 380 offenders and predators have disappeared. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, though, puts that number much higher -- at close to 800. Adkins argues fixing that disparity is reason enough to create the strike force. What’s more, she said not pursuing registry truants sends the wrong message to criminals.

“Listen to say that it’s the law but we really don’t sort of mean it and if you break the law then we’re really not going to go after you, sends the absolute wrong message to these sexual offenders and sexual predators,” Adkins asserted.

But much of the bill’s debate in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee focused on another issue. Palm Springs Democratic Representative David Kerner wondered if allowing task force members to hold positions in local government could present a conflict of interest.

“This can be interpreted as an office that is being held by one of the members. Even though the legislature is prohibited from being on this particular strike force, if a local mayor or somebody that holds an office also holds this office, there could be a dual office holding issue,” Kerner said.

The Palm Springs Democrat wants to clarify that a strike force seat wouldn’t be considered an office and advised subsequent committees look into amending the bill to reflect that.

WA - Interview with serial killer Patrick Drum

Patrick Drum

Original Article

For more about Patrick Drum, click the "Gary Blanton" label above.

Vigilantism is a major problem and that is why the online registry (hit-list) needs to be taken offline and used by police only!

03/07/2014

An Activist Central Two-Hour Special with a pre-recorded February 14th telephone interview of serial killer Patrick Drum inside Walla Walla Washington maximum security prison.

In June 2012, Patrick Drum, a man with a lengthy criminal background, shot and killed two men in Port Angeles, WA, and planned to kill two others had he not been caught by the police. Many people consider him a “hero” because his targets were “Registered Sex Offenders.” Drum believes this country was “founded on vigilantism” and his actions were justified. In this Special Two-Hour Episode of Activist Central, hear the shocking, exclusive interview with the killer himself, Patrick Drum.

Also joining Activist Central is Derek Logue, founder of Once Fallen and the producer of an upcoming documentary on the Patrick Drum killings. Mr. Logue will take us behind the scenes of the upcoming documentary and discuss the details about the killings you won’t hear about in the media.

Is Patrick Drum a hero, or is a monster in his own right? Tune in and decide for yourself.



I KILLED MY BFF - Cabin Fever

FL - Sex-Offender Bills' Critics Say They Won't Stop Most Crimes Against Kids

Don Gaetz

Original Article

Politicians do not care about the facts, they only care about what makes themselves look better to the sheeple!

03/04/2014

By JESSICA PALOMBO



As Senate President Don Gaetz had promised, his chamber passed several bills on the first day of session aimed at denying convicted sex offenders the chance to hurt children. But critics of the crackdown say it does nothing to prevent first-time offenses, which they say make up the majority of crimes against kids.

For Diena Thompson, the sex predator legislation is personal. The mother from the Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park said she was at the Capitol Tuesday because of her daughter Somer.

“Somer, who was a twin, was walking home from school October 19, 2009, and she was abducted and murdered and subsequently found two days later in the Georgia landfill," Thompson says.
- Why wasn't she being a parent and picking her kid up from school or the bus stop?  Why let a young child walk home from school?  Anybody can tell you that is not safe for anybody!

Somer was 7 years old when a neighbor killed her. In the almost five years since, her mother has been advocating for educational programs in public schools to teach other children how to avoid danger.
- Yes education is the key and should be taught in school and by the parents.

She says, “As a mother in this situation, I can’t help but wonder or think, if Somer had been given the opportunity to receive that program, would I still be talking to all these people? Would I still be here today?”
- Or if you taught your child about safety and what to do if someone approaches her.  Parents need to be parents and stop letting Big Brother be their scapegoat when something goes wrong!

The man who killed Somer had no sex crimes on his record. Thompson acknowledges the bill package Gaetz calls the "centerpiece" of the session is not aimed at preventing first-time offenses.

“As far as Somer’s case, unfortunately, none of this really would have made a difference for her," she says.
- You may be right, and it may not help others.  If you do not teach your kids about their bodies and safety then how are they suppose to know what to do when a situation arises?  We do believe if safety / abuse courses were taught in school then many children / adults would know what to do when something happens.

But she says she supports increased monitoring and penalties for convicted offenders nonetheless.

“I can’t change it for myself. I can’t change it for anyone else that has had this happen to them, but hopefully with these new laws coming in, we’ll be able to help other people. And by getting them educated," she says.

The measures passed Tuesday would make it more likely sex offenders are referred to civil commitment proceedings upon their release from prison, meaning more of them could be committed to a facility or subject to community monitoring. The bills also impose longer prison sentences and monitoring periods after release. And they increase requirements for reporting an offender’s whereabouts, including noting whether they’re on a college campus.
- Longer prison sentences and civil commitment is not going to fix everything.  I may stop one person, but most sexual crimes are by first time offenders.  Education is the key not fear and hysteria!

In his opening remarks, Gaetz said over the past 15 years, 594 Florida sexual offenders had reoffended after serving time for a previous crime.
- Reoffended how?  We are willing to bet most were due to parole / probation violations due to the draconian nature of the unconstitutional laws, but that's only a guess.

Gaetz said, “We will protect our children, and we will scorch the earth against sexually violent predators. And we will start today because we cannot waste one more day and we cannot lose one more child.”
- You need to get off Fantasy Island!  No matter how many laws you pass, people will be violated and (God forbid) murdered.

But critics of the proposed laws call them well-intentioned but ultimately nothing more than “feel-good legislation.” Florida Action Committee President Gail Colletta says Gaetz is pushing something that won’t make children safer.

“I understand where he’s coming from and I admire his intent and his beliefs to make Florida a safer state, but instead of saying this is going to be the most unfriendly place for sex offenders, his statement should have been, ‘This is going to be the safest place for children,'” she says.
- You cannot say that since nobody can guarantee Florida will be the "safest" place.  That is another false / wishful statement.  Passing insane laws won't solve anything, you need to be educating children in school!

Colletta’s group advocates for what it calls an evidence-based approach to sex offender legislation. She says the new laws employ more of the tactics that haven’t worked: imposing harsh punishments on all sex offenders regardless of their risk for committing future offenses. She advocates for risk assessments to be administered before sentencing.
- We do not believe in risk assessments at all.  If someone commits a crime then they need to be punished for it, but once they get out of prison and off probation / parole, then they should be able to do what everybody else does without any regulations and insane rules!

And she says violent sex offenders released from prison need step-down housing so they can get re-acclimated to society. "Because some of these guys are going to be, like, 30-plus years that they haven’t been living amongst the rest of us, and now they’re going to be given $100 and a bus ticket," she says.

With research showing more than 95 percent of sexual offenses are committed by first-time offenders, Colletta agrees with Thomspon that education is the most important factor in preventing more cases like Somer’s.

See Also:

• Florida lawmaker says DHS should face "tough questions" about its new sex offender evaluation director

Video Source

MN - Inside The Razor Wire, Part 1: Tour Of MN Sex Offender Program

Moose Lake

Original Article

03/03/2014

By Susie Jones

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program is “clearly broken” and in need of repair. That’s according to a federal judge who ruled this month on a class action lawsuit, brought against the state, by clients of the program.

WCCO’s Susie Jones begins a series of reports on the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, taking us “Inside the Razor Wire.” We begin with an exclusive tour of the Moose Lake facility.

MOOSE LAKE (WCCO) – Inside the Minnesota Sex Offender Program at Moose Lake, men return to the hallways after being locked inside their rooms to be counted.

It is bright and clean, and doesn't look like you might think it would.

“I think they think of something more dark and dingy, something more punitive,” Kevin Moser, who manages the facility, said. “This is a therapeutic community. It is a therapeutic expectation of staff, and clients, who support our clients in positive change.”


About 500 clients live in locked rooms with a bed, a dresser, a desk and their own belongings. The average age is 47 and most are white. They have all served time in prison for sexual offenses and have been civilly committed to the program.

While there, they can learn a trade and get treatment.

“Someone could be struggling with anxiety and pedophilia,” Clinical Director Jannine Hebert said.

Hebert is in charge of the therapy the client’s receive. She says the men take part in group sessions three times a week, and their behavior is monitored at all times — with staff keeping a close eye on how they interact with their peers.

“Because what we know about people with pedophilic interest is that they are scared of adults and gravitate toward children. So, part of his treatment plan may be this weekend, ‘I’m going to tell you to go play basketball and I’m going to let staff know if you are isolating in the corner,’” she said.

Herbert believes re integration into society is possible and should be attempted.

“I want clients to be successful in treatment, so they don’t hurt anyone else going forward,” she said.


On Tuesday, we meet Michael, a sex offender at Moose Lake who molested a 10-year-old girl. He says the system is broken.

IL - Crowded Chicago Police office forces sex offenders to violate parole

Waiting outside in the cold

Original Article

03/03/2014

By Rob Wildeboer

The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting -- for hours and hours -- outside police headquarters and watching a Kafkaesque process play out.


Every morning sex offenders start lining up at 6, while it’s still dark out, sometimes even earlier than that, and I probably don’t have to remind you how cold it’s been this winter. _____ was one of a couple dozen men on a recent morning.
- We're sure they don't care.  Ex-offenders in other states have froze to death due to not being allowed into shelters during cold weather.

“It’s freezing out here,” said _____. “Man, I had frost bites today. Somebody gave me some gloves to put on my hands.”

It’s often like this, with the men stomping their feet on the cold concrete, trying to stay warm. For some reason, there’s no waiting room. A small vestibule acts as a makeshift waiting room but there are 20 guys stuck outside. By 10:30 a.m. all of the men are cold and frustrated. “I been here since 7 o’clock waiting in line trying to see these people to keep me from being locked up,” said _____.

Ambulance needed

On this morning an ambulance was called for one of the men because he had numbness in his feet. After that, the men were allowed to wait in the main lobby of police headquarters but that’s the exception to the rule.

People convicted as sex offenders have to register once a year. It basically means they have to go to the police department registration office and update their personal info and show proof of their current address. And if they move, they have to go back to re-register within three days. If they enroll in school they have to re-register within three days. If they change jobs they have to re-register within three days.

There are a lot of requirements and in Chicago, and they can be nearly impossible to meet, not because the offenders don’t want to meet them but because of the way the Chicago Police Department runs the registration office.

When I met _____ in line it was his third time trying to get in the office to register. “Every time we come here they have us standing in this line out here in this cold,” he said.

_____ was turned away the other two days because the office doesn't have the capacity to process all the sex offenders who show up to register, and _____’s worried the same thing is going to happen again. “At 12 o’clock they’ll cut the line, they’ll stop the line and tell us to come back tomorrow but I been standing out here already four to five hours,” said _____.

Go home, but you can still be arrested

Sure enough, an hour later, at 11:45 a.m., a man comes out of the registry office and tells _____ and the two dozen other men who have been waiting in the cold all morning, that they won’t be able to register today. But then it gets weirder. The police department employee tells the men they can sign a list that will prove they showed up today to register but then he tells them that even if they’re on the list, they can still be arrested for failing to register.

In a written statement, Adam Collins, a spokesman for the Chicago Police, said the list is collected and the department “proactively sends their names to Illinois State Police … to minimize any potential criminal registration problems for the individuals.”

Of course letting the men actually register would be an even more effective way to minimize registration problems. For clarity, I asked Collins several times, aren’t the men at risk of being arrested? He simply resent a portion of his written statement.

For the offenders being turned away every day -- sometimes 10, 20, or even more of them -- the message they’re getting is that the department prefers to risk their arrest rather than process this paperwork more quickly.

Violating registration rules can mean prison

The men are nervous and they have good reason. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections there are currently 841 people in prison for violating registration requirements.

Read the rest of the article

Changing Sex Offender Laws

Original Article

03/02/2014

This show will feature Dr. Jean Kennedy and Frank Juarez. Our mission is to educate the public about sex offender issues affecting our nation and damaging our communities. We stand behind this statement, “Education heals hatred and fear.”

NATIONAL REFORM SEX OFFENDER LAWS – The Big Picture affecting our nation.

A national organization sees the issue and the affect demoralizing a sex offender has on communities, and why it is imperative to change this thinking to heal society, the victim and the offender. We will detail the National RSOL and what it is doing to protect the nation and reform sex offender issues.

Part 1: March 2, 2014

• The vision and mission of this organization. www.nationalrsol.org
• The effect sex offender laws have on the community.

Part 1:

Part 2: March 9, 2014

• The reason he is involved; he is an author, he provides housing, educating and mentoring through his organization, www.newnameministries.org
• What can you do in your community to help protect your family.

Child Porn as a Political Weapon by the Growing US Police State

Original Article

Show Description:
This week, Activist Central radio welcomes guest Kitty Wolf, citizen investigator helping to expose the truth about our country’s deepening Constitutional crises and our growing American (Stasi-like) police state.

We will discuss the ever growing American Stasi state (a.k.a. the cooperating US intelligence agencies with US law enforcement) and a not so new internet related police practice of the last ten years, the continuously evolving entrapment tactics against US citizens. Activist Central will discuss police programs such as Project Flicker and Angry Birds that have been used to catch viewers of online child pornography.

As an example of busting child pornography viewers, the -gate scandal was broken open by the independent news media in 2013 alleging that police were intentionally placing child pornography on the computers of political enemies such as writers, activists and dissenters of all stripes such as news reporters, PANDA (People Against the NDAA), and the Oathkeepers.

Other key concepts to be discussed include warnings about the use of Limewire, the Florida sting operations, P2P file sharing, Trojan horse stings, related ransom-ware – “FBI on your computer, pay this amount”, and the growing use of revenge . There is much more that will be covered in this extended two hour talk program. Don’t miss it.

NH - House Votes 231-97 To Prohibit Sex Offender Restrictions

Original Article

02/19/2014

By JOSH ROGERS

Twelve towns have passed ordinances to limit where sex offenders can live -- barring offenders from living near schools, or child-care centers.

But law enforcement oppose such bans. Renny Cushing of Hampton, a Democrat, told House colleagues that police know restrictions make monitoring offenders harder.

"The chiefs of police do not want to have a situation where you take away one of the tools they have which is to track where sex offenders are. And that’s also why the coalition against sexual and domestic violence is in support of this legislation."

The House has twice voted to ban such ordinances but the prohibition has never won support in the Senate.

Two courts have struck down local anti-sex offender ordinances.

In 2009 a judge in Dover ruled that the city had never shown a substantial relationship between its policy and protecting children.

In 2012 a Merrimack county judge ruled similarly in a challenge to an ordinance in Franklin.


See Also:

• HB-1237 (PDF) - Prohibiting residency restrictions for registered sex offenders and offenders against children
• House okays bill that would ban communities from limiting where sex offenders can live
• Bill prohibiting sex offender living restrictions raises worry

CA - In Crisis - Concern Continues At Coalinga, Metropolitan & Stockton Facilities

Original Article

02/16/2014

Problems at California's state-run facilities climb, despite the much-anticipated new Stockton Prison that accepted its first inmates last July. In six short months, the complex became home to nearly 1,300 men with various medical concerns. The Stockton facility was developed to reduce prison crowding elsewhere and bring inmate medical care up to constitutional standards. It was opened as a result of lawsuits that showed neglectful health care under CDCR. Prison medical operations have since been managed by Receiver J. Clark Kelso. Kelso hoped Stockton would be the CDCR's first step toward a permanent solution to its unconstitutionally dangerous health conditions statewide. CDCR was confident in the Stockton project, they've tried to persuade courts to return control of the prison system to them since January 2013. However, their confidence was premature. Due to numerous health & safety issues, Stockton halted admissions as of last week. Inmates' lawyers inspected the sprawling facility after learning of a patient death January 8th. The man bled to death in his bed while calling repeatedly for help. Some of the more serious issues include: - a scabies outbreak -men w/ the wrong sized catheters lying in their own feces all night - broken wheelchairs - injured inmates assisting the more infirmed w/transport throughout buildings - lack of clean towels forcing men to dry themselves with dirty linens - serious staff shortages preventing bathroom breaks. The concerns at Stockton are sadly not unlike those at Coalinga State Hospital since 2005. However, conditions have worsened for CSH residents. They're increasingly fearful as staff members continue to exercise their authority using unnecessary force. Patient abuse is becoming routine and stress levels are high for all men residing at the facility. The crisis continues...

AK - Nunn Cleared of Any Wrong Doing After Arrest for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

Original Article

02/12/2014

By DAVE BENDINGER

"It just kind of sucks," said Nunn, now 21, after being falsely accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl two years ago.

How do you get your reputation back after being falsely accused of a sexual crime against a minor … that’s the question Kameron Nunn, 21, is asking himself, after prosecutors recently dismissed a second degree sexual abuse of a minor charge against him.

The case dates to May 2011, after the Office of Children’s Services reported to Dillingham Police an allegation that a 14-year-old girl had had sexual relations with an adult male. Nunn believes the girl gave police his name to cover for her boyfriend at the time. Two and a half years later he was arrested, long after he says the girl told authorities a different version of the story.

VA - A 'First Of Its Kind Conference' About Sexual Assault On Campus

Original Article

02/11/2014

By Sandy Hausman

Nearly three years after the federal government issued guidelines for dealing with sexual misconduct on campus, administrators are meeting at the University of Virginia to discuss problems and progress. As Sandy Hausman of member station WVTF reports, leaders in higher education say they're struggling to understand and manage sexual assaults in the age of "hooking up."

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Educators from around the country have spent the last two days talking about sexual misconduct on college campuses. The conference that wrapped up today at the University of Virginia was billed as a first of its kind. It comes nearly three years after the government issued legal guidelines for universities to deal with such misconduct.

As Sandy Hausman of member station WVTF reports, attendees learned how to better support victims.

SANDY HAUSMAN, BYLINE: She didn't know what to expect, but the 250 spaces for college presidents, administrators, and student leaders quickly filled, and the school started a waiting list.

TERESA SULLIVAN: I think this is a genuine problem. It's not something that we can sweep under the rug. I don't think we should even try. And it seemed to me that every university was struggling on its own to try and figure out how to handle this problem. If we at least share ideas with each other, we've got a better chance of coming up with a good solution.

HAUSMAN: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of women report being sexually assaulted during college. Last month, President Obama set up a task force to protect college students and demanded a report in 90 days. He sent a message of support to the conference and asked the U.S. Department of Education's Catherine Lhamon to spell out government concerns.

CATHERINE LHAMON: We know that too many universities are still discouraging survivors from filing complaints. They are still delaying investigations for months or longer. They are still retaliating against students for speaking out about their assaults.

HAUSMAN: Princeton Vice Provost Michele Minter says pressure is also coming from students.

MICHELE MINTER: They've had bad, bad experiences. Victims have not been taken seriously, and I think they're finally just tired of it. Social media has made it much easier for them to connect and build networks, so I think that's really been a big part of why it's suddenly accelerating fast.

HAUSMAN: And, of course, parents are weighing in. The conference offered sessions on training students to intervene when they see trouble coming. There were talks about alcohol, drugs and their impact on sexual behavior, a crash course on what's known as sex without strings or hooking up, and an opportunity for students to advise administrators. UCLA student Savannah Badalich scolded those who implied drinking is the central problem.

SAVANNAH BADALICH: The conference seems to be really focused on student party culture, which is like hook-up culture, drinking, drug use. And I do think it's helpful to talk about these things, but I don't like talking about these things as causes or having major roles, since the only cause of sexual assault is an assaulter. So not victim blaming or even slut shaming, we really need to make sure we talk about the fact that someone is assaulting. That's the cause of assault.

HAUSMAN: But alcohol is one reason universities get involved in what might be a crime. Former New York prosecutor Linda Fairstein told the group district attorneys often walk away from sexual assaults on campus.

LINDA FAIRSTEIN: Many of these cases would not survive in the criminal justice system, especially if both parties have been using alcohol to the extent that they don't have a clear memory of what happened the night before.

HAUSMAN: Conference participants also described successful prevention programs, from an online course the University of Montana requires for students and staff to a Valentine's Day program planned at Georgetown entitled Cupcakes and Consent. They agreed to keep talking and scheduled a follow-up conference at Dartmouth in July. For NPR News, I'm Sandy Hausman in Charlottesville, Virginia.