In 2013, then US Attorney General Eric Holder’s Smart on Crime Initiative was aimed at encouraging shorter sentences for non-violent offenders, freeing up resources to be used for the sentencing and incarceration of more serious, violent criminals. Holder had asked…
Category: In The News
French President’s Wife Would Be On The Registry In The USA
Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron was just 15 yrs old when he began to fall in love with his 39 yr. old married drama teacher, Brigitte Trogneux. Macron was attending “La Providence”, a Jesuit school in Amiens in Northern…
Isn’t Sexting the Same Crime No Matter What Your Age?
Under a new bill passed Wednesday in the TN Senate, sexting penalities for minors becomes a “slap on the wrist”. Juveniles will no longer face charges such as “exploitation of a minor” or be subject to registering as a juvenile…
South Carolina Bill to Bar Registrants from Becoming Locksmiths
A few months ago I wrote a piece about Rep.Swan in Missouri who didn’t want registrants anywhere near museums, children’s sections of libraries or play areas in malls. Now there’s a Rep. Gregory Duckworth in South Carolina, who wants to…
Registrants More Likely to Die from Residency Restrictions Than to Reoffend
A recent article about residency restrictions in Pennsylvania has me peeved. It’s dawned on me that it’s not just that one particular article either, it’s all the articles we read about residency restrictions that say sex offenders are “more likely…
Are Prosecutors Having Sex Before They’re 18 ?
Yes, I know the title of the article sounds like the punchline to some bad joke. But reading this article from the Salt Lake Tribune, I think the prosecutor wants us to believe that everyone “except” registrants, are chaste until…
One Court Comes to It’s Senses While Another Makes No Sense at All?
Two recent articles, one from NJ the other from TN have me wondering how we ever make any progress when one court takes a step forward while another seems to take a step backwards. Does this country enjoy being in…
What If Registrants Refuse To Take The Road Less Traveled?
An article out of Palos Park, Illinois has me wondering, WHAT IF? Apparently some parents waiting at a school bus stop had noticed what they termed a suspicious red Hyundai passing by the bus stop several times that week. What made…
Don’t Ever Pee Behind A Tree
Journalists, you’ve got to love em, they mean well, well, most of them. Journalist’s Amy Iverson’s article “Should Sex Offenders Be Banned From Facebook?”/Deseret News/Utah was probably well-meant. The piece, written after the recent oral arguments to the North Carolina…
Social Media is a Social Mess for Registrants
There’s a new recent article in the SCOTUSblog regarding the Packingham case. For those not familiar with it I’ll sum it up in a nutshell. In 2010 Lester Packingham, a registrant, innocently went on Facebook posting praise to God for…
Rep. Swan’s Bill is a Lame Duck
An article from the Southeast Missourian makes me want to go out and kick some legislative butt. The Feb.16, 2017 piece is about Rep. Kathy Swan filing legislation to bar sex offenders from museums, children’s sections of public libraries and…
What In The World Are “Traveling Pedophiles”?
I read an interesting article regarding NJ Rep. Chris Smith, author of the International Megan’s Law ,which has just completed it’s first year in existence. According to Smith who met with a delegation from Thailand which included Ambassador Pisan Manawapal…
Opinions Are Like (Fill in the Blank). Everyone’s Got One.
The Hill’s January 31, 2017 piece by Opinion Contributor/Attorney Michael Dolce, struck a chord with me. A very negative chord. It reminded me just how terrible an ill-conceived “opinion piece” can be perceived by the public as being “the whole…
Sex Offender Registry Becoming Politician’s “Cash Cow”
This is just about the craziest thing I’ve read lately. NewsMS out of Jackson, MS. reported that according to Rep. Tom Miles, there is a serious shortage of highway patrolmen. Out of the 489 currently working the roadways, 189 are…
Operation Pacifier: Unscrupulous Win for FBI in TN
The FBI’s Operation Pacifier sting is in the news again. For those not familiar with this particular brand of FBI trickery, more details can be found in earlier posts. The jist of the sting was the FBI used a hacking…
The Forbidden Zone
We really need to get rid of the registry, it’s driving me nuts. Everyday I read a new article about another place, another town, another county or country where registrants are “forbidden”. Articles from Florida to California giving details of…
2017, New Year New Hope
There are times when I struggle with a topic for this blog, this last week of 2016 is one of those times. Like the rest of you, I want to see changes in the registry and I want them now!…
NCMEC Survey Uses Broad “Sex Offender” Label
I just read the new survey done by the NCMEC/National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The survey and map shows an increase in sex offenders across the country, up from 851,870 to 859,500. Their map highlights the number of…
The Registry and “Constitutional Vagueness”
The term “constitutionally vague” seems to be popping up over the past few weeks in articles related to registrants. Residency restrictions, places where minors might gather, loitering as opposed to just standing or sitting, it’s all quite vague when it…
Sex Offender Restrictions Challenged and “Won” in N. Carolina
Good News! The 4th Circuit Court in N. Carolina recently rejected the State’s appeal to overturn a district court ruling regarding the constitutionality of certain provisions in the state’s sex offender laws. The basis of the arguement dealt with two…