3-30-2011 Texas:
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel wants to know why convicted murdered has sex offender restrictions placed on him.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel on Tuesday said state parole officials violated his court order by failing to explain why they placed sex offender restrictions on the parole of convicted child killer Raul Meza.
Yeakel gave the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole a month to explain what evidence they relied on in placing the restrictions and threatened to jail the board members if they fail to comply.
The order comes as the parole board, which traditionally operates in secret and is rarely required to explain its decisions, runs into repeated judicial checks on its power — specifically its ability to label as sex offenders those who, like Meza, have not been convicted of a sex crime.
Yeakel ruled in 2009 that Meza, who has completed his prison sentence, had been denied his due process rights in being labeled as a sex offender, a status that Meza's lawyers argue has prevented him from getting a job and ultimately moving from the Travis County Jail and into the community.
Yeakel ruled that before saddling Meza with those restrictions, the board must give Meza due process — including the chance to rebut the allegations that he lacks sexual control — and a written explanation of the board's findings.
Yeakel's ruling was mostly upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, meaning that others who were not convicted of a sex offense must have the same due process before being saddled with the restrictions, which can include mandatory counseling, electronic monitoring and registration as a sex offender.
Meza, 50, was convicted of murder in the 1982 killing of 8-year-old Kendra Page at the playground of a Southeast Austin elementary school. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted, according to police and an autopsy report.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and later received another four years for having a weapon in prison.
Under the state's mandatory supervision law, which has since been changed, Meza was transferred in 2002 to a minimum-security section of the county jail when his time served and good-behavior credit equaled the length of his sentence. He is to remain there until he gets a job and can support himself in the community.
Meza's lawyers with the Texas Civil Rights Project sued state prison and parole officials in 2005, arguing that his parole conditions were so tough, they essentially would lead to his incarceration in the Del Valle jail until his sentence expires in 2016. They said Meza is being treated differently from other parolees in his situation because of the high-profile nature of his crime.
Lawyers for parole officials said the restrictions were necessary to keep the community safe.
In his ruling after that trial, Yeakel found that before instituting sex offender restrictions, state officials must provide Meza advance notice of the allegations against him as well as the opportunity to attend a hearing on the issue, to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses and, finally, to provide "a written statement ... as to the evidence relied upon and the reasons for the decision."
In June, a three-member panel of the parole board held a hearing and that month unanimously decided that Meza "constitutes a threat to society by his lack of sexual control." The board listed the documents and witnesses that were presented at the hearing but did not specify which evidence was most persuasive.
Meza's lawyer Scott Medlock argued in a motion to Yeakel that the document was insufficient and that the parole board members should be held in contempt of court.
In court Tuesday, Medlock noted that Meza's therapist testified at his civil trial in 2008 that Meza does not lack sexual control.
Assistant Attorney General Bruce Garcia, who represented the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, told Yeakel that the three members had different reasons for finding against Meza and that the members had trouble combining those into a cogent finding.
Yeakel discounted that argument and gave the board members until April 29 to comply with his order.
"Contempt is still on the table if they don't get this done," Yeakel said. "One option ... open to me is to incarcerate the board until they purge themselves of the contempt." ..Source.. by Steven Kreytak AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
March 30, 2011
Judge threatens to jail parole officials over child killer Raul Meza's status
Bill would restore ability to evaluate sex offenders
3-30-2011 Nevada:
The Senate Judiciary Committee has recommended passage of a bill to restore the parole board's ability to evaluate inmates who committed sex crimes in another state.
Board Chairman Connie Bisbee told the committee legal changes made in a previous session effectively blocked the board from ordering a psychological evaluation panel for inmates unless the sex crime they committed occurred in Nevada. She said they aren't able to order a psychological evaluation for inmates who are in Nevada's prison system for a non-sex offense but who have a prior history of sex offenses in another state.
“This would allow the board to look at these offenses and say, I think we need a psych panel,” she said.
She told the committee without a psych-panel evaluation, the board can be put in the position of denying parole to an inmate who might otherwise be eligible. And without an evaluation, she said there is a possibility a potentially dangerous inmate could be released when he shouldn't be.
The committee voted unanimously to send Senate Bill 187 to the Senate floor with a “do pass” recommendation. ..Source.. by Nevada Appeal Capitol Bureau
March 29, 2011
Cops say ‘hands are tied’ on homeless sex offenders
3-29-2011 Massachusetts:
Authorities had no solutions last night for frustrated South End residents who are worried about an influx of homeless sex offenders wandering their neighborhood.
“We don’t have badges and guns,” Charles McDonald of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board told residents at a neighborhood meeting last night. “We don’t have field staff. We don’t supervise.”
The Herald reported Sunday that some convicted sex offenders who register at homeless shelters are instead roaming city streets each night. A legal loophole allows the predators to legally claim residency at a homeless shelter with the state Sex Offender Registry, even if they aren’t staying there.
“Our hands are tied,” said Boston police officer Bill Slyne. “We’d all like to do more. We can only work with the tools we’re given.”
Sgt. Gino Provenzano said police actively look to arrest sex offenders who put down a homeless shelter as their address if they fail to reregister after 30 days as required by law.
But tense South End residents wondered why more can’t be done to take high-risk offenders off the streets.
“Why aren’t there homeless shelters specifically for them?” South End resident Bill McIntosh asked at a neighborhood meeting last night. “Why are they being released into the neighborhood? ... It doesn’t make sense.”
“What’s missing here is — who’s watching?” said resident John Kiger. ..Source.. by Chris Cassidy
Bill threatens Oklahoma City mobile home park for sex offenders
There is no doubt that this bill violates the constitutional "Right of Association" a First Amendment Right. U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.3-29-2011 Oklahoma:
Despite the protest of the founder of an Oklahoma City mobile home park that provides housing for more than 250 men who are registered sex offenders, a House panel approved a measure Monday that he said would put his Christian prison ministry out of business and put about 100 convicted sex offenders out on the streets.
About 40 residents of Hand Up Ministries watched as the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 852 by a vote of 8-4. It now goes to the full House.
Rep. Colby Schwartz, R-Yukon, said the Oklahoma City Police Department requested the bill to clarify an existing state law that was intended to keep convicted sexual offenders from living together.
David Nicholas, founder, president and executive director of Hands Up Ministries, said three sexual offenders are placed in three-bedroom mobile homes at his mobile home park, 2130 SE 59. He said 273 live at the park.
Nichols said convicted sex offenders can’t reside in most of Oklahoma City. State laws ban them from living within 2,000 feet of schools, day care centers and city parks.
Residents are required to have jobs and to get regular treatment, he said. They pay $400 a month to live in the mobile homes.
SB 852 would define a multiunit structure in which registered sex offenders are allowed to reside to mean a structure with multiple residential units that provide independent living facilities for living, sleeping, cooking, eating and sanitation within each individual unit.
In a telephone interview, Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty said his agency is not trying to put the mobile home park out of business.
“We are trying to define what we think the true intent of the law was when it was passed and that was for one dwelling, one sex offender.” ..Source.. MICHAEL MCNUTT
Parole data in study is disputed by state officials
3-29-2011 Oklahoma:
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board officials say data kept by the agency show parole approval ranging from 31 percent to 55 percent during the last 10 years, which contradicts a study released earlier this week by a Colorado-based research organization.
Despite the differences in the numbers, some board members say they agree with most of the recommendations made in the study by the Northpointe Institute for Public Management.
The study found that 11 percent of Oklahoma inmates up for parole get approved, based on the board and governor actions. It is estimated that that costs taxpayers an average of $80 million a year.
"I don't understand where they got their data, and I didn't talk to anybody associated with the report," said Richard L. Dugger, chairman of the board. "I'm concerned about the statistics in the report and the way they've been used to imply that the Pardon and Parole Board or the governor has not been diligent in granting parole to the best of our ability, because we have."
Dennis Schrantz, senior policy analyst with Northpointe, said the study used Department of Corrections data of all parole-eligible inmates, including those with waivers or other automatic delays.
"My inclination is that the difference is probably comparing apples to oranges," Schrantz said. "We would not simply look at people who appeared before the board. There's a selection process limiting the number of cases they actually interviewed."
The study has a 170-page technical report explaining the researchers' approach, data sources, methodology and recommendations.
"Oklahoma is particularly complicated, and it took quite a bit of time to understand the way the process works and variations of the way cases go through the board," said Schrantz, who is the former deputy director of corrections in Michigan.
"The state, Legislature and Department of Corrections can take the report, assess it and take the next step. If there's a need to do further analysis of our data and their data, we are willing to do that, but it's not going to change the recommendations. We firmly stand by our findings."
Recommendations include:
Taking the governor out of the parole decisions for nonviolent offenders;
Dugger was district attorney for 27 years in the 2nd Judicial District, which covers five rural counties. He said support services for released inmates and community sentencing courts are lacking in small towns.
Expanding prisoner community re-entry programs;
Requiring the use of risk-assessment tools by board members in decision-making;
Setting minimum education and experience standards for board members.
"Our resources are so limited in community sentencing," Dugger said. "We didn't have the DUI schools or drug counseling like they do in the larger, metropolitan areas. Also, funding went more to the metropolitan areas. We need community sentencing in the state, and that would lower the prison population a large amount.
"Part of a district attorney's job is prosecuting. But if we can divert from the Department of Corrections, we try to do that. But you can't if you don't have services available."
Oklahoma is the only state requiring the governor's approval of all paroles, which has caused a lag of up to three to four months after a parole board recommendation.
The governor can also add release requirements or stipulations after release, which is a concern for board member Currie Ballard.
Inmates have died while waiting for a decision on a medical parole, or they may decide not to take the added requirements. Also, some inmates may commit an infraction while a decision is pending, erasing the board recommendation, said board members.
"The public was not aware of how many cases the governor made through rejection, went far beyond 30 days and added more stipulations onto the inmate paroles," Ballard said. "The governor threw a horrible monkey wrench into a system already crippled."
Ballard said the recommendations are viable for Oklahoma, but he disagrees with setting minimum standards for members. He is a former Langston University historian, served as assistant secretary to the Oklahoma Senate and previously served on the board for four years.
"This is supposed to be a citizens board," Ballard said. "Why are you going to have more requirements to be a parole board member than the governor of the state? To me, that makes no sense."
Inmate waivers to parole have risen from 16 percent of inmates in 2000 to 34 percent last year.
DOC officials say three main reasons are behind the waivers: The sentence is shorter than the parole process; a person serving 85 percent of a sentence is near the end and would rather be released later with no stipulations; and a law disallows people denied parole to be part of an early release GPS program
"People waive parole when they lose hope," Ballard said.
Ballard said expanding prisoner re-entry programs is crucial to keeping down the rate of re-offending.
"One thing that had me in tears is the number of people that had no to place to go," Ballard said. "Literally, if the person was released tomorrow, they would be homeless.
"Corrections reform has to do with the overall attitude of Oklahoma. We have a church on every corner, but having compassion for inmates and their families is low on the totem pole, especially when it comes for people getting hired."
The report was commissioned by the Tulsa-based George Kaiser Family Foundation, which has supported projects designed to reduce inter-generational poverty.
Executive Director Ken Levit said the foundation sought the study as an education tool to be shared with the policymakers and the public.
The foundation has been addressing the state's No. 1 ranking in female incarceration, including the support of Women in Recovery, which is an alternative program to prison.
"It was one of a number of projects we've launched to get a better understanding of what is driving up the incarceration rate, especially for women and mothers, in the state," Levit said. "Corrections is the fastest growing part of our state's budget. We wanted to look at what policy options other states are now taking in reducing prison populations, especially with respect to nonviolent offenders.
At least four of the recommendations in the report are included in House Bill 2131, written by House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee.
"All of the recommendations are significant," Steele stated by e-mail. "However, because Oklahoma is the only state that requires the governor to sign off on every parole, limiting her involvement in the parole process for nonviolent offenders is important. And if we limit the governor's involvement in the parole process, we must ensure proper training and education requirements are in place for parole board members so informed decision are made." ..Source.. GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
March 27, 2011
Panel of sex offenders to field questions
3-27-2011 Indiana:
The event on March 30 will focus on how to reduce the risk of child abuse and rehabilitate sex offenders.
MUNCIE -- Parents and community members this month will get a unique opportunity to listen first-hand to sex offenders talk about how to reduce the risk of abuse.
The Sex Abuse Prevention Community Education Workshop is 6:30-9:30 p.m. March 30 at the Ivy Tech Community College Patterson Building, 108 S. Walnut St.
Organizer Robert Jesiolowski, a licensed social worker from Family Service Society Inc. in Marion, said a panel of six to eight recovering sex offenders will answer questions from the audience.
Nothing is off limits, he said, although he urged questioners to be respectful.
"I hope people understand these are the guys that stepped forward, took responsibility for their actions and are trying to change," he said.
Some of the presentation will focus on how to treat and rehabilitate sex offenders, and some of it will focus on how to protect children from sex offenders.
Protecting children from sex abuse can be difficult because the offenders are usually someone the victim loves and trusts. Furthermore, Jesiolowski said, it is impossible to identify sex offenders through their characteristics or personality traits.
During similar events in the past, offenders have told audience members the best thing they can do is talk to their children and pay attention to their children.
"Don't look the other way," Jesiolowski said. "If something doesn't look right, confront it."
Seating is limited to 100, and participants should register in advance by email or phone by contacting Kim Burns at the Department of Child Services at 213-6926 or kimberly.burns2@dcs.in.gov. ..Source.. by NICK WERNER
GPS tracking devices can't stop crime
Here they speak about some released sex offenders going on to commit further crimes, but lawmakers continually ignore that, released non sex offenders go on to commit SIX sex crimes to every ONE committed by a released sex offender. So, for the THREE sex offender crimes mentioned in this article there were EIGHTEEN sex crimes committed by released non sex offenders. See DOJ 2003. Are lawmakers sacrificing victims?3-27-2011 Massachusetts:
For almost a decade, the Massachusetts Probation Service has been keeping an eye on probationers, parolees and sex offenders through its electronic monitoring program.
Started as an alternative to keeping offenders in jail, the program, which celebrates its 10th anniversary next month, monitors 1,930 criminals across the state from its Clinton headquarters, which is open around the clock.
"The technology is fantastic," Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said. "It is an effective tool that gives an offender incentive to behave."
But some public safety officials still argue that there is no substitute for incarceration.
Offenders can always remove their monitoring bracelets and commit a crime before police can catch up, although most state officials agree that those cases are rare.
"I've held the bracelets myself and have looked at them very closely," Worcester County Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis said. "It is extraordinarily difficult to even attempt to remove."
In just the last two months, though, there have been two local incidents where offenders removed the bracelets.
On Tuesday, Rodney Scudder, a Connecticut man, removed his tracking bracelet and fled to Framingham, where he was charged with holding a woman against her will in the Red Roof Inn.
On March 18, Brian Addeo, a violent sex offender on lifetime parole who once lived in Upton, cut his bracelet off, threw it in the back of a pickup truck and fled to Maine, where he was later arrested.
Last year, William French took off his GPS bracelet, authorities say, and then raped a Framingham woman in her apartment. French was wearing the bracelet after serving eight years in prison for raping another Framingham woman in 2001. He is a Level 3 sex offender.
The bracelets are made so an alert goes off when offenders tamper with the devices, and an arrest warrant follows since removing a bracelet violates parole or probation.
But that doesn't stop some offenders, which is why Joseph DiPietro, founder and president of Protect Mass Children, argues that the system is flawed.
"It doesn't work," DiPietro said. "There is only one thing that works and that is jail. If we have to build more prisons to keep our children safe, so be it."
DiPietro started Protect Mass Children last year as he looked for a way to strengthen mandatory sentences for sex offenders. The organization has contributed to three bills in the state Legislature that would, among other things, make mandatory sentences for repeat sex offenders the law.
"How many times do people have to cut off their bracelets and rape someone before the state wakes up and says this isn't working?" DiPietro said. "The state should be finding ways to keep these people in jail."
Middlesex District Attorney said, however, that the bracelets aren't meant for those types of criminals.
"If we think someone is a violent offender, we ask that they go to jail," Leone said. "In certain cases, (the bracelet) is not an appropriate substitution for incarceration. But when we do ask for a monitoring bracelet, we are under no illusions that it is somehow going to keep people safe from a predator who can do a bad act with it on."
Both the Middlesex and Worcester County sheriff departments use monitoring systems for offenders, separate from the probation system. They monitor via satellite, typically giving the bracelet to people who qualify for work release.
Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, who said he familiarized himself with the system after taking the job earlier this year, said his office can get up-to-the-minute updates.
One time, he watched an offender travel on a train on his way to a job interview, the indicator on the screen moving along the train tracks.
"It is really a fascinating experience to see this," Koutoujian said. "There is great value in this. But there is always risk involved with anyone going out on the bracelet."
Since 2005, the number of offenders with GPS bracelets has grown to about 1,200 people a day, said Paul Lucci, deputy commissioner of probation and statewide manager of the electronic monitoring program.
The GPS lets the Probation Service monitor movement in real time. Of the 1,930 who are watched, about 1,154 are monitored by GPS.
The other 776 are watched through a radio frequency bracelet, the program's initial monitoring device. These offenders are typically under house arrest or confined to a specific area.
A judge ultimately decides who wears the bracelets as a term of release. The district attorney's office can request one, but the judge makes the final decision.
The offender is then given a bracelet, a cellphone, a Personal Tracking Unit and a cellphone charger. Probation uses the tracking unit as its main source, and the bracelet transmits real-time locations to the satellite through the cellphone.
With the GPS, Probation can draw specific zones where an offender cannot go, as approved by the court. Once offenders enter prohibited areas, the monitoring headquarters gets a signal and then contacts the offender through the cellphone, either by text or call.
"Initially, the GPS system was landline-based," said Coria Holland, Probation's director of communications. "Now, both landlines and cellphones can be used. And the GPS technology also provides an archive system so we can go back to see where an offender has gone."
Leone said he thinks cutting off monitoring bracelets is becoming more frequent because criminals talk among themselves. If one of them figures out how to get the bracelet off, they will likely share with others.
"There are conversations that take place between defendants," Leone said. "I think, like any bad behavior by people who have been convicted, they learn."
Leone also pointed out that not every monitor has a person watching it every moment of the day. The program is more to watch whether an offender is in a specific area, and to be able to track where the offender has been if needed.
"To people like myself and the prosecution system, a GPS bracelet is not something that prevents. Essentially a GPS bracelet allows you to make a case after the fact," Leone said. "And that is why I stress it is not an appropriate substitution for incarceration." ..Source..
March 23, 2011
B4U-Act: A Research Request
As many folks know, B4U-ACT is a cooperative effort of people who are attracted to minors and mental health professionals to promote dialog and understanding between the two groups, to make accurate information about minor-attracted people available to professionals and the public, to counteract stereotypes, and to make compassionate mental health services available for minor-attracted people who want them.
To help us reach these goals, we are asking minor-attracted people to complete a survey about their thoughts on the mental health profession. This survey will take approximately 10 - 20 minutes to complete. It will NOT require you to provide any identifying information, and it will NOT ask about sexual behavior.
It will ask questions about opinions and experiences regarding mental health services. Even if you have not experienced mental health care, your opinions are important, and will guide our work. You will be free to skip any questions you wish, and you may exit the survey at any time.
To take this survey, go to http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/468047/Accessibility-of-Mental-Health-Services
If you feel this is a worthwhile survey, please forward this link to other minor-attracted people you know.
Thank you,
Richard Kramer, Director of Operations
B4U-ACT, Inc.
P.O. Box 1754
Westminster, MD 21158
www.b4uact.org
Sex-offender list too inclusive?
3-23-2011 Nebraska:
LINCOLN — Saying Nebraska's current sex-offender registry law unfairly punishes some minor offenders, a group of state senators wants to remove those offenders' pictures and addresses from a public list.
Supporters of the change include Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, typically a hard-liner on crime who has said sexual predators should be banished to a remote island because they can't be rehabilitated,
Yet Lautenbaugh said it's unfair to hang a “scarlet letter” on minor offenders whom the Nebraska State Patrol had deemed at low risk of reoffending and who haven't committed repeat crimes.
“I don't think we should ruin their lives,” Lautenbaugh said.
Sen. Brad Ashford, also of Omaha, said, “We have to balance punishment with fairness.”
Lautenbaugh, Ashford and Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln on Tuesday spoke in favor of changing state law after testimony last week during a public hearing before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.
Some of those testifying, including people whose criminal offenses occurred as long as 16 years ago, said their families were harassed and shunned because of past mistakes. Their occupations and reputations face ruin, they said, because their faces and addresses are listed on the state's sex-offender website.
Prior to passage of Legislative Bill 285 in 2009, only the names of sex offenders deemed by the State Patrol as most likely to reoffend were publicized.
Those who had committed minor offenses and were considered at low risk of reoffending — a Level 1 offender — were required to register with law enforcement agencies, but their information wasn't made public.
LB 285 included Level 1 offenders in new reporting requirements. The state posted their photos and addresses on a website. The photos are to stay for as long as 25 years, and in some cases, for life.
Ashford is having an amendment drafted that would remove from the website Level 1 offenders who committed offenses prior to the enactment of LB 285 and have not reoffended.
Anyone who committed an offense after that date would still have to comply with the more rigorous reporting requirements, and would be subject to having his or her name and photo publicly posted, Ashford said.
Coash said he didn't realize LB 285 was to be retroactive.
Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch, who sponsored LB 285, said he opposes any return to the old system of having the State Patrol assess a sex offender's potential for reoffending.
“I'm not sure there's any scientific method to guess the capability of a sex offender to reoffend going into the future,” Pirsch said.
Pirsch said he wanted to see any amendments before to deciding whether to support them.
A Nebraska group for convicted sex offenders and their families called Families Affirming Community Safety has lobbied and joined a federal lawsuit to get the current state law reversed.
Rigorous tracking of minor, low-risk offenders diverts attention from true sexual predators, the group says.
The Legislature passed LB 285 to comply with the Adam Walsh Act, a federal measure aimed at apprehending sex offenders. It was named for Adam Walsh, the son of “America's Most Wanted” host John Walsh, who was abducted and murdered in 1981. ..Source.. Paul Hammel, WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Committee OKs tougher sex offender sentences
Important to note, they have to reach back into time -8 years- to even find a case which fits what they want the bill to do. Is this bill, which will add millions to each years prison budget, and court costs for extra trial (the trial would determine if the extra punishment fits, so everyone is given this trial), really worth it since the event is so rare?3-23-2011 Minnesota:
ST. PAUL -- An 8-year-old effort to keep sex offenders in jail longer began a new trek on Tuesday through the Minnesota Legislature.
The House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee unanimously approved a proposal that would force many of the worst offenders to spend 60 years in prison, followed by a decade of supervised release. Those “worst of the worst” sex offenders would serve twice the current sentences under the bill by Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder.
“The public expects us to do something drastic with sex offenders,” Cornish said.
A key to Cornish’s bill is that after someone is found guilty of a serious sexual assault, he could be sent to a second trial to determine whether a jury determines that he is a “predatory sex offender.” If that finding is made, the higher penalties kick in.
Cornish’s measure is the latest attempt to get tough on sex offenders, which started shortly after the November 2003 kidnapping and murder of Dru Sjodin from a Grand Forks, N.D., mall.
Sjodin’s body was found the next April near Crookston, Minn. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was charged, and eventually convicted in federal court and sentenced to death. He had been released from a Minnesota prison in May 2003 after serving time on a sex charge.
Since then, lawmakers and then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty lengthened sex offender sentences.
The bill by Cornish represents a change in tactics, with the second trial to impose higher penalties on those most likely to reoffend.
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, authored a similar bill, but his measure has not received a committee hearing.
Under the Cornish bill, the state corrections commissioner could release a predatory sex offender early only if he can prove that he no longer poses a threat to public safety and can be reintegrated into society.
Cornish said that his bill would be less expensive than the current procedure, where many offenders are sent to state hospitals after completing their sentences, which costs three times as much as prison stays.
Rep. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson, said he does not think any prisoner would get enough treatment to be released early.
Rep. Kerry Gauthier, DFL-Duluth, said he is fine with putting more offenders in prison, but said he is concerned that the Corrections Department may not be able to find enough therapists willing to work with prisoners.
“We’re not getting enough treatment (for sex offenders) because we can’t get enough people,” said Gauthier, himself a therapist. ..Source.. by : Don Davis , Pierce County Herald
March 22, 2011
State Legislators In Now-Infamous Solitaire Photo Identified; Two House Democrats Playing Solitaire As GOP Chief Spoke
Lawmakers have their priorities, and fixing sex offender laws is not one of them!9-1-2009 Connecticut:
A photo of two Democratic legislators playing solitaire has ignited controversy at the state Capitol and in the blogosphere.
The Associated Press picture has appeared in any number of venues, and it shows two lawmakers sitting in the back row of the historic Hall of the House in Hartford during the lengthy debate over the two-year, $37 billion state budget.
On the left is Rep. Barbara Lambert, a freshman Democrat from Milford who won her first legislative election in November 2008. She replaced longtime Milford Democrat James Amann, who ended his legislative career as the House Speaker and is now running for governor against Republican M. Jodi Rell.
Lambert is playing spider solitaire in the photo, while Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, a Bridgeport Democrat who has served in Hartford since 2005, is playing regular solitaire. They both voted in favor of the Democratic-written budget, while Cafero voted against it. A Boston College graduate, Hennessy is a delivery specialist for FedEx.
During the long debates at the state Capitol, legislators often work on their laptop computers - as seen in the photograph. Sometimes they are answering e-mails from constituents, while other times they are researching important information on pending bills. Other times, they are playing solitaire.
When asked Tuesday about the photo by Capitol Watch, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell laughed and said, "I think if they'd spend less time playing computer games and more time looking for spending cuts, then we would have been out of here a lot sooner.''
Republican Tom Foley, who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Christopher J. Dodd, said, "I was disheartened to see a Hartford Courant front page photo showing members of our Democratically-controlled legislature playing solitaire on their computers while debate was occurring on a new state budget that raises taxes and contains no net reduction in spending. This is not a time for the Democrats who control our legislature to be playing games with Connecticut's future. Our elected officials need to put away their computer toys and help working people by lowering taxes and keeping government spending down."
The photo by Jessica Hill is gaining national attention through an item posted to the front of the Drudge Report and a blog post by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin.
Update: Lambert did not seek re-election and is no longer at the Capitol. Hennessy won re-election in Democratic-dominated Bridgeport. ..Source.. by Capitol Watch ([AP Photo by Jessica Hill])
March 21, 2011
Homeowners associations adding bans against sexual offenders
3-21-2011 Ohio:
Homeowners associations increasingly are seeking to ban sexual offenders and predators in an attempt to improve safety and maintain property values.
"There's an explosion in Franklin County," said David W. Kaman, a lawyer with Kaman and Cusimano, which specializes in association law.
A 2003 state law and more-restrictive municipal laws already prohibit Tier 3 sexual predators - those convicted of the most-serious sex crimes - from living within 1,000 feet of sensitive areas such as schools, playgrounds and day-care centers.
The association laws are far more restrictive, however, and are considered outright bans intended to protect higher-density areas, such as condominium communities, said Kaman. He recently met with 40 associations in Delaware County's Genoa Township to discuss the issue and has meetings scheduled with 40 more in Springfield and nine in Westerville in late April.
In the past six years, 30 Tier 3 sexual offenders have been denied entry to association-run communities in Ohio, without a single legal challenge, Kaman said.
It's an issue associations are considering now because a new state law requires them to file their bylaws with county recorders or lose their ability to enforce them.
"It opened up some eyes," Diana Howell, president of the 47-home Lake of the Woods homeowners association in Genoa Township, said of the law change and Kaman's presentation.
"The Realtors check the neighborhoods for offenders. And that's an issue if you have one living next door to you," she said, citing a study showing that property values can drop about 17 percent in neighborhoods where sexual offenders live.
"I know I would not move in next door to a sexual predator. And I'm assuming that as a member of society, that there are other people a lot like me," she said.
"I think we're going to see more of this," said Charles T. Williams, a partner in Williams & Strohm, which also represents homeowners associations. "I think people are very, very concerned about personal safety and their security."
Critics of the bans say they violate offenders' civil rights and amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
"It's an understandable outflow from the notification provisions, where you get a postcard if you're living within 1,000 feet of a registered sex offender," said Stephen Johnson Grove, deputy director for policy at the Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center, an advocate for prisoners' rights.
But eliminating housing or jobs from offenders "is really a damage to our communities," he said. "If people can't get housing, none of us are safer."
He said the vast majority of sex offenders know their victims. Often they're related, or are in a position of trust, such as a teacher, coach, clergy member or youth leader.
Howell isn't sympathetic.
"It's also cruel what they've done to be labeled what they are," she said of offenders. "They've got rights; we have rights."
The 2,400 homes in Dublin's Muirfield Association don't have restrictions against people convicted of sex crimes, but residents have discussed them, said Walter Zeier, general manager of the association. "It's a huge concern."
Association members have been told that 100 percent of the voting residents would need to approve a rule change. "Our deed doesn't have provisions to change it," he said.
Zeier also worries about potential legal challenges.
"It shocks me that no one has challenged it here," he said, when told that such laws have been challenged, unsuccessfully, only in New Jersey.
Johnson Grove said he thinks that courts would uphold the restrictions.
Constitutional laws are "a limit on the powers of government, not on (homeowners associations)," he said. ..Source.. Dean Narciso
March 18, 2011
Next Up: Register Murderers
3-18-2011 Illinois:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) – There are already registries in Illinois for sex offenders and child murderers, but a bill that’s headed to the Illinois House would create a registry for first degree murderers.
The registry “would be the first of its kind in the nation and would require first degree murderers, upon release from prison, to register with local law enforcement their whereabouts for a period of ten years,” said sponsoring State Rep. Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst).
As with the sex offender registry, Illinois State Police would post first degree murderers’ names, addresses, places of employment and a photo of each on the registry website so the public can know who lives next door. “And if they don’t register, it would be a class 4 felony which would be punishable by 1-3 years in prison,” said Reboletti.
If a murderer has been out for ten years and has had no problems with police, then they would not be required to register. First degree murderers who move to Illinois from out-of-state would be required to let police know of their whereabouts “because these are people moving into communities that we’ve never met, or our communities have no idea about,” said Reboletti.
As for Illinois, Reboletti says the number of people in the Illinois Department of Corrections who would be subject to this is shocking. “There are about four to five hundred on parole right now, and the Department indicated to us it would be about 3,500 that have potential for being released that would also be a part of this registry,” he said.
HB263 passed the House Criminal Law Committee unanimously and now heads to the House. ..Source.. by CBS St Louis
State Cops Admit to Screw Up in Sex Offender Case
See earlier story3-18-2011 Illinois:
Years after blaming a Shorewood cop for mistakenly placing a Joliet man on the sex offender registry, the state police say it was their fault.
A state police employee admitted under oath that her agency screwed up when they mistakenly put a Joliet man on the sex offender registry in 2008.
The deposition testimony from Tracie Newton, the supervisor of the state police's sex offender registration unit, contradicts the claims of a state police captain who put the blame squarely on a Shorewood cop who ended up getting sued for the mistake.
The state police captain, Scott Compton, denied that his agency bore any responsibility for putting Ibarra on the sex offender registry when asked about the matter in October 2009.
"We don't do the registry. That happens at the local agency," Compton said. "We received notification from the Shorewood Police Department that Mr. Ibarra committed an offense" that would require him to register as a sex offender.
Soon after Compton made these statements, Ibarra sued Shorewood police Lt. Jeff Hanley for allegedly placing him on the sex offender list in error. Hanley was retired from the department by the time Ibarra took the legal action.
But while Ibarra was going after Hanley, Newton said during a deposition last month that it was her agency and not Hanley who messed up.
Newton confirmed that the state police conducted an investigation of Ibarra after being contacted by Hanley.
But even though the state police probed Ibarra's criminal history, it's investigators apparently failed to do a very thorough job. The state police also neglected to contact Ibarra before putting him on the list.
The state police started the investigation after Hanley notified them that Ibarra was convicted of rape while serving in the Navy in 1997. Hanley learned of this after Ibarra's ex-wife, who lived in Shorewood, told a police officer about it.
The state police determined the conviction was enough to make Ibarra a registered sex offender, but failed to realize the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals had overturned the conviction and cleared Ibarra's record.
Confronted with his past statements in light of Newton's testimony, Compton claimed to have forgotten all about Ibarra and Hanley.
"I don't remember any of this," Compton said on Wednesday. He added that he would look into the matter and call back to discuss it further. He has yet to call.
The state police apparently knew they were at fault a year before Compton denied it was the state police's responsibility. In an Oct. 15, 2008, e-mail from Newton to a Christopher Campbell of the state police, she said, "Just an FYI, I have a feeling we will be hearing from his lawyer regarding him being placed on our website in error."
Then, in a Nov. 3, 2009, e-mail from Newton to state police Cmdr. Mark Henry, she mentions Compton's involvement with the media and says, "We were quite vague in our response" to a reporter.
In the same e-mail, Newton said she "spoke to (legal counsel) John Hosteny and Scott Compton regarding the whole situation. John Hosteny told me not to be too concerned with this, we made an error. More than likely we will be named in the lawsuit if there is one and we will deal with it then. But he wasn't overly concerned."
Ibarra's attorney, John Schrock, dropped the lawsuit against Hanley on Thursday. Schrock said going after the state police is not an option as the statute of limitations on the case has lapsed.
Hanley failed to return calls for comment. His attorney, James Murphy, said his client was completely in the right, as evidenced by Newton's statements.
"It's an unfortunate event. Certainly, Jeff Hanley did everything right and everything that would be expected of a police officer in his situation," Murphy said. "It's the state police that screwed up and they didn't take responsibility for it." ..Source.. By Joseph Hosey
March 17, 2011
Editorial: Reform state's sex offender registry to better fit the crimes
A wolf in sheep's clothing; the Adam Walsh Act. How quickly the public falls for the carrot and misses the immense harm of the act; an act to raise welfare recipients and Lord knows what else will rear its ugly head. A generation of harm will come from this law.3-17-2011 Michigan:
Politics remains the art of the possible. So sometimes, a small step forward beats standing in place, especially with an issue as onerous as the online Michigan Sex Offender Registry.
Bills sponsored by state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, would at least undo one of the most egregious elements of the registry: the so-called Romeo and Juliet cases involving consenting teens. Legislators should approve them.
The bills, approved by the state Senate last week, would enable teens convicted of having sexual contact with an underage partner to avoid the virtually lifelong housing and employment restrictions and public humiliation associated with being registered as a sex offender. Nothing in the legislation would make such liaisons legal; the age of consent would remain at 16.
The bills create a three-tiered list of offenses and would put state law in compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act. Teenagers committing more serious sex crimes would remain on the registry, but those on the registry could also petition a judge to have their names removed.
"It's not perfect, but it's moving in a positive direction," said Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Legislature should not stop here. The debate on these bills is an opportunity to create a legislative committee that would examine the entire registry and its costs to law enforcement agencies, and then recommend further reforms. Such changes should include giving judges more discretion over who goes on the registry, classifying convicts by their risk of reoffending instead of simply by their offenses, and placing more offenders on a private law enforcement registry instead of the public one.
Maintaining the accuracy of the burgeoning list has been a problem for the Michigan State Police. In some cases, names have remained on the list long after their convictions for misdemeanor sexual offenses have been expunged by the courts. Offenders are typically required to register for 25 years or life under Michigan law.
Child predators, the registry's original target, account for only a small slice of registrants. Michigan's sweeping 15-year-old registry, containing roughly 40,000 names, is one of the nation's largest. It's far too broad and includes people who pose little risk of reoffending. Pennsylvania, with a population 25% larger than Michigan's, lists only 10,000 people on its Internet registry for sex offenders.
"We end up putting so many people on this registry who are not going to get jobs or find places to live," said Shelli Weisberg of the ACLU of Michigan. "It spirals them back into the criminal justice system."
Getting rid of Romeo and Juliet cases should jump-start a broader debate on how to refine and improve an overreaching requirement that no longer serves its intended purpose. ..Source.. by Detroit Free Press
‘Violent sexual predator’ label could stay in sex offender reforms
3-17-2011 Idaho:
After concerns from some lawmakers, an overhaul of Idaho’s sex offender system could include retaining the special violent sexual predator (VSP) designation that’s placed on people considered likely to commit another sex crime. An Idaho Senate panel Wednesday agreed to move forward with the overhaul plan and make amendments on the Senate floor.
The reform package would also expand Idaho’s Sex Offender Classification board from four to nine members while increasing its duty to manage offenders and add tighter reporting requirements for registered sex offenders. The changes are backed by the Idaho Criminal Justice Council, formed by Gov. Butch Otter.
The plan originally eliminated the VSP designation, because an Idaho Supreme Court case ruled that the state violated offenders’ due process rights in assigning the tag. The amended legislation would keep the tag on the 53 men already labeled VSPs, though there’s hasn’t been a way to add new VSPs in more than two years.
VSPs have to respond to mailing from state police once a month and register in-person every three months. Both those requirements are more stringent than for regular sex offenders. VSPs also can never have their name taken off the sex offender registry, while others can petition for removal after being released from prison for 10 yeas.
Steve Bywater, who serves on the ICJC and works in the attorney general’s office, said there were legitimate concerns about the proposed reforms, which led him to create the changes. “This was an appropriate way to handle it,” he said.
The sex offender board will be retitled the Sex Offender Management Board and have broader oversight in managing offenders, including assessing psychosexual tests of offenders. Under the original legislation, there would be eight members of the board, but another member, to be a someone from the general public, has been added. There had been concerns because the position of the victims’ advocate would be eliminated from the board.
The reshaped board would add an annual cost of $74,000 to the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) budget. Sen. Shirley McKague, R-Meridian, questioned the added expense during tight budget times. IDOC Director Brent Reinke pledged to lawmakers that he could find that money in his budget for the next year without asking lawmakers to pay for it.
Reinke said requesting more money for the prisons budget, which is already going up, would be a mistake. “We don’t dare, not in this environment,” Reinke told IdahoReporter.com.
The fixes to the reform plan would also ditch an effort to add the misdemeanor crime of disseminating material harmful to minors to the offenses that trigger a requirement to register as a sex offender. Bywater said that effort was spurred by a federal requirement, but said lawmakers could look at changing that crime in the future. ..Source..
Ex-Con Wrongly Labeled As Sex Offender In Text Messages
3-17-2011 New Mexico:
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- How many times have you received a forwarded text message on your cell phone but did not know how to track the original sender?
A Las Cruces man said that is what is happening to him, except he is the focus of the message, being labeled a sex offender, which he is not.
"It's juvenile that people would do something like this," Roy Parra said.
Parra is an ex-con, trying to lead a normal life, but said a forwarded text message is jeopardizing his already bruised reputation.
"I did something totally different, there's no way I’m a sex offender," Parra said.
Parra served 12.5 years for armed robbery with a deadly weapon. His mug shot from the day he was booked into prison is real in a forwarded message, but superimposed text labeling him as a registered sex offender, is not.
"I’m uncomfortable being out in public now," Parra said.
ABC-7 searched the National Sex Offender Registry, finding no results for Parra’s name.
Parra said he received the message from a friend, who says it was forwarded from another friend…the original source, unknown.
“If the message is perceived to be a threat or harassing, this person who's receiving them can actually file a police report," Dan Trujillo, spokesperson for the Las Cruces Police Dept., said.
Wireless technology expert Philip Yost said tracking down the source may be challenging, but can be done.
"You have to contact the provider and you'd have to file like a harassment claim, it usually takes 20 to 48 hours, and through the data stamping or imprinting on the message, even if it's blocked, they're able to pull the information and see the mobile number that's associated with it," Yost said.
Parra said his problem should be a reminder of the possible damage from pressing ‘send.’
"Just because you get a forward about something doesn't mean it's necessarily true."
If a forwarded text hurts a reputation, Trujillo said, that could potentially be defamation of character – a matter that would have to be taken up in civil court. ..Source.. ABC-7 Reporter Jill Galus
March 16, 2011
Predatory sex offenders? Lock 'em up
3-16-2011 Minnesota:
Minnesota’s most predatory sex offenders, repeatedly branded “the worst of the worst,” would be kept behind bars indefinitely under a bill moving through the Legislature.
Members of the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would keep those offenders in prison instead of diverting them into the state’s costly and controversial program that has civilly committed hundreds of offenders in state treatment centers.
Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, the bill’s author, said that asking Minnesotans what the state should do with sex offenders would produce three answers: “life without parole, castration or the death penalty.”
“I don’t mean to be sensationalistic,” Cornish added, “but the public expects us to do something drastic.”
Under the bill, which was sent to the House Judiciary Committee, convicted offenders would face open-ended prison sentences, known as “indeterminate,” if members of a jury found that they are predatory, meaning they lack control over sexual impulses and pose a danger to others.
They would have to serve at least twice the recommended sentence and could get out only if the corrections commissioner determined they were no longer a threat to society.
If the bill becomes law, it would mark a return to the system of indeterminate sentencing that was replaced several years ago with sentencing guidelines.
The bill passed days after the state’s Legislative Auditor concluded that the 17-year-old Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is deeply flawed.
The audit found that more than 575 offenders currently being held in two state treatment centers receive inadequate therapy from under-qualified staff at excessive cost.
The program’s population has nearly quadrupled over the past decade, and Minnesota now confines more sex offenders, per capita, than any other state. Noting that the population is expected to double again in the next 10 years, Cornish said legislators “are facing a huge decision point right now. We’re spending a heck of a lot on housing.”
The bill was supported by Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.
Under the current system, convicted offenders not in the program who have served their sentences are “the criminals who moms and dads want to see locked up a long, long time,” Stanek said.
Currently, 106 Level Three sex offenders are living in the county, more than 80 of them repeat offenders and more than 60 free from court supervision, Stanek said. “We know what damage and havoc they wreak on our streets,” he added.
Freeman echoed the audit’s finding that sex offenders in the treatment program are held indefinitely, even though they pose less risk than dangerous felons in state prisons who are being released. “We’re out of sync, out of balance,” he said. ..Source.. Bob von Sternberg
March 15, 2011
SJC takes up challenge to state sex offender law
3-15-2011 Massachusetts:
SALEM — Just how far can the government go to prevent a man prosecutors call an "incorrigible" exhibitionist from re-offending?
That's the question the state's highest court took up yesterday during a hearing in the case of a North Shore man named Donald Suave.
The Supreme Judicial Court was asked to consider whether the state's sexually dangerous persons law, allowing for some offenders to be kept in custody after they complete their sentences, is constitutional because it includes nonviolent offenses.
Essex County prosecutors want to keep Suave locked up even though he has completed his most recent sentence, so last summer they asked Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley to declare Suave, 53, a "sexually dangerous person."
Feeley agreed with prosecutors that under the law in Massachusetts, Suave fit all the requirements of a sexually dangerous person who is likely to re-offend.
But the judge rejected the state's request, finding that the law, amended in 2004 to include open and gross lewdness, the offense for which Suave had been repeatedly convicted, is unconstitutional, citing a United States Supreme Court ruling in a Kansas case that, he wrote, appears to limit the government to holding only violent sexual offenders past their sentences.
Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Steinfield argued that the Kansas case dealt not with the issue of violence but with the mental status of a defendant and that the Massachusetts statute passes constitutional muster.
He also argued that Suave poses a risk of causing serious emotional harm to others if he is released.
"It would distort the meaning of the words to say that someone who does what this defendant does is not a menace to the health and safety of others," Steinfield argued.
Steinfield found a tough audience among the justices.
When he suggested that the standard is dangerousness, not violence, Justice Margot Botsford responded, "Oh, please."
Justice Ralph Gants questioned whether a decision allowing the law to stand opens the door to other laws to commit people after their sentences for other types of offenses.
William Korman, Suave's lawyer, said the law already protects the public by making Suave's behavior a crime, so that if he does re-offend when he gets out — as predicted by doctors who evaluated him — he will go back to jail.
When Chief Justice Roderick Ireland asked Korman if he agrees that Suave is dangerous, Korman said he does not believe he is.
Suave, in his decades of exposing himself and masturbating in public, has never targeted a specific individual or followed anyone, Korman argued. His behavior may be "disgusting," but it's not violent.
That may be, suggested Justice Robert Cordy, but what about others charged with open and gross lewdness who do target specific people?
That led Korman to suggest that the solution would be for legislators to create a new crime of "aggravated" lewdness.
"I think what's missing here is we're not talking about a sexually unpleasant person or a sexually disgusting person," Korman said. "We're talking (in the statute) about a sexually dangerous person."
Cordy suggested that Suave's behavior is harmful.
"This involves encounters between your client and others in a sexually offensive way," Cordy said. "I think it's clear it probably causes emotional harm."
Suave (who sometimes spells his name "Sauve") grew up in Salem and has also lived in Peabody and Beverly. He is currently still in custody at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, awaiting the SJC's decision.
The case was "fast-tracked" because Suave is in custody, so a decision could come from the court sooner than the typical three to four months it takes in most cases. ..Source.. Julie Manganis
Overhaul of sex offender laws raises some concerns
3-15-2011 Idaho:
The board that assesses Idaho’s most dangerous sex offenders is asking lawmakers not to drop the violent sexual predator (VSP) designation in a proposed overhaul of the state sex offender laws, though that tag has come under constitutional fire. Members of the Sex Offender Classification Board (SOCB) say they’re also concerned that victims of sexual crimes could have less input as the board potentially expands and broadens its scope.
“There are people out there that we just shake our heads and say ‘it’s not if this person is going to do something awful, it’s when,’” said Moscelene Sunderland, who serves on the SOCB.
Idaho currently has more than 50 men listed as VSPs, which means they committed serious sex crimes and are deemed by the board as posing a high risk to offend again. However, the SOCB has been unable to label someone as a VSP since a 2009 Idaho Supreme Court case ruled the process of deeming offenders as violent predators violated the state constitution.
The VSP designation allows law enforcement officials to keep closer tabs on select sex offenders, since they have to register in person and by mail more frequently.
Scrapping the VSP is part of the changes to state sex offender laws heard by a Senate committee Monday. The SOCB would also be renamed the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) and the state’s reporting requirements for all sex offenders could increase, requiring offenders to tell authorities their car license plates and online accounts, including e-mail.
The changes are part of legislation backed by the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission (ICJC) and follow recommendations from the Center for Sex Offender Management, a national group that advises state and local governments on dealing with sex offenders. “If this measure is adopted, Idaho will be using the best science available to assess offender risk, hold offenders accountable and protect the public,” said Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke, who also chairs the ICJC.
Steve Bywater, who works in the attorney general’s office and helped put together the overhaul plan, said Idaho should get rid of the VSP label because of the Supreme Court case, and because he said there’s no evidence that the extra reporting requirements reduce the likelihood that sex offenders become repeat offenders or deter potential new offenders. He also said the men currently listed as VSPs would likely still be considered as aggravated offenders and would be unable to take their names off the state’s sex offender registry.
Thomas Hearn, a clinical social worker in north Idaho who serves on the SOCB with Sunderland, said told lawmakers Monday that Idaho should keep the VSP on the books, even if there’s not a constitutional way to add new members. “This is a small but very dangerous group of individuals who re-offend at a high rate,” Hearn said.
The proposal to shift the SOCB to the SOMB would double the board’s size from four to eight members while expanding its scope from classifying VSPs to managing state policy related to sex offenders. Hearn said the board generally supports those changes, though he’s concerned that the shift would get rid of Sunderland’s place on the board, as an advocate for victims of sex crimes.
Sunderland said she thinks it’s imperative for victims to have a voice in state policy, and that not including an advocate on the reformed board doesn’t make sense. “I think it marginalizes victims and is not very politically astute,” she said. She added that she’s likely to leave her post on the board, since she’s moving to another state.
All eight spots on the board are accounted for, by either law enforcement officials, lawyers, or professionals such as Hearn who treat sex offenders. Reinke said the board could easily have 12 or 25 members, but that an eight-member board would keep costs down and be more manageable. The larger board is expected to cost the state an added $74,000 a year, due mostly to additional operating expenses.
The changes to the state sex offender registry would require offenders to report an address change or a new job within two days. Much of the information required by offenders, including name, address, and crime committed, is part of a searchable statewide database run by the Idaho State Police.
The overhaul would also require people found guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors, which is a misdemeanor, to register as sex offenders. The crimes that trigger sex offender registration are generally felonies. A person could be guilty of the misdemeanor by giving a child a book, picture, or video that depicts nudity or sexual conduct and is harmful to minors.
Bywater said that change arose out of the ICJC’s discussions on sex offender laws, and that it applies to people who knowingly try to harm minors. During the hearing,Gabriel McCarthy, a criminal defense attorney from Boise, questioned why that crime was added to the sex offender list, saying that extending the huge burden of being a sex offender is disproportionate to the crime.
“Nobody will touch you,” McCarthy told lawmakers. “It affects where you can live, where you can work.”
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee is scheduled to act on the proposed legislation Wednesday afternoon. The committee chairman, Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, is sponsoring the plan and has called it a major piece of legislation. ..Source..
March 14, 2011
Unregistered sex offender’s honesty about sexual urges lands him harsher sentence
A problem with the sentence given by the judge, which DOES NOT protect children long term, as claimed by the judge. The man, like John Couey (see highlights), is telling the judge "he has feelings he cannot control," such is not rectified by additional punishment but by therapy BEFORE he is released. The sentence handed out has a release date, given his honesty about his feelings, how are they handled when he is released? To this end the sentence is incorrect.3-14-2011 Alabama:
MOBILE, Ala. — Had it not been for Michael Wayne Powell’s honesty with probation officers, a federal judge here acknowledged, the Chunchula man likely would have gotten a routine prison sentence for having child pornography.
But Powell, 54, told a probation officer working on his presentence report that he had sexual urges that he could not control.
U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade last week sentenced Powell to 20 years in prison, a rare instance of a federal judge imposing punishment greater than the range set forth under advisory sentencing guidelines.
“Because of his admission that he cannot control himself. ... I find in this particular case, a guideline sentence is not appropriate,” the judge said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Overstreet noted that the defendant has a prior conviction for trying to lure an 11-year-old girl for sex. Powell then failed to register as a sex offender as required by law, said Overstreet, who sought the maximum 40-year sentence.
Overstreet also pointed out that Powell underwent 840 days of sex offender counseling while incarcerated in Oklahoma — apparently to no avail. Law enforcement authorities found 788 pictures of child pornography on Powell’s computer when they searched the Wilmer home where he was living at the time.
“These are horrific, heartbreaking images,” Overstreet told the judge. “As long as this man is in prison, our children are safe.”
Federal investigators arrested Powell last year as part of Operation Guardian, a nationwide effort targeting unregistered sex offenders. Overstreet said the offense Powell was convicted of in 2000 involved stalking the 11-year-old, following her to her middle school and driving past her house.
Powell tried to lure her into a vacant house, the prosecutor said.
Assistant Federal Defender Chris Knight said a 40-year prison term would be “absolutely, substantively unreasonable” for an offense that did not involve contact with a minor.
“It’s a run-of-the-mill child pornography case, and I think it calls for a sentence within the guidelines,” he said.
According to court records, Powell told a probation officer that he had never touched a child but would if he had the chance. He called himself a danger to the community, according to the presentence report.
“All I can do is ask for mercy,” he said last week. “I know I committed this crime. And I know how bad it is. But I had no victim. The victim is myself. It’s a disease.” ..Source.. by Brendan Kirby, Press-Register
Teacher disciplined for sexual innuendoes on quiz
3-14-2011 Florida:
West Palm Beach, Fla.— A South Florida high school advanced placement psychology teacher has been disciplined for giving a quiz filled with sexual innuendoes.
Frank Rozanski of William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens was teaching a lesson on social psychology and perceptions. The questions each had a non-sexual answer but words like "discharge" and "penetrate" could lead the reader to a racier interpretation
Parents of a few students complained and school officials agreed that the questions were inappropriate. Principle Joseph Lee would not disclose how Rozanski was disciplined but said Rozanski continues to teach at the school. ..Source.. by Detroit News
March 12, 2011
Audit: Millions wasted by Mich. Dept. of Corrections on drugs for prisoners
3-12-2011 Michigan:
Lansing — A new audit says there are millions of dollars in waste in the way the Michigan Department of Corrections supplies drugs to prisoners.
The report by Michigan Auditor General Thomas McTavish released today found the department lacked proper procedures to control costs, minimize waste, keep track of inventory and return unused medications for refunds.
It also didn't require prisoners with money to pay for over-the-counter medications from the prison store, as it should have, the audit found.
The report said the department wasted between $852,000 and $8.5 million a year by not controlling the prescriptions of "high-cost atypical antipsychotic medications," which it said are prescribed in Michigan prisons at levels that "far exceed the levels reported for prison populations in other states."
The audit covered the period from Oct. 1, 2007, through July 31, 2010.
It says the department spent $98.4 million on prisoner pharmaceuticals during that period.
The report contains 16 recommendations. In a response, the department said it agreed with 14 recommendations and partly agreed with two.
Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said acting Director Richard McKeon has ordered an internal affairs investigation to determine if department staff failed to follow procedures.
McKeon also has told his officials to develop an action plan for addressing issues raised in the audit and will meet with those officials every two weeks to assess the plan's progress, Marlan said. ..Source.. Paul Egan / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
RI House to look at committing sex predators
3-12-2011 Rhode Island:
Rhode Island lawmakers are proposing legislation to allow authorities to involuntarily commit convicted sex offenders after they've served their criminal sentences.
The legislation was introduced after state corrections officials reported that convicted murdered Michael Woodmansee, is eligible for early release this summer. Woodmansee killed 5-year old Jason Foreman in 1975 and was convicted in 1982. Woodmansee received a 40-year sentence, but is eligible for early release because of good behavior.
Rep. Joseph McNamara, the main sponsor of the bill, said his proposal would allow authorities to involuntarily commit sex predators after their sentences if they pose a continuing danger. The offenders would be re-evaluated annually and could petition for their release.
The bill would apply only to individuals convicted of sexual offenses after July 1. ..Source.. by DAVID KLEPPER
Audit: Sex offender program wastes money, is inconsistent
3-12-2011 Minnesota:
Legislative auditor calls for better therapy, cheaper alternatives.
Hundreds of sex offenders confined in state treatment facilities receive inadequate therapy from under-qualified staff at excessive cost, according to a report released Friday by Legislative Auditor James Nobles.
At the same time, many other offenders present such low risk to the public that they could safely be released to community group homes, saving taxpayers millions of dollars, the report said.
And in what they describe as a public safety paradox, auditors found that some sex offenders are held indefinitely, even though they pose less risk than dangerous felons in state prisons who are being released back to the streets.
The long-awaited report sets the stage for an emotionally charged debate over the 17-year-old Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), which takes offenders into treatment under a judge's order after they have completed their prison sentences
The program's population has nearly quadrupled, to more than 575, over the past decade, and Minnesota now confines more sex offenders, per capita, than any other state. Because the program has never released an offender, even after years of treatment, it is impossible to say whether it is effective, and it is considered vulnerable to court challenges, audit manager John Yunker said.
"A major problem with Minnesota's commitment process is that it generally involves a choice between a high-security facility [or] release from prison with no supervision,'' the report stated.
Nobles strongly recommended a legislative task force to study the civil commitment process, including why outstate county attorneys are twice as likely to seek commitments as prosecutors in the Twin Cities or northeastern Minnesota.
Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, said Friday that he will likely offer legislation to do that within two weeks.
"Something's not right. But I understand the pressure on county attorneys," said Cornish, chairman of the Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee. "All it takes is another horrendous [incident] ... and anybody involved in the release of the offender gets beat up."
Cornish also has introduced a bill to double prison sentences for first-degree sexual misconduct, which will be the focus of a hearing on Tuesday. "We know that steel bars'' are one way to keep offenders off the street, Cornish said.
Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, said a legislative task force examined many of the same issues last year "and we really know enough to act now." But she said a new task force may be required because the Legislature is now in Republican hands, with many new legislators.
Offenders sit idle
Looking behind the razor wire of secure facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter, the auditor's team found a system where hundreds of mostly idle offenders watch television for hours on end and receive insufficient therapy -- at an annual cost of more than $78 million, or about $120,000 per offender. The yearly cost per offender is three times higher than for inmates of state prisons, they said, but on par with similar programs in most other states.
Auditors called on state officials to replace this "all or nothing'' system and develop a plan for low-cost alternatives, while spending more on treatment of the most dangerous offenders.
The state Department of Human Services, which oversees the MSOP, supports most of the auditor's recommendations and is working to increase treatment and improve the competency of its staff, Commissioner Lucinda Jesson wrote at the end of the report.
After interviewing administrators, the auditors concluded that the MSOP holds about 120 offenders -- elderly, disabled or low-functioning -- who could be housed at much lower cost in group homes or halfway houses with adequate security measures.
The program's offender population has soared since 2003, when the gruesome rape-murder of Dru Sjodin by a sex offender who had only served prison time prompted then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty to tighten the procedure for release.
Since then, nearly 440 offenders have been committed to a treatment pipeline that was unprepared and overwhelmed, the auditor found. As a result, the system spent millions of dollars on security, but not enough money to hire qualified staff to provide treatment and therapy.
Since 2008, MSOP administrators have required new clinicians to have master's degrees and be licensed, and have reduced the number of staff vacancies.
Failing to provide adequate therapy could make the state vulnerable to lawsuits by offenders who argue that the MSOP is merely prison by another name, the report said. ..Source.. PAUL McENROE and WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune staff writers
