Criminal Justice May Get New Legislation Against Convicted Sex Offenders

And the nonsense continues. If this is enacted for former sex offenders whether such equipment is related to a past crime or not, then we need laws to prevent people from becoming public servants because many public servants -in the past- have gone BAD, even committed sex crimes. Where does it end! Gov't, Police, Judges, etc.

1-24-2012 Alaska:

Personal lawyers for sexual predators, be aware, protection from sexual assault and abuse are the focus of Anchorage Representative Pete Petersen as he introduced his Child Protection Legislation. It is House Bill 278, “An Act allowing as a condition of probation for a defendant convicted of certain sex offenses a prohibition against the defendant’s residing at a residence where outdoor recreational equipment suitable for use by children under 16 years of age is located on the property.” Tuesday, January 17, 2012, it was read and then was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

This legislation will mainly focus on prohibiting sex offenders, especially convicted sex offenders on parole, from committing another sexual assault by disallowing them to reside “at a residence where outdoor recreational equipment suitable for use by children under 16 years of age is located on the property”.

“We need to make sure judges have the tools they need to keep Alaskan children safe,” said Rep. Petersen. “If a person has done this type of thing before, or if the judge has reason to believe a potential repeat-offender might use these toys to lure children into harm, then we need to give our justice system the power to stop them.”

Included in the Alaska Law is the power to allow judges the discretion to require convicted sex offenders out on parole to refrain from committing the following: communicating with children less than 16 years of age, possessing or using a computer as well as using or creating an internet site, and residing within 500 feet away from a school.

One valuable tool for keeping your distance from sex offenders is the State of Alaska Sex Offender/Child Kidnapper Registration Central Registry . The State of Alaska has nearly three-thousand names listed in the Alaska Central Registry for sex offenders, seventy-four of those are non-compliant with the law that says that they must keep their addresses up to date on the registry. In the last couple of months, Alaska State Troopers have arrested non-compliant offenders for just this little detail that the sex offenders have not kept up with.

Ketchikan, Nenana, Noatak, Akiak, Alakanuk, and Chuathbaluk sex offenders all got knocks at their doors in the past couple months. Anthony Dick, age 28 of Ketchikan, and Jason Paul, 45, of Nenana both got arrested and are now compliant, according to the state’s database. So did Frank O. Booth, 54, Steven A. Kvamme, 42 and Joseph PENN, 31, all of Noatak.

Norman R. Lott, 56, and Steven A. Kvamme, 42 of Akiak, ditto. Norman R. Lott, 56, and Steven A. Kvamme, 42 of Akiak, also are now compliant. Alexie Phillips, 52, of Chuathbaluk, Alaska, was also arrested and is also now compliant with the law. That just leaves seventy-four more arrests to go, if those non-compliants choose to not identify their locations with the registry. ..Source.. by The Alaska News

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AK- Offender won't have to register

Old article but worth a read: This is a State Supreme Court decision based on state Constitution and therefore not precedent elsewhere; to our knowledge Alaska has not done anything about this, rightfully so.

7-28-2008 Alaska:

ALASKA SUPREME COURT: Convict argued law should not be applied retroactively.

An anonymous man who has been fighting Alaska's sex offender registration law since the mid-1990's when it was first enacted has finally won.

He doesn't have to register, but most others still do.

Known variously in federal and state lawsuits as James Rowe and John Doe, the unnamed man is a child molester who had been convicted, sentenced, done all his prison time and most of his probation by 1994 when Gov. Wally Hickel signed the registry into law. It was retroactive to 1984.

The law requires all convicted sex offenders to provide Alaska State Troopers with a current address and other identifying information, including updates from one to four times a year -- some for the rest of their lives. The information, along with the convict's record and physical description, are made accessible to the public, including online.

Doe-Rowe filed suit with others in federal court in Anchorage the day after Hickel signed the law. He argued it was unconstitutional on several grounds, including that it was unreasonable search and seizure, and that it violated his right to privacy.

But his main argument was that the law was not in effect when he committed his crimes, that it was punishment applied to him retroactively. In general, retroactive laws are called "ex post facto" and are barred by both the U.S. and the Alaska constitutions.

It took years, but the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Doe-Rowe lost.

Alaska and other states with similar laws argued that they were not punishment, but merely regulations used to keep track of sex offenders for the protection of the public.

Each federal court that ruled on the case reversed the ruling of the previous court, an indication of how contentious the issue is. In the end, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the states, concluding the registration requirement was not an "ex post facto" punishment.

So Doe-Rowe started over. In 2005 he filed suit in state court, arguing that the Alaska Constitution offers stronger protection of individual liberties than the federal constitution.

Doe-Rowe lost in Anchorage Superior Court and appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.

In a 52-page split decision issued Friday, the court voted 2-1 that forced public registration is punishment as well as regulation, and cannot be added retroactively to the sentence of someone who committed their crime before the law existed. Two justices did not participate in the case and Chief Justice Dana Fabe disagreed with the conclusion.

Justices Warren Matthews and Robert Estaugh particularly faulted the sweeping effect of the law, noting that it applies equally to all people convicted of a sex offense, regardless of the severity of the crime, the success of their rehabilitation, or their continuing danger to the public.

Ex-offenders lose jobs and housing because of the registry, the justices noted. There is no way to petition to be allowed to stop registering, or to limit registration information to legitimate law enforcement purposes.

Even someone who becomes physically incapacitated and therefore incapable of committing another offense must keep signing up, they said.

Although the aims of the registration law are "undeniably legitimate and important," Estaugh wrote, "Alaska's statute is excessive in relation to the state's interest in public safety."

In her dissent, Fabe said her colleagues did not offer convincing reasons for coming to a different conclusion than the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friday's decision relieves Doe-Rowe of the obligation to register, but the law remains in effect for those convicted of covered crimes committed after August 1994, when the law took effect. ..Source.. by SHEILA TOOMEY

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