In the United States, anyone convicted of a sex offense is punished with two criminal sentences. The first is the one they serve in prison. The second begins when the first ends, and they are forced to enroll in a Sex Offender Registry (SOR). (Tony Vick, Filter, September 7, 2023)
This Sunday, March 5, marks the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that approved retroactive application of Alaska’s sex offender registry, deeming it preventive rather than punitive. That ruling helped propagate several pernicious myths underlying a policy that every state has adopted without regard to its justice or effectiveness. ( Jacob Sullum, The Chicago Sun Times, March 1, 2023)
CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County Circuit Court Judge Greg Nicholas on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, sentenced David Lee Moore, of Hanceville, to 75 years in prison. The sentence stems from Moore’s March 1 conviction for failing to register as a sex offender with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. (Staff Reports, Cullman Tribune, May 11, 2023)
Twenty years ago, the justices deemed registration nonpunitive, accepting unsubstantiated assumptions about its benefits and blithely dismissing its costs. ( Jacob Sullum, Reason.com, March 1, 2023)
An elderly bed-ridden (79-year-old) registered sex offender will not be allowed to move in with relatives in a Montgomery County home for end-of-life care after Shenandoah city leaders declined to amend an ordinance that restricts residency. (Catherine Dominguez, The Courier, November 25, 2022 )
As people stock up on Halloween candy, some cities and states are imposing extra measures to make sure sex offenders don’t answer when little ghouls and goblins knock on their doors. (Faith Karimi, CNN, October 30, 2022 )
The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office is placing door hangers on the doors of sex offenders warning “No Trick-or-Treat at this Address.” (LOG CABIN DEMOCRAT, October 25, 2022 )
The vast majority of Americans believe sex offender registries make their communities safer, according to polls. A growing body of research, however, suggests otherwise. A long list of studies using decades of data have found no significant evidence that registries prevent sex crimes. Some even indicate that the laws imposed on sex offenders may make them more likely to commit crimes in the future. (Mike Bebernes, Yahoo News, March 24, 2022 )
Pennsylvania state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Ambridge plans to introduce legislation within the next few weeks making it difficult for some of the states most vulnerable citizens, aging and ailing convicted sex offenders to enter long-term care facilities. Staff Writer, BoyWiki, January 16, 2022
With Halloween again approaching, police around the country are again trying to protect Hansel and Gretel from the Wicked Old Witch known as, "the sex offender". Staff Writer, BoyWiki, October 17, 2021
In 2019, I was falsely accused of a petty theft in Broward County, Florida, despite living over 1,100 miles from the alleged offense and having no transportation. (Derek W. Logue, The Crime Report, US, January 27, 2022 )
Failure to Register, in most states, is a serious felony, punishable by jail or prison time. (Nicole Blank Becker, The Legal Reader, US, January 11, 2022 )
When Henry was 18, he had sex with a 16-year-old he met on a dating app who said they were 18 too. The 16-year-old's parents found out, summoned the cops, and Henry was charged with a sex offense. He took a plea: no jail time, and seven years on the sex offense registry. (Lenore Skenazy, Reason, October 18, 2023)
In Wisconsin, two 15-year-olds whose foster parent caught them having consensual sex were charged with felony sexual assault and put on the sex offender registry for at least 15 years. (Tristram Korten, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, December 8, 2022 )
We praise children for their curiosity. How else are they to learn to navigate the world? But sometimes a child’s curiosity leads to a lifetime of punishment and ostracism. (Kristan N. Russell and Daniel Pollack, The Crime Report, US, August 5, 2021)
At the forested edge of the Canadian border this spring, state police arrested a person from the hamlet of Brasher Falls, New York, population about 1,000. He was charged with rape. (Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times, US, June 3, 2021)
A bill to give judges the discretion to punish individuals who sexually assault a child with surgical castration advances from Senate Judiciary C. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow’s bill allows for the sentencing of surgical castration if the victim is under the age of 13. (Brooke Thorington, Louisiana Radio Network, March 26, 2024)
Jan. 24—Legislative sessions in New Mexico often include bills that court controversy.This year, a pair of House Republicans could stir up the Roundhouse with a proposal that would allow a court to order a convicted sex offender to undergo chemical castration as a condition of their parole. (Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican, January 24, 2023 )
Sources at neighboring hospitals dispute claims made by MTC staff and tell the truth about the denial of routine care. Men at the Texas Civil Commitment Center (TCCC) are four times more likely to die than to complete the program successfully. (moosejaw72, TACC, US, December 14, 2021 )
The Texas Civil Commitment Office (TCCO) and the contractor, Management & Trading Corporation (MTC) operating the Texas Civil Commitment Center (TCCC) have created a slave labor camp. (TCCC Resident, Texans against civil commitment, US, September 27, 2021 )
Behind barbed wire fences a protest movement is swelling for an end to Minnesota’s Shadow Prisons, “treatment facilities” that detainees say are an unconstitutional death sentence. Nearly 800 people are held indefinitely outside of any criminal proceedings, after finishing prison sentences or without being convicted of a crime on civil allegations of being “mental ill” and “sexually dangerous”. (murphey73, TACC, US, August 29, 2021)
For many men serving time for committing sex offenses in Texas, their prison term never really ends—even if they complete their sentence. That's because they're required to enter a live-in mental health facility before returning to society. (Lenore Skenazy, Reason, US, August 12, 2021)