Medical Problems of State and Federal Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011–2012

February 5, 2015 NCJ 248491:

Presents the prevalence of medical problems among state and federal prisoners and jail inmates, highlighting differences in rates of chronic conditions and infectious diseases by demographic characteristic. The report describes health care services and treatment received by prisoners and jail inmates with health problems, including doctor 's visits, use of prescription medication, and other types of treatment. It also explains reasons why inmates with health problems were not receiving care and describes inmate satisfaction with health services received while incarcerated. Data were from the 2011 –12 National Inmate Survey.

Highlights:

• In 2011 –12, an estimated 40% of state and federal prisoners and jail inmates reported having a current chronic medical condition while about half reported ever having a chronic medical condition.
• Twenty-one percent of prisoners and 14% of jail inmates reported ever having tuberculosis, hepatitis B or C, or other STDs (excluding HIV or AIDS).
• Both prisoners and jail inmates were more likely than the general population to report ever having a chronic condition or infectious disease. The same finding held true for each specific condition or infectious disease.
• Among prisoners and jail inmates, females were more likely than males to report ever having a chronic condition.
• High blood pressure was the most common chronic condition reported by prisoners (30%) and jail inmates (26%).
• About 66% of prisoners and 40% of jail inmates with a chronic condition at the time of interview reported taking prescription medication.
• More than half of prisoners (56%) and jail inmates (51%) said that they were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the health care services received since admission.

..Source.. by BJS, Marcus Berzofsky, Dr. P.H., RTI International, Laura M. Maruschak, BJS Statistician, Jennifer Unangst, RTI International

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Are Sex Offender Registries Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

12-9-2015 Texas:

Are there people who commit heinous sex crimes? Of course, and there are also people who commit heinous murders; and while a murderer is a murderer is a murderer, I submit that the percentage of sex offenders who are truly profound, violent, serial offenders is a tiny fraction of the total number of casual, one-time, often non-violent, and even unknowing people who commit a sexual transgression. However, the laws get written and enforced assuming that any sex offender is a wild-eyed, crazed, unstoppable sex fiend.

It’s the way it is. The moral core of our society instills the belief that anything having to do with sex (outside the marital bedroom, in bed, at night, under the covers, with the lights out) is anathema; and combine this with the innate human predilection for revenge, and you wind up with our sex offender laws. Make no mistake – the people who are truly dangerous, violent, serial offenders need to be dealt with appropriately, and they need help. But why does some guy whose date lied to him about her age have to wind up on the sex offender registry for life, even after doing prison time? And the same applies when a vindictive spouse or ex-spouse gets the kids to lie about being molested; or when an angry ex-girlfriend makes a false claim of rape.

We’ve posted previously about the quagmire into which sex offenders, particularly those who are wrongfully convicted, are thrown by the justice system. The SOR’s have an incredibly punitive and damaging effect not just on the person on the registry, but also on their families. Many on the registry are not even allowed to be with their own children. Please see:

(a) Sex Offender Registries – Time for a Change

(b) The Wrongfully Convicted Sex Offender.

As for being “effective” — sex offender registries are nothing more than public shaming, that in many (most) cases is inflicted for a lifetime. They’re no different than the “scarlet letter” of the 1600’s Puritan times. And what is absolutely mind-blowing is that the SOR’s have been proven not to work, and they cost the taxpayers gobs of money (see reference ‘a’ above).

But now that they’ve become institutionalized in the justice system, they’re a political football. Now we have lots of people whose livelihoods derive from the SOR’s, and an entire industry has built up around the maintenance and support of SOR’s (just like the prison system). To advocate sensible, logical approaches to the problem has become political suicide for the politicians and legislators. ..Continued.. by Phil Locke

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Judge rules convicted sex offender must remain on [Lifetime] registry until he can prove he is no longer a threat

12-30-15 New Hampshire:

A Manchester sex offender convicted 28 years ago will remain a lifetime registrant unless and until he proves he is no longer a threat, which, at least for now, he can ask to do at any time, a judge in Concord has ruled.

The decision, issued last week and distributed Monday by Merrimack County Superior Court, caps the latest phase in a years-long campaign by the man, identified by the court under the pseudonym John Doe, to become eligible for public housing.

Doe has long pressed to be removed from the state’s public registry of sex offenders, arguing that his conviction predated its creation. More recently, though, he asked the court to table that question and instead recognize that a recent state Supreme Court decision (Article HERE) effectively lifts his lifetime status – a smaller change, but one that could be enough to secure him housing eligibility.

In his new ruling, Judge Richard McNamara quickly rejected the request, writing that the higher court’s decision allows Doe to change his status only if and when he proves he is no longer a threat.

“If he never succeeds in showing that he is not a danger to the public, he must continue to register,” McNamara wrote. “It follows that the only accurate way to describe his status at the current time is that of a lifetime registrant.”

Doe is currently a Tier III “lifetime” offender, the state’s highest sex offender category. His attorneys had claimed he should no longer be classified as such because he now has the chance to petition to get off the registry, a privilege unavailable to Tier III offenders convicted after the registry’s creation in the early 1990s. Tier III offenders convicted today have no opportunities to get off the list.

Doe’s case was scheduled for an evidentiary hearing in November, but he backed out shortly before, citing his victim’s request to testify. She and victims advocates suspect he was worried she would easily derail the effort by describing the abuse and possibly disclosing new allegations (though the statute of limitations on new charges involving her has passed).

McNamara’s ruling was only a partial win for state prosecutors, who not only objected to Doe's petition but also asked that he be barred from bringing another request for five years. Like the Supreme Court, McNamara deferred to the Legislature on that question, saying it’s their responsibility to set parameters for how frequent the reviews should be.

Several state lawmakers are proposing new parameters, and hearings on their legislation, sponsored by Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley and two dozen others, are expected to begin next month. The bill prohibits offenders from getting off the list if they have been convicted of serious crimes since their original convictions. Among other things, it also requires that victims get the chance to address the court, and that offenders whose petitions have been denied wait five years before petitioning again.

Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public policy for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said the proposed language mirrors the requirements in place for lower tiered offenders who want to be removed from the registry.

Sexton called McNamara’s ruling “a big win for victims.”

Doe's attorneys, including Bill Chapman, a prominent local First Amendment lawyer who also represents the Monitor, said they were still reviewing the order Monday and needed to consult with his client before commenting publicly. They declined to discuss the possibility of an appeal.

State prosecutors declined to comment, noting that the litigation was still pending.

In arguing earlier this month for the five-year ban, Assistant Attorney General Dianne Martin said the victim, now in her 40s and living out of state, “had to go through preparation for this case, and she had to relive all the events that she suffered as a child.” She should not have to constantly wonder if and when Doe will bring another petition, Martin said.

Chapman countered that Doe, who is 66 and has physical disabilities, had no plans to request a hearing, but hoped to reserve the right to do so in case his physical condition deteriorates further.

Doe has not been present for the court proceedings. He was arrested last month and charged with failure to register, a felony. Police have said he created a Facebook account but never reported it, as required. He is out on bail and was scheduled for an arraignment at the end of this month.

Doe was convicted three decades ago of molesting the woman when she was a young teen in Hooksett, once in 1983 at Lambert Park and again the next year at their home, where the woman’s mother and three other children also lived. He was placed on probation and ordered to attend sex offender counseling, which he did weekly for two years.

In an interview last month, the victim said the abuse was far more pervasive than the convictions reflected. She said Doe sexually abused her numerous times over a decade, starting as a toddler and continuing into adolescence...Source.. by Jeremy Blackman

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Lawyer challenges Pasco predator ordinance

UPDATE: Pasco asks court to dismiss sex predator’s lawsuit over residency

12-30-15 Florida:

LUTZ — Instead of enjoying Christmas surrounded by his family in the Lutz home where he grew up, Earl Reyes Villagomeza passed the holidays alone in a cheap hotel room near the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Some would argue that’s exactly what a convicted child predator deserves — a lonely, isolated existence.

Tampa lawyer Patrick LeDuc, however, contends Villagomeza has paid for his crimes and deserves to go home.

He has filed a lawsuit against Pasco County, asserting the county’s sexual offender and sexual predator ordinance, passed by the county commission in April, is unconstitutional, calling the ordinance “unconstitutionally vague, overbroad and punitive.”

At the Dec. 15 Pasco County Commission meeting, the commission OK’d the county attorney’s request to defend the county against the lawsuit. Assistant County Attorney Kristi Sims will represent Pasco County.

But LeDuc believes the county is poised to spend a large hunk of taxpayer money on a defense it can’t win.

“They aren’t doing their taxpayers any favors. The Pasco County Commission is attempting to violate the constitutional rights of convicted sexual predators by making it impossible for them to live in Pasco County,” he said.

“I get it. Sex offenders are horrid people; the scum of the Earth,” said LeDuc. “But these types of laws really begin to go to a dark place. They’re trying to build a Chinese wall around Pasco County to keep these people out.”

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Florida’s Sexual Predator Act, passed in 1998, already prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, child-care centers, parks, playgrounds and other places where children gather.

But the Pasco County Commission, at the urging of County Commissioner Mike Moore and Sheriff Chris Nocco, unanimously passed its own ordinance, increasing the buffer to 2,500 feet, or about half a mile.

The Pasco ordinance also makes it illegal for registered sex offenders to give out candy on Halloween and establishes safety zones that make it illegal for them to be within 300 feet of school bus stops, public pools, skating rinks, Boys & Girls Clubs and other child-centered facilities.

Nocco said the new rules are needed to protect children against vicious predators.

“We’re not talking about Romeos and Juliets here,” he said. “These crimes are the worst of the worst.”

Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies arrested Villagomeza, 31, on Sept. 18, 2014, and charged him with three counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child age 12 to 15.

“He was accused of inappropriately touching over clothes,” said LeDuc.

His first offense, Villagomeza pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. Instead of receiving jail time, he was sentenced to two years of community control followed by eight years of sex offender probation.

But LeDuc said the punishment being imposed on Villagomeza by Pasco County goes way beyond community control.

“He has to wear a Scarlet A for the rest of his life,” said LeDuc, referring to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s historical novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” in which a woman accused of adultery is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her dress.

Villagomeza has lived at his parents’ home on Dockside Drive in Lutz since he was 3 years old, said LeDuc. Under the state’s sexual predator law, he still would be allowed to live there.

But Villagomeza is the first registered sex offender to fall under the county’s new residency restrictions. The 907 registered sex offenders living in Pasco prior to enactment of the ordinance are subject to the state’s less-restrictive statute, said LeDuc.

However, he foresees many more civil rights complaints against the county as convicted sex offenders are released from prison and attempt to return to their lives in Pasco County.

“If I were Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, I’d be very concerned,” he said. “This ordinance is going to force registered sex offenders to relocate to surrounding counties that fall under the state’s less-restrictive residency requirements.”

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In his 43-page complaint against Pasco County filed Oct. 8 in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, LeDuc details how it is impossible for Villagomeza to step foot in Pasco County without violating the county ordinance.

“Pasco includes home-schools. There are 1,200 home schools in Pasco County,” said LeDuc. “Offenders have to be 300 feet from a school bus stop. There are 4,400 bus stops in Pasco County. They have a list of 27 places these offenders aren’t allowed to go, including public and private parks, libraries, zoos, public beaches, game centers, carnivals and businesses where children gather.”

LeDuc said the ordinance doesn’t specify which businesses are off limits, so it is left up to the discretion of law enforcement.

“Target and Wal-Mart stores have toy departments where kids gather,” noted LeDuc. “Are they included? Under these restrictions, the only alternative for a registered predator is to pitch a tent in the Green Swamp.”

LeDuc believes the intent of Pasco’s ordinance is clear.

“They don’t want sex offenders in Pasco County,” he said. “If any county commissioner says otherwise, I’d call him a liar.”

Moore isn’t refuting the intent of the ordinance.

“We want to make it as difficult as possible to return or relocate back to Pasco to commit what, to me, are pretty sick crimes,” said Moore when he first proposed the ordinance in December 2014. “Quite a few municipalities (in Florida) have done similar things.

Miami-Dade County passed a more restrictive ordinance in 2010, and Lake County followed suit in 2012. Both counties now face legal challenges.

The city of Jacksonville’s ordinance was struck down by a Duval County court in 2007. The court concluded the city cannot pass an ordinance that preempts a state statute.

“Every court that’s dealt with this issue has concluded these statutes are unconstitutional,” said LeDuc. “Pasco County is going to lose huge.”

In the meantime, on Tuesday LeDuc filed an emergency motion for a temporary injunction to allow Villagomeza to return home until the lawsuit is resolved. A hearing on the motion tentatively is scheduled for Jan. 6.

“Yes, these guys have done terrible things and deserve to be punished,” said LeDuc. “But at what point do they find redemption? Whatever happened to the Judeo-Christian doctrine of grace and forgiveness?”

Assistant County Attorney Kristi Sims was unavailable for comment. ..Source.. by D’ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

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Lawsuit: West Lake Hills’ sex offender ordinance too restrictive

12-29-15 Texas:

WEST LAKE HILLS, Texas (KXAN) — Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, Inc., has filed a lawsuit against the City of West Lake Hills for its “sex offender residency restriction ordinance” (SORRO) which prohibits where registered sex offenders can live.

The nonprofit organization’s primary organizational purpose, as described in the petition, “is to promote a more balanced, effective and rational criminal justice system… and support persons required to register for sex related offenses and their families.”

The lawsuit claims West Lake Hills’ SORRO is legally invalid because “general law” cities in Texas, those with populations less than 5,000, have no constitutional authority to enact ordinances which prohibit where registered sex offenders may reside. Texas Voices for Reason and Justice says because of the city’s additional restrictions, a registered sex offender is essentially banned from residing within the City of West Lake Hills.

“It’s a problem. We’re getting calls from people and their families, who are registered all over Texas, that simply cannot find a place to live,” Texas Voices for Reason and Justice’s Executive Director Mary Sue Molnar told KXAN. “It (ordinance) pretty much BANISHES people who are registered”

West Lake Hills’ City Council passed its SORRO nearly 9 years ago, which states anyone on the sex offender registry cannot live within 1,000 feet of any defined premises where children commonly gather, including a playground, school, video arcade facility, youth center, day care center, public swimming pool, or school bus stop. A violation can be punished with a fine of up to $500 for each day a violation exists.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, the state sex offender registration program itself “does not prohibit registered sex offenders from living or going near places frequented by children. However, Texas community supervision and parole laws, as well as city ordinances, may require the imposition of a ‘child safety zone.’ A ‘child safety zone’ prohibits certain individuals from going in, on, or within a specified distance of a premise where children commonly gather (i.e. schools, day care facilities, or playgrounds). A violation of the ‘child safety zone’ can result in the revocation of the offender’s probation or parole, or a citation.”

According to the state sex offender registry, just four sex offenders currently reside within the West Lake Hills zip code.

“If people don’t have a place to live, they’re less likely to register. And then law enforcement doesn’t know where they are,” Molnar said.

West Lake Hills’ attorney tells us City Council has not yet decided whether the retain, amend, or repeal the ordinance.

Mary Ann Benson is a proud grandma and owner of Kinda Krazy Kids & Kompany, which opened in West Lake Hills 13 years ago.

“A children’s store or a baby’s store is a very happy place to be, and that was a goal,” Benson said, when thinking back to the motivation behind opening the shop.

The thing is, happiness, often hinges on safety. Something that paramount for parents, grandparents, and really, anyone.

“ANYONE, with any knowledge and love for people and relationships would want them to be safe. Anyone,” Benson said. “Especially our children, who are innocent and don’t have anyone necessarily to protect them.”

Pending lawsuits will determine just how far ordinances can go in the name of safety. Texas Voices for Reason and Justice has filed 14 lawsuits against Texas cities with a population of under 5,000 people that either did not repeal their sex offender ordinances, or did not respond to Texas Voices for Reason and Justice’s letters sent in early November.

KXAN’s Kylie McGivern asked, “For those who may listen tonight and say, well this is just an organization that’s looking to defend sex offenders, I mean – what would you say to that?”

Molnar responded saying, “It’s not that we’re trying to defend or minimize anything, we believe that people who break the law should be punished. But as some point we have to allow them the basic needs. Which IS a place to live.”

Molnar told KXAN that the following cities repealed their residency restrictions after the organization sent letters advising the claims that are now the basis of lawsuits against 14 cities: Orchard, Archer City, Oak Ridge, Justin, Cottonwood Shores, Winters, Hollywood Park, Pottsboro, Whitewright, Mount Enterprise, Van Horn, Woodville, Hubbard, Hamlin, and Shiner.

We’re told the following cities received notice today that they are being sued: Alvarado, Argyle, Brazoria, Bullard, Farmersville, Fulton, Hickory Creek, Meadows Place, Mount Vernon, Ponder, Oak Point, West Lake Hills, Westworth Village, and Winona.

“There may be a second round of lawsuits filed. We are still confirming information, and a few cities have asked for extensions until the middle of January,” Molnar explained.

It’s important to point out you can easily find out if a sex offender lives near you. The Texas Department of Public Safety lists the addresses of sex offenders on a statewide database. You can look at each zip code individually, or go through an online map to see who lives in your neighborhood. KXAN checked, and many of the sex offenders who live in Austin are located east of I-35.
Zip codes 78723, 78753 and 78741 have about 100 or more sex offenders. There are also several dozen registered in Downtown Austin. The majority are located at the ARCH Homeless Shelter. ..Source.. by Kylie McGivern

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ALERT: New Jersey's Rep Smith and International Megan's Law, Another Violation

12-29-15 Washington DC:

Here is what we know about International Megan's Law (IML) right now, it has been amended in the U.S. Senate and returned to the U.S. House for their approval before final voting on the bill. We also know there is going to be a second session of 114th Congress on 1-4-16 where bills can be voted on and passed into law. IML has gone to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The main U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HERE) is Chaired by Rep Ed Royce of California. However there are a few subcommittees, we are concerned with "Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations" which is Chaired by Rep Smith of New Jersey, author of IML.

Note: Certain Members serve on the FULL House Foreign Affairs Committee, and are also Members of a Subcommittee: See HERE. Rep Smith is one who serves on both. All of these committees must follow Committee rules. See HERE. Yes they are technical.

One thing we do know about Committees is, that bills only pass out of Committee if the Chairman of the committee says so. Clearly IML will have Rep Smith's support. However there are SEVEN other committee members from: California, Rhode Island, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and New York (See HERE right side).

It is strongly recommended that folks living in those states make their voices heard by contacting these folks specifically asking them to vote against IML for many reasons. One is that, IML violates the rights of any foreign sex offender coming to the United States (included in IML). We have often seen Foreign Courts REFUSE to extradite someone because they are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights and other foreign documents.

U.S. Citizens (including former sex offenders) are protected by that Convention when they are in a covered foreign country. Accordingly, if Congress votes to pass IML, they are voting AGAINST the principles and protections of the European Convention of Human Rights. Congress needs to be reminded of this VIOLATION when they vote on IML.

1-4-16 is fast approaching, folks need to act as quickly as possible. Contact your U.S Reps in Washington DC and raise this issue to them.

It is no wonder why many foreign powers dislike the U.S., this is one of the reasons; Congressional disrespect of foreign laws.

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Court: Sex offenders have 1st Amendment right to photograph children

9-22-15 Wisconsin:

A Wisconsin law prohibiting registered sex offenders from photographing children in public violates their right to free speech, the state Court of Appeals held Tuesday.

The decision by the Wausau-based District 3 court reversed the conviction of a 44-year-old Green Bay man who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the non-pornographic photos. It also found the law unconstitutional on its face, not salvageable by a narrowed interpretation or severing part of the statute.

Because of a 2002 child sexual assault conviction, Christopher J. Oatman was on probation in February 2011, when his agent searched his apartment and found a camera and cellphone. On them, authorities found photos Oatman had taken the previous fall of children outside his residence doing things like riding skateboards, jumping rope and dropping stones in a soda bottle. None involved nudity or obscenity.

He was charged with 16 counts of intentionally photographing children without their parents' consent, and later pleaded no contest to eight so he could appeal on the constitutional issue. The judge sentenced Oatman last year to consecutive 18-month prison terms, the maximum, on each count.

In an opinion written by Reserve Judge Thomas Cane, and joined by judges Lisa Stark and Thomas Hruz, the court found that even sex offenders have free speech rights to take non-obscene, non-pornographic photographs of children in public places.

Any law that aims to restrict speech based on its content must be narrowly drawn to protect a compelling state interest. The court found the law at issue failed both tests.

While protecting children is such an interest, the court said, the law doesn't accomplish that. In fact, it could actually encourage offenders to make personal contact with children, in order to ask who their parents are so the offender might ask permission to take the photos.

"Further, children are not harmed by non-obscene, non-pornographic photographs taken in public places," the court said.

It quoted a U.S. Supreme Court case that "reaffirmed that where the speech is neither obscene nor the product of sexual abuse, it does not fall outside the protection of the First Amendment."

The court said it does not like the idea that some people might gain sexual gratification from ordinary photos of children, but that laws can't ban protected speech just because it might lead to crime.

"First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end," the decision reads, quoting a U.S. Supreme Court case.

"The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought."

The state tried to argue that if a sex offender photographs children only to privately view them, the offender's First Amendment rights are not affected.

But the court noted that "sharing images is customarily the very reason for photography," and the Wisconsin law makes it illegal for parents — if they are registered sex offenders — to take a first-day-of-school picture to send to grandparents. ..Source.. by Bruce Vielmetti

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H.R.2029 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Includes Funding for AWA Programs)

12-23-15 Washington DC:

The President has signed HR-2029 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 into law.

The essence of this LAW is to refund all sorts of programs, including the Adam Walsh Act.

This means whatever AWA authorized originally, or as amended since 2006, (Grants etc.) has been refunded again.

This is not something that can be changed as it is now law.

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ALERT: H.J.Res.76 - Appointing the day for the convening of the second session of the 114th Congress.

12-22-15 Washington DC:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the second regular session of the 114th Congress shall begin at noon on Monday, January 4, 2016. ..Source..

All Advocates need to be aware of this SECOND SESSION where bills can be passed into law.

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Federal Judge Enjoins Enforcement of Sex Offender Premises Restriction

12-20-15 North Carolina:

A federal judge has permanently enjoined all North Carolina district attorneys from enforcing G.S. 14-208.18(a)(3), the law intended to prohibit certain sex offenders from being at places where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational, or social programs.

The case is Doe v. Cooper, No. 1:13CV711 (M.D.N.C. Dec. 7, 2015). In it, five registered sex offenders filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of North Carolina challenging the constitutionality of all three premises restrictions of G.S. 14-208.18. As many readers know, that law has three subdivisions that spell out three types of places certain registered sex offenders may not “knowingly be”: ..Continued.. by Jamie Markham

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Michigan Supreme Court takes major case involving sex offender list

12-20-15 Michigan:

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to look at the case of a man who's on the sex offender list for life, although his conviction was erased nearly 20 years ago. Among the issues: Is it "punishment" to be placed on the registry?

The man was 19 when he was charged with kissing and groping a 12-year-old girl in Wayne County. He pleaded guilty, but his conviction was erased in 1997 after he completed three years of probation. A law gives breaks to young offenders who commit crimes but subsequently stay out of trouble.

Nonetheless, he's on the sex offender list. In an order released Saturday, the Supreme Court said it will take up the appeal (of BOBAN TEMELKOSKI ). The court wants lawyers to address several issues, including whether the registry in some cases violates the constitution as "cruel and unusual punishment." ..Source..

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International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders'.

UPDATE 12-22-15: ALERT: H.J.Res.76 - Appointing the day for the convening of the second session of the 114th Congress.

12-18-15 Washington DC:

The Senate passed HR 515 formerly known as "International Megan's Law" with another NEW title "International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders" and added a section about Passports.

Essentially, all current passports for folks CONVICTED of a sex offense/s MUST be reissued, with the words "SEX OFFENDER" prominently displayed on the passport. And all new passports for folks convicted of sex offenses will be issued with same wording.

Note 12-21-15: Interestingly, the bill on the Thomas website which supposedly includes the Senate amendments (which my comments above were drawn from), and the Senate amendments as published in the Federal Register, are at odds with each other as to "covered sex offenders." Although I note this point it is likely mute given no Congressional action on the bill as of today.

The Senate also added a section for appropriating funding ($6,000,000) for each of these years (2017-2019) to implement IML.

The Senate then sent the bill with changes back to the House for them to review and pass. It is very likely this will be on the FAST TRACK because lawmakers want to go home for Christmas break.

Advocates and their families and others need to immediately contact their U.S. House Representatives and object to the entire IML bill (and concept), and any other similar bills that may arise.

The FULL bill may be found HERE and the Senate Amendments HERE (The Corker amendment [Sen Bob Corker R-TN] in the Federal Register).

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You now have to get a license to use consumer-grade drones

So far our stories on drones can be found HERE and HERE

12-17-2015 Washington DC:

Drones — the consumer type often featured at Android Area, not the big spy machines the governments use — have exploded in popularity in recent years, and many people are taking to the skies to fly their own small air vehicles. These drones tend to be safe in responsible hands and haven’t caused many problems yet, but the FAA wants to get a handle on this thing in the early going before air space is dominated by people exercising their right to enjoy their hobby.

It is now required to register for a license to operate any drone that weighs between .55 and 55 pounds, which pretty much covers the entire gamut of technology available. The licenses cost $5 and last for 3 years, and if you register before January 20th you’ll get your money back (but is anyone really fretting over $5?).

Registration requires giving your name, email address and mailing address to the FAA, though those are also small prices to pay to ensure you can continue flying without a problem. It may be annoying, but the government typically doesn’t mess around when it comes to ensuring public safety, and their desire to start regulating drone usage is a natural step as the technology matures and becomes more popular. Registration begins December 21st, and you can do so right here. ..Source..

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Feds to Cops: Avoid Gender Bias When Investigating LGBT and Sex Crimes

12-16-15 Washington DC:

The U.S. Justice Department today issued new guidance to law enforcement agencies across the United States intended to end gender bias in how police respond to crimes against women and LGBT people, specificlly those involving sexual assault and domestic violence.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch made the announcement in Washington, D.C., highlighting what she called the need for transparently clear policies, better and more intensive training, and systems that ensure both accountability and community responsiveness.

“While the brunt of sexual and domestic violence is borne disproportionately by women and LGBT individuals,” Lynch said, “make no mistake: It is an affront to us all, threatening the integrity of our communities and violating the dignity of our fellow citizens.”

The guidance — which a Justice Department statement explained was developed in collaboration with law enforcement leaders and advocates nationwide — is aimed at helping state, local, and tribal authorities do a better job investigating allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“Gender bias, whether explicit or implicit, can severely undermine law enforcement’s ability to protect survivors of sexual and domestic violence and hold offenders accountable,” said Lynch.

Read more about the guidance from Attorney General Lynch here, from the Department of Justice. ..Source.. by DOJ Press Release

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Hall v. North Carolina: Petition for certiorari denied

See earlier post!

12-16-15 Washington DC:

Hall v. North Carolina: Petition for certiorari denied on December 14, 2015

Issue: Whether the retroactive application of a sex offender program violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution where the program imposes numerous onerous obligations and restrictions upon a registrant for life, with no opportunity to terminate registration even upon a showing that the registrant does not pose a threat to public safety.

Unfortunately this was an important case for registrants, but the time wasn't right.

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Asian Girl Band Detained at LAX Because Officials Think They Must Be Sex Workers

12-14-15 California:

Members of the South Korean pop group "Oh My Girl" fall victim to U.S. sex-trafficking hysteria.

Hold onto your Fourth Amendment rights, folks, a new kind of racial profiling is coming to America. Because, really, why would a group of young Asian women come here if not to enter the sex trade? At least that seems to be the attitude of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, who detained the South Korean pop band Oh My Girl at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) last week on alleged suspicion that the young women were sex workers.

On December 9, the eight band members—in Los Angeles for a photo shoot and concert—were denied entry to LAX and held for 15 hours while officials questioned them, according to a statement from Oh My Girl's management. Eventually the band gave up and went back home.

From the statement:

The person in charge of customs asked Oh My Girl and the staff what relationship they had with each other, and one of the staff used the word 'sister' and a misunderstanding occurred. They thought it was strange that we were not blood related, but said that we were 'sisters'. And so they took extra attention to the large quantity of items and outfits we had. And since the members are young girls, they were mistaken as 'working women' (prostitutes) which the U.S. has a big issue with right now.

After the misunderstanding was resolved, we were sent back to the airport immigration office, and had communication with the airport staff, and our opinion was not straightened out. And in the previous step, our phones were seized and it was an extreme situation where we could not contact anyone outside. The company was detained for a long period of 15 hours, and we decided to go back to Korea because of the members who were tired physically and emotionally.

A lawyer in the U.S. is taking the effort to make sure the unjust treatment of being detained is valid or not. We sincerely apologize for causing anxiety and thank everyone who worried for us.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection initially told the Los Angeles Times that it could neither confirm nor deny the group’s story. But an unnamed Customs official later told the paper that the band's statement was false, and the real reason Oh My Girl was detained was because they were trying to travel as tourists, rather than with a performance visa.* Oh My Girl's management claim a performance visa shouldn't have been necessary because the band was participating in a mulit-performer promo event, not holding its own concert. ..Continued.. by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

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Sex Offenses Reported via NIBRS in 2013

12-14-15 Washington DC:

The purpose of this study is to show the value and utility of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a crime data collection of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Based on 2013 data submissions, 38.3 percent of law enforcement agencies that participated in the UCR Program reported crime in this incident-based format. In 2013, 15 states reported all crime data to the FBI’s UCR Program via the NIBRS, and another 22 states reported their agencies’ data through both the NIBRS and Summary Reporting System (SRS) data.

This report, the first in a series of reports using the more detailed data collected in NIBRS, focuses on sex offenses. In NIBRS, sex offenses are subdivided into six specific offense types: rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, fondling, incest, and statutory rape.1

The benefit of using NIBRS data is that it allows data users to review details that are not readily available with SRS data. In the SRS, detailed incident information is aggregated and summarized into crime counts per month. For example, by looking at all sex offenses combined, the most likely victims of sex offenses were teenage females.

However, by examining details collected about each of the separate sex offense types, the data revealed that the most likely victims of sodomy were 5-year-old males.

The following pages provide details about each sex offense type. Each report was written to stand alone. Because of this, the reports use a similar format to provide a consistent view of the data.

In 2013, more than 4.9 million (4,927,535) criminal incidents were reported via NIBRS, and 1.4 percent (69,979) of those incidents involved at least one sex offense. For those incidents that involved a sex offense, there were 75,652 victims and 76,724 offenders. Most incidents (94.6 percent) involved only one offender. Slightly more than 31 percent (31.1) of incidents (21,738) were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.

1Each offense type may be reported more than once per incident.

The above comes from this ..Source.. lower left hand corner, click on "NIBBRS 2014" then see "Additional Reports" lower page. Just below that.

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Law could make sex offender data more accessible

12-11-15 Oregon:

There are 115 sex offenders registered in Baker County but only one will show up in a search of the Oregon State Police’s website. And he no longer lives in Baker County.

In fact, Wesley Scott Michael Kenny is included on the list only because this is the last county in which he registered, says Lt. Will Benson, Baker County Parole and Probation manager.

Kenny left the area, committed new crimes and is serving prison time somewhere in the South, Benson said.

The reason for the lack of information about registered sex offenders online is the result of Oregon law that prior to January 2014 limited OSP’s authority to list sex offenders on public websites to only those deemed “predatory” by the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision.

The new system, which will evaluate and place sex offenders at Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 is a “new and improved” way to help law enforcement agencies better inform their communities of an offender’s risk of committing more crimes, said Brenda Carney, executive director of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision.

The change came about by a new law passed in 2013: House Bill 2549.

Unfortunately, the law was an unfunded mandate, Carney says. The 2015 Legislature authorized money to put the leveling system into practice and that work is getting under way.

But it will take time for state officials to evaluate the approximately 28,000 registered sex offenders. And only those deemed Level 3 offenders, those with the highest risk to re-offend, will make the OSP online sex offender notification system, which includes the website and local notifications, such as through press releases to the media, about where these offenders live.

“It’s a work in progress,” Carney said. “We’re jumping in head first.”

The law calls for the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision to conduct a risk assessment for all sex offenders before they are released from custody. ..Continued.. by Chris Collins

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Sexually Abused Woman Appeals Her Own Sex Offender Label

12-10-15 Ohio:

An Ohio woman who had been sexually abused as a child, later convicted of promoting prostitution, was told she had to register as a sex offender. Her actual crime? Driving a friend to what turned out to be a prostitution sting.

Aimee Hart, 42, pictured, was granted judicial release after serving seven months of an 18-month sentence for “promoting prostitution.” She is continuing with an appeal of the felony conviction because she doesn’t believe she should have to register as a sex offender, as she did after she was released last month.

“I personally feel that they perverted the intention of the law to fit my circumstances,” Hart said in an interview. “I think it was a miscarriage of justice the way I got convicted and what they’ve done to me in connection to it. As somebody who lived through serious sexual abuse as a child, it makes me sick to my stomach. The sex offender thing is overkill and irrelevant to what I did. It puts me in the category with people who are predators and prey on other people and take advantage of them either for their own good or to make money off them.”

Tiffany Isaacs, the woman Hart drove and who asked Hart for a condom once she got to the sting location, was sentenced only for a misdemeanor solicitation charge. She was not required to register as a sex offender.

“She got a misdemeanor and did 60 days and I got a felony and was sentenced to 18 months, which I served seven and then I have to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years of my life, all because I gave my friend a ride,” Hart said. “I’m not at all saying that there shouldn’t have been some consequence. I would have gladly done 60 days on some sort of misdemeanor just the way she did.”

Hart was charged under a revised Ohio law that stripped language about transportation for sex-for-hire needing to be across state or county lines. The promoting prostitution statute states only that a person must knowingly transport another to facilitate sexual activity for hire. ..Source.. by Peter Van Buren

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Failure to Register is Not a Separate and Distinct Sex Offense

12-9-2015 Texas:

Is Failure to Register as a Sex Offender a Sex Offense Itself?

At his trial, Eric Putnam pleaded guilty for “failure to register as a sex offender,” a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250 that “carries a statutory range [of punishment] for supervised release of five years to life.” 18 U.S.C. § 3583(k). A Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (“PSR”), calculated Putnam’s punishment for supervised release at 15 years, treating his conviction of Failure to Register as an additional sex offense under section 5D1.2(b)(2).

PSRs are reports used by federal courts to assist the court in measuring a defendant’s punishment under the US Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Courts have discretion in determining type and length of punishment, sometimes deviating from the recommendation of the PSR. For Putnam, the district court adopted the PSR, sentencing him to ten months imprisonment followed by a supervised release term of 15 years.

See the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in United States v. Putnam

Putnam appealed the 15-year term of supervised release, contending the district court erroneously treated his conviction for Failure to Register on the sex offender registry as a separate sex offense in and of itself. Because Putnam failed to object to the length of the sentence at the time of trial, essentially waiving his right to appeal the sentence on the merits, he must show (1) that a “plain error” was made at the sentencing phase of his trial, and, (2) that the “plain error” affected his substantial rights. United States v. Warren, 720 F.3d 321, 332 (5th Cir. 2013); United States v. Escalante-Reyes, 689 F.3d 415, 419 (5th Cir. 2012) (en banc). The “Plain Error Doctrine” refers to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) that permits federal courts of appeals to consider “plain errors” even though they were not brought to the district court’s attention at the time of trial.

Here, the government “concedes that a plain error [did] occur with respect to the Guidelines calculation for the length of…the supervised release term.” In earlier case law, the Fifth Circuit has held, “that failure to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act does not qualify as a sex offense under section 5D1.2(b)(2) of the Guidelines.” United States v. Segura, 747 F.3d, 323,329-31 (5th Cir. 2014). The Court agrees with the government and with Putnam—that a plain error did in fact occur at trial, and that the recommended sentence on the PSR should have included a supervised release from one to five years, instead of the range of five years to life.

Next, the Court explained, “Putnam has met his burden of showing that the [plain] error affected his substantial rights…[because] but for the district court’s misapplication of the [Sentencing] Guidelines, Putnam would have received a lesser sentence.” United States v. Mudekunye, 646 F.3d 281, 289 (5th Cir. 2011) (per curiam). A defendant meets the burden of showing that plain error affected his substantial rights when: ..Continued.. by BH&W

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