Guy Hamilton-Smith writes a guest blog post for the Comparative Penology website, explaining how U.S. sex offender registries promote social isolation and "civil death."Here is an excerpt:Oscar Wilde, writing from his cell in the Reading Gaol where he was imprisoned for homosexuality at the end of the nineteenth century, observed that "society reserves for itself … Continue reading On America’s Civil Death Penalty: The Sexual Offense Registry
Expert: Crime registries turn people into pariahs with "very little to lose"
Another good article explains why registries are a bad idea. In a column at The Appeal, Jessica Pishko writes that public crime registries -- including sex offender registries -- do not work and are even harmful, even though they are popular with the public and politicians.While public sex offender registries are now required by federal … Continue reading Expert: Crime registries turn people into pariahs with "very little to lose"
Federal Court dismisses latest challenge to International Megan’s Law
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws reports on another disappointing court ruling. A federal judge in California has upheld the latest challenge to the constitutionality of International Megan's Law.A federal district court dismissed the recent IML challenge yesterday when it granted the government’s Motion to Dismiss a legal challenge to the International Megan’s Law … Continue reading Federal Court dismisses latest challenge to International Megan’s Law
Federal Court upholds denial of registrant’s right to sponsor wife for citizenship
A federal court ruling of note as reported byACSOL:The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that an individual convicted of a sex offense does not have the right to sponsor his foreign-born wife for citizenship in the United States in a decision published on July 5. The court’s decision was based … Continue reading Federal Court upholds denial of registrant’s right to sponsor wife for citizenship
Conference call to address scams targeting registered citizens
NARSOL will be hosting a conference call July 19 that may be of interest, to address the reports of telephone scams targeting registered citizens in Nebraska and across the nation.From NARSOL.org:By Sandy . . . The use of the registry by vigilantes to target registered citizens is one of the more harmful and deplorable consequences … Continue reading Conference call to address scams targeting registered citizens
2018 ACSOL Conference videos now available online
Watch videos and read the handouts from the ACSOL 2018 Conference, held June 15 and 16 in Los Angeles.The conference featured many timely and informative presentations.Click here for a link to the conference website. Scroll down to the section labeled "2018 Videos & Handouts."
Sex offender registries do more harm than good
In a column for the Canadian publication, the National Post, Marni Soupcoff writes that sex offender registries in both Canada and the United States (but especially the public registries in the USA) really don't make much sense. She uses a recent case from New Hampshire to illustrate her point.Just a couple of weeks ago, the New … Continue reading Sex offender registries do more harm than good
Dobbs Wire: Registry increases by 3.3% in six months
Bill Dobbs provides the latest report on the number of registered sex offenders in the United States, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) just released its latest map which shows the latest figures for sex offense registries in all states. (NCMEC is a private … Continue reading Dobbs Wire: Registry increases by 3.3% in six months
Challenging the punitiveness of ‘new-generation’ SORN laws
Wayne A. Logan of the Florida State University College of Law has an article in the 21 New Law Review article worth checking out.Here is the abstract:Sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws have been in effect nationwide since the 1990s, and publicly available registries today contain information on hundreds of thousands of individuals. To … Continue reading Challenging the punitiveness of ‘new-generation’ SORN laws
Convicted of violating a law that does not exist
Commentary from the Cato Institute on a relevant case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this fall.Herman Gundy stands convicted of violating a law that, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t exist. You may recall from high school civics that the Constitution separates the powers of the federal government among three coordinate branches. … Continue reading Convicted of violating a law that does not exist
