At his Life on the List blog, Steven Yoder has a couple pieces detailing how sex offender registries lead to vigilante attacks against registrants and their families.In one post, Yoder lists some of the more egregious examples of vigilantism that occurred in 2017 and explains how the government lists themselves tacitly encourage such actions.First, the public […]
Tag Archives: reporters we would love to see working in Nebraska
Pennsylvania Legislature weighing changes to sex offender registry
Legislators in Pennsylvania are considering their options after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that changes to the sex offender registry approved in 2011 couldn’t be applied retroactively.Similar to what happened in Nebraska, the changes in Pennsylvania’s law resulted in hundreds more people being added to the state’s public sex offender registry and others had their […]
Dear Reporters: Consider the truth about sex offender registry
Steven Yoder writes an open letter to local reporters to put facts before fear when covering stories about registered citizens.Good reporting means better governance. An issue as important as sexual violence badly requires your objectivity and independent judgment to move our leaders away from policies that waste money or cause needless pain, and toward those […]
DA to ask Supreme Court to review Pennsylvania sex offender registry decision
The District Attorney of Cumberland County Pennsylvania says he’ll ask the U.S Supreme Court to review a recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that found the state’s current sex offender registration law is punishment and can’t be applied retroactively.Just as in Nebraska, many Pennsylvanians saw their registration requirements increase when the state changed its […]
When autism, child pornography, and the courts collide
Are people with autism over-represented among those prosecuted for possession of child pornography? In an investigation for the Marshall Project, Anat Rubin spoke with autism experts and family members of men who have been prosecuted who are convinced that autism made their loved on more susceptible to downloading child porn. Rubin followed the ordeal of one family.The […]
Report questions effectiveness of sex offender registries
Writing for the Sentinel of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, reporter Joshua Vaughn questions the effectiveness of sex offender registries — especially since most new sex crimes are committed by first-time offenders.The Sentinel reviewed more than 450 charged sex crime cases in Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, Franklin and Adams counties in 2016 and found only 15 cases where the […]
Report highlights uselessness of residency restrictions
A report from a Fox television station in Wisconsin highlights the uselessness of sex offender residency restrictions.Reporter Brad Hicks explains how Wisconsin laws require registrants to live near places they’re supposed to stay away from, and he highlights the low recidivism rates for sex offenders.[A]n exhaustive study by the state here in Wisconsin reveals recidivism […]
Newspaper takes a closer look at sex offender registry
A recent article we linked to examining the effectiveness of sex offender registries is actually part of a series of stories published in the Sentinel of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, that looks at the registry from a variety of perspectives.The series includes an overview of Pennsylvania’s sexoffender registry.Also included is an in-depth article explaining that the counselor […]
former inmates Kerik and Nacchio talk about prison
Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, and former Qwest Communications CEO Joseph Nacchio may have done prison time for white collar crimes, not sex offenses, but they make important points about prison reform in this CNBC interview.Both men talk about their time in prison–their worst day, time in solitary, what they feared–and they push to educate […]
From San Diego City Beat: Tier It Up
California has the biggest sex-offender registry in the U.S.—for no good reason By Kelly DavisCalifornia is one of only four states that require adults convicted of certain sex crimes to register with local law enforcement each year for life. Crime-free for 50 years? Bedridden? It doesn’t matter. This lifetime requirement has turned California’s registry into […]
