Heartless: A homeless encampment under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Florida became a national and international news story nearly a decade ago. The camp formed because banishment laws had pushed individuals on the sex offense registry into homelessness. More politely known as “residency restrictions,” such laws do nothing to improve public safety while creating a human rights mess. Forced to relocate over the years, once again authorities are demanding that homeless registrants move. Where? There’s “almost nowhere to go.” Arrests are threatened. Will this awfulness ever stop? Solidarity to those fighting to survive on the streets, their allies at Florida…

Continue reading

Heartless: A homeless encampment under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Florida became a national and international news story nearly a decade ago. The camp formed because banishment laws had pushed individuals on the sex offense registry into homelessness. More politely known as “residency restrictions,” such laws do nothing to improve public safety while creating a human rights mess. Forced to relocate over the years, once again authorities are demanding that homeless registrants move. Where? There’s “almost nowhere to go.” Arrests are threatened. Will this awfulness ever stop? Solidarity to those fighting to survive on the streets, their allies at Florida…

Continue reading

Fear and loathing: New York’s top court comes up with a crazy decision. Could the fact that this case involves a sex offense explain the ruling? Have a look at Jacob Sullum’s incisive report for Reason. Appellate Squawk, an erudite appellate defender whose identity is kept a closely guarded secret, has a short, pungent post on the case as well. -Bill Dobbs, The Dobbs Wire April 30th, 2018 In New York a defendant can be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life based on accusations a jury rejected. So the state’s highest court ruled…

Continue reading

Fear and loathing: New York’s top court comes up with a crazy decision. Could the fact that this case involves a sex offense explain the ruling? Have a look at Jacob Sullum’s incisive report for Reason. Appellate Squawk, an erudite appellate defender whose identity is kept a closely guarded secret, has a short, pungent post on the case as well. -Bill Dobbs, The Dobbs Wire April 30th, 2018 Comes now New York’s highest court with the holding that an accuser’s trial testimony constitutes clear and convincing evidence of the truth of her accusations, even though the jury found her not…

Continue reading

Fake recidivism numbers: Illinois has a law banishing individuals on the sex offense registry from public parks. In 2017 an Illinois appeals court struck down the statute, saying “it bears no reasonable relationship to protecting the public.” Now comes the Illinois Supreme Court with a unanimous ruling upholding the park ban. Fake recidivism numbers don’t seem to bother the court much as fear and spinelessness triumph over reason! Kudos to Marc Pepitone and his legal eagle Katherine Strohl for waging this fight. Stay tuned, one of the claims has been sent to a lower court and the litigation is expected…

Continue reading

Consequences: A listing on the sex offense registry carries many consequences. Registered individuals face rampant discrimination in jobs, housing, education, healthcare and many other areas of life. Anti-discrimination laws rarely include people who have a ‘record.’ So there’s little recourse and, even more alarming, much discrimination is required — by state and federal laws that bar registrants from various occupations, housing, schools, loans, and more. Sometimes the terrible treatment escalates to harassment. And then there are physical attacks, including ones that prove fatal. How did we get to this point? What has been unleashed? Registration turns people into lepers and…

Continue reading

Consequences: A listing on the sex offense registry carries many consequences. Registered individuals face rampant discrimination in jobs, housing, education, healthcare and many other areas of life. Anti-discrimination laws rarely include people who have a ‘record.’ So there’s little recourse and, even more alarming, much discrimination is required — by state and federal laws that bar registrants from various occupations, housing, schools, loans, and more. Sometimes the terrible treatment escalates to harassment. And then there are physical attacks, including ones that prove fatal. How did we get to this point? What has been unleashed? Registration turns people into lepers and…

Continue reading