County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable

The Newberry city commissioners in Alachua County considered expanding their residency restrictions beyond the state’s 1000 feet.  The city attorney said that “while a stricter code would be allowable, it may not be enforceable because the state will not prosecute a local ordinance that is not also a violation of state law, unless the city enters into an agreement with

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PANICKED LEGISLATION

By Catherine L. Carpenter Professor Carpenter says we are in a sex panic which “has bred widespread and ever-escalating legislation, impacted the lives of more than a million people and their families, and caused public hysteria and violence.”  (Notre Dame Journal of Legislation, “Panicked Legislation,” Catherine L. Carpenter, 49 Notre Dame J. Leg. 1 (2023)) Carpenter says that this fear

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Washington panel might push for changes in sex offender laws

The Washington State Sex Offender Policy Board might be making some recommendations in 2024: Do away with community notifications about sex offenders when they move into neighborhoods. Make registries only available to law enforcement. Research shows that community notification and registries are ineffective.  There are also websites that let the public know who is on the registry and where each

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Government reports can be misleading

The following information has already been posted at our site but is being posted again for those that did not see the original post. Justice Policy Journal, Spring 2016, “Bad Data: How government agencies distort statistics on sex-crime recidivism”, Alissa R. Ackerman and Marshall Burns,  http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/jpj_bad_data.pdf Ackerman and Burns looked at 287 studies of sexual recidivism rates and selected seven

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Crestview passes sex offender ordinance based on incorrect information

At the Crestview Council meeting on September 25, 2023, one of the members quoted from a 2019 government study, saying that 67% of “these people” will be arrested again within 9 years, with the implication being for another sex offense.  The study that was cited was the 2019 Bureau of Justice Statistics report “Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from State

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Video of Crestview City Council Members’ Discussion of Sex Offender Ordinance

On September 25, 2023, the Crestview City Council voted 3 to 1 in favor of a sex offender ordinance that will expand the residency restriction from the state’s 1000 feet to 1500 feet from schools, day care facilities, parks, playgrounds, SCHOOL BUS STOPS, and COMMUNITY CENTERS. Councilman Bullard is to be commended for not supporting this ordinance because of some

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A day and a life to celebrate

By Jon Cruz First published at narsol.org New York is one of relatively few states not to classify people required to register for past sexual offenses through an automatic rubric; it conducts a hearing to determine one’s “risk level” to the community. When I once inquired of an attorney why Florida did not conduct individual risk assessments, I was told

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New Smyrna Beach not truly committed to ending homelessness

Brenno Carillo with the Daytona Beach News-Journal says that homelessness in New Smyrna Beach has become a growing issue.  The city’s solution is to partner “with Daytona Beach’s First Step Shelter to offer temporary housing and rehabilitation services to willing homeless people.” If you are on the sex offender registry, they will not help you; therefore, New Smyrna Beach is

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The weaponization of laws against children in the United States

A father in Ohio turned to police for help after learning that his 11-year-old daughter had been manipulated into sending explicit photos to an adult.  When asked what the police could do, one of the officers responded by saying that his daughter could be arrested for producing CP.  The officer was referring to a law that was created to protect

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