Read and Comment: 25 Years After Court Ruling, Released Sex Offenders Endure ‘Shadow Prisons’

On June  23 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Kansas v. Hendricks, upheld the practice of detaining people convicted of sexual offenses beyond prison sentences under the guise of treatment. The landmark 5-4 ruling also concluded that the Kansas law governing the practice did not constitute  double jeopardy since it merely authorized “civil” rather than “criminal” commitments. Taken together with  Kansas v.

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WI: Winnebago County approves $1 million housing project for released violent sex offenders

The Winnebago County Board passed a resolution Tuesday night to spend just over $1 million to build a housing facility for certain violent sex offenders that state law requires the county to house. Multiple single-resident housing units would be built on county property near County Y to house recently released offenders. In 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a law shifting the responsibility to

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NY: Under public pressure, Pleasant Night Inn owners bar sex offenders from West Carthage hotel

The owners of the Pleasant Night Inn have said they no longer wish to house registered sex offenders. In a letter to the Jefferson County Department of Social Services, for which the Inn provides rooms to house people in emergency housing programs, owner Pratesh R. Patel requested that no registered sex offenders be placed in the hotel. “As of July

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NARSOL: FL sheriff posts “blue & red house” map on Facebook, ignores threats to registrants

“I’m worried for my family,” he wrote. “Today the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office decided to put a picture of a map of all the houses where registered citizens live on its Facebook page. The comments that were allowed are absolutely disgusting.” As I read the email, I could feel the fear that the writer was expressing. I’m the communications director

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Phone scam: Pay or be placed on sex offender registry

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A new phone scam is making its way around the Nashville area. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Fraud and Sex Crimes detectives, the scam sees Nashvillians called by someone claiming to be from the department warning them they’ll be placed on the sex offender registry unless they pay the caller money. The caller uses

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Florida appeals court approves ‘gain time’ for a man convicted of an attempted sex crime on a child

Rejecting longstanding legal precedent, a state appeals court said Friday that a man convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child is eligible to be considered for early release from prison. Judge Adam Tanenbaum, in a 22-page majority decision, said state law bars gain time for people convicted of committing sexual battery — but not, as in the Gould case,

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As sex offenders around Tampa Bay age, where will they go for nursing care?

Roughly a third of all registered sex offenders in Pinellas County are 55 or older, according to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office data. Many have spent decades behind bars and are reentering society as older adults. When their health deteriorates, these seniors often are barred from accessing housing that can meet their medical needs, even as research suggests their risk of

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DE: HB306 is purely punitive

House Bill 306 is before the Delaware Legislature. For the 4,500-plus Delawareans who appear on the state Sex Offender Registry, the proposed legislation changes the restrictions designation on the front of their driver’s license from the current “Y” to “SO.” The bill retains the words “sex offender” that already appear on the back of licenses. HB306 proposes nothing to make

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