Author: FAC Contributor #1

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international non-profit that promotes digital rights, has filed an Amicus Brief in Packingham v. North Carolina. What does this mean? In 2002, a 21 year old by the name of Lester Packingham committed an offense that put him on the sex offender registry. Long after, the State of North Carolina (where he lives) passed a

On Sept. 30, 2016, in a Los Angeles suburb, 48-year-old Michael Zinzun, a homeless man on the California sex offender registry, approached a woman sleeping on a park bench and reportedly asked if she wanted to smoke meth. When she turned him down, he allegedly started sexually assaulting her. As she screamed, he dragged her away, pushed her over a

Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and joyous holiday. Wishing all of us success in our efforts in 2017! Sincerely, The Florida Action Committee

MASON CITY, Iowa – More sex offenders could soon be off of the streets thanks to a new project that will help identify them. [FAC COMMENT: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? “OFF THE STREETS”? IF THEY ARE NOT IN JAIL, THEY PRESUMABLY HAVE COMPLETED THEIR SENTENCES. WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO BE OFF THE STREETS?] The Iowa Department of Public Safety

As a criminal justice advocate, I am strongly in favor of bills that scale back harsh and overly punitive laws. Knowing how difficult it is for a “felon” to find a job and housing, it was exciting to read about California’s Proposition 64 that would allow people convicted of certain drug felonies for possession, transportation or cultivation of marijuana to petition

In Bristol, England, a man who killed another for being a sex offender only got 7 years in Prison. Matthew Hill followed the victim into the park, starting calling him a “wrong’un”, “paedo” and “nonce”, then punched him, leaving him dead before fleeing. Incredibly light sentence for murder, don’t you think?

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd loves the spotlight. He’s most famous for his press conferences where he features a poster-board containing the pictures of suspects arrested in one of his “stings”. He’s also famous for coming up with creative names for them. This one; “Operation Not So Silent Night”. Nifty, right? A play on the holiday season. Except the only

A new study looks at the residential patterns of registered sex offenders 15 years after arrest. The issue: Numerous state and local governments have adopted policies restricting where registered sex offenders can live. Often, they are prohibited from living within a certain distance of a school, daycare center, park or other place where children gather. In some parts of the country,

Just before the deadline, as expected, Michigan filed a petition asking the US Supreme Court to review Doe v. Snyder.   So far this effort to get help from the Supreme Court hasn’t made the news; the legal papers are not yet online.  If you want to see the state’s petition, drop me a line.   Doe v. Snyder is an

Dr. Donna Vandiver, Dr. Jeremy Braithwaite and Dr. Mark Stafford wrote the book on sex offenders. Literally. A new textbook written by these academics, titled “Sex Crimes and Sex Offenders: Theory, Research and Realities”, will be released later this month. The textbook, which was written with students in mind, sets out to correct a lot of the misconceptions and “commonsense”