Bring Me Your Torch–It’s Time to Go

April 21, 2020, 11:29 am Every Wednesday night I check out of prison for a little bit and join the competitors on the television show *Survivor.* I’ve been watching *Survivor* for most of the 40 seasons, and I

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Audit: Privatizing Florida’s Prison Health Care Was Costly and Deadly Mistake

April 22, 2020, 11:41 am When former Florida Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011, he pushed to privatize health care for Florida prisoners. He promised the move would save taxpayers millions of dollars and it did, at

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Highly Decorated D.A.R.E. Cop Arrested for Running an Enormous Child Porn Ring

April 22, 2020, 9:25 pm Another story from the “it’s not the people on the list you need to watch: The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program should better be called an hilarious exercise in how not to

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CO: Governor suspends certain requirements under registration in light of Covid-19

April 23, 2020, 7:16 pm The Governor of Colorado has issued an executive order (Executive Order D 2020 029) Among other suspensions, he “temporarily suspend the requirement in C.R.S. § 16-22-108(6) that any person required to register as

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Lawsuits challenging continued confinement amid Covid-19 continue to be filed.

April 23, 2020, 8:34 pm Courtesy of law firm Carlton Fields, the following is a compiled list of lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates for conditions of confinement in light of the Coronavirus outbreak. Among those featured is

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GREAT DECISION: Nassau County (FL) SORR violated Ex Post Facto provisions.

April 26, 2020, 1:59 pm An excellent decision came out of Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit (Nassau County) Friday afternoon finding their Sex Offender Residency Restriction (SORR) Unconstitutional as applied to the Defendant (who was charged with violating the

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Crisis Clarifies What is Most Important

April 27, 2020, 9:04 pm It amazes me how it takes a crisis for us to realize what is really important in our lives. The coronavirus is forcing families to spend more time together, and many families are

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Volusia inmates forced to pay to talk to lawyers

April 28, 2020, 12:06 pm The Volusia County Jail is prohibiting in-person visitations for inmates, as many correctional facilities have due to the coronavirus pandemic. But one thing the Volusia County facility has limited that others in the

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Sex Offender Registration During the Pandemic: ‘A Recipe for Disaster’

April 28, 2020, 2:09 pm The coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented shutdown of many American institutions, from professional sports to many government agencies, including the suspension of many non-essential law enforcement services from fingerprinting to vehicle

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Weekly Update 2020-05-14 Ref#88

May 15, 2020, 5:21 pm Dear Members and Advocates, I read something on Twitter that resonated. The tweet said, “right now we live in an infinite present. No future plans, no anticipation… It’s an endless today, never tomorrow.”

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Meet Mike Nellis: Global Expert on Electronic Monitoring

January 28, 2019, 8:54 am Mike Nellis is one of the foremost international experts on electronic monitoring. Apart from his prolific writing he has also been a staunch advocate for the rights of people on monitors. He played

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EM Devices That Listen and Speak!!

April 16, 2019, 5:47 pm Kira Lerner of The Appeal has written a wonderful piece that unearths an electronic monitoring device being used on youth in Cook County, Illinois. The device, produced by the Track Group, features two-way

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Kentucky teen pleads guilty to killing sex offender

April 30, 2019, 8:15 pm A Kentucky teenager has pleaded guilty to killing a convicted sex offender who lived nearby. The Daily News reports 17-year-old Lance D’artagnan Lear of Auburn entered the plea Monday in Logan Circuit Court

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It’s Time to Turn the Corner

May 5, 2020, 3:33 pm This week I watched another prisoner be cuffed and taken to the hole (segregation). He was in the vocational trades program, so he is within a year or so of paroling from prison.

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Reframing Our Stories through the Narratives of Others

One of the most important tenets of restorative justice is the commitment to deal only with the truth. This principle might seem obvious, but truth doesn’t always look the same to each party. Facts don’t change, but our

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Mental Health Screening.

May 12, 2020, 5:25 pm May is Mental Health Month and today mental health is more important than ever. Our world has been turned upside down and we are all facing anxiety, loneliness, isolation and sadness.  The challenges we

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American Registrant Denied Entry into Philippines

May 12, 2020, 2:55 pm The Philippines Bureau of Immigration announced that an American national previously convicted of rape was barred entry into the country. The 61 year old man was detained upon arrival at Naia airport on

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PA: Another case finds Pennsylvania registry violates state and federal ex post facto prohibition

May 12, 2020, 1:05 pm In an opinion issued yesterday in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, a person forced to register as a sex offender had the registry declared unconstitutional as applied to him, an individual whose offense

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Psychology Today: Do Sex Offenders Have A Mental Illness?

May 12, 2020, 12:49 pm NOTE: As we’ve come to know from Smith v. Doe, Psychology Today is a lay magazine that will pretty much print anything. The following article was published in Psychology Today. Sexual offenders have

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AU: Inside an innovative program helping sex offenders reintegrate into society – and why it works

May 11, 2020, 7:50 pm In recent years, the biggest increases in Australia’s prison population have come from people convicted of sexual offences. From 2017-18, this segment of the prison population increased by 10%. The following year, it

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