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My mother was 15 when she married my dad, who was 19. A month later, he shipped out with the Marines and was gone nearly three years, fighting in the Pacific during World War II. I was born after his return. My parents had a long, happy marriage. That story would turn out differently today. At 19, John fell in love with a girl...

After years of languishing in Nevada courts, legislators are reconsidering sex-offender laws affecting juveniles and the way criminals are ranked and registered. State Sen. Richard “Tick” Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, and Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, introduced Senate Bill 99 in February to repeal the state’s version of the federal Adam Walsh Act. Critics have said the law disenfranchises juveniles who could be reformed, and...

The deadline for the introduction of new bills has passed and there is no tiered registry bill for consideration by the California legislature during this two-year session. "Despite strong efforts by the CA Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB), an author for the tiered registry bill could not be found," stated Janice Bellucci, President of California RSOL. "The next opportunity to introduce the bill is...

This week, my graduate seminar at the University of Delaware hosted several scholars who study sex trafficking, both trafficking laws and the people they affect. Together, this group of scholars and activists from around the world share some common concerns about what happens when well-meaning policymakers use the wrong tools to address problems. Sen. Chris Coons has the opportunity to address one aspect of...

Thanks to our mistaken belief that no one under 18 can have any legitimate sexual feelings—and hence any sex they’ve engaged in was coerced and bound to render unspeakable emotional harm—we have laws on the books like this one in Wisconsin, according to USA Today (boldface mine, all mine!): In 2012, state lawmakers passed into law a mandatory, minimum three-year prison sentence for possessing child...

Sexual offenses – particularly those against children – are among the most reprehensible of crimes. Two techniques that sex offenders use to escape detection from the law are manipulating their ID and residing at addresses other than those reported to authorities, a nationwide study found. Donald Rebovich, Ph.D., professor of criminal justice and executive director of the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection...

OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Tuesday defeated a measure that would have allowed for the chemical castration of violent sex offenders.bThe Senate Judiciary Committee rejected Senate Bill 671 by Sen. Mark Allen, R-Spiro, by a vote of 5-4 with no debate.   The legislation would have applied to sexually violent offenses including rape, rape by instrumentation, lewd or indecent proposals or acts...

Some Florida lawmakers are pushing to require convicted sex offenders to wear monitoring devices for the rest of their lives. Even after the convicted offender completed the probation period, he or she would still have to wear or carry the electronic monitoring device under proposed bills SB 134 and HB 203. Full Article

Sitting down with someone branded a child sex offender wasn’t ever how Nicole Pittman imagined she’d be spending her days. Yet in doing that, she’s discovered how nuanced the world of crime and law can be. Full Article Related: Human Rights Watch - Raised on the Registry

He was my teacher. I was 19 years old and had graduated from high school the year before. I never said no. Legally, the incident was just poor judgment on both sides. Physically, there were no bruises. There was no force. This doesn’t fit the narrative of the girl who got drugged and raped at a fraternity party, nor does it resemble any sort...