Category Archive for : ‘PFML’

Laura Ahearn, a certified social worker and mother of two daughters discovered more than two years after New York enacted the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1996 (Megan’s Law), that the Suffolk County Police Department had stopped enforcing it.  In May 1998, Denny Chin, a Federal judge, ruled that Megan’s Law could not be applied retroactively and the Suffolk County police mistakenly applied the injunction, meant for sex offenders who were on probation, on parole or incarcerated prior to the day the law took effect, to all convicted sex offenders.

Real Estate Agents are trying to figure out if they are obligated to tell prospective home buyers that a convicted sex offender lives in the neighborhood.  If they do reveal this, agents are worried that the home will never be sold and/or that real estate prices will drop.  On the other hand, they are concerned about liability if they fail to disclose such information.  Laws in California, Alaska and Virginia require real estate agents to advise home buyers, in writing, about local law enforcement agencies, databases, etc. that will reveal

A Federal appeals court in Philadelphia upheld Megan’s Law yesterday for the second time, saying that forcing sex offenders to provide personal information to the authorities did not violate their right to privacy.  According to the New York Times, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said sex offenders, like all criminals, forfeited their rights to privacy regarding their crimes.  They are therefore not protected if the police collect and circulate information about their addresses, jobs, crimes, education, physical appearance, auto registrations and

According to the Associated Press, in a move that reverses a decision made by the Legislature last year, a conviction of kidnapping or falsely imprisoning a youngster would automatically qualify a felon for a listing on the state’s sex abuse registry under legislation approved Monday by the House.

According to the Observer-Dispatch, Glenn H. Barker, 40, served nine years of an 18 year sentence for the 1982 slaying of 12 year old Katie Worsky in Charlottesville, Virginia.  He was released in 1992 and was named as a suspect but never charged in the 1996 slayings of his

girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter in Richmond, Virginia.  Authorities are using the sex offender notification act to warn residents that he has moved into town.  Many are calling this a gross misuse of Megan’s Law.  Michael Murray of the Ocean County

According to the Associated Press, any vigilantism against registered sex offenders intended to harm or scare them could jeopardize offender registration laws.  Bob Schilling, a police detective in Seattle said, All it’s going to take is one federal judge to say it’s causing too many problems, or that it’s double punishment, and we’ve lost it, all across the United States.  Iowa press releases list the offender’s picture, name, age, address and physical description and some include a little information about their crimes.  According to critics, the public is not told