Alabama abuses inmates. The DOC is corrupt.

http://main.aol.com/2012/05/22/alabama-womens-prison-sexual-abuse_n_1539864.html

Alabama Women's Prison Inmates Sexually Abused By Guards, Report Says

First Posted: 05/22/12 07:30 PM ET Updated: 05/23/12 01:19 PM ET

Corrections officers at the only women's prison in Alabama regularly sexually harass, abuse and even rape female inmates with few consequences, according to a new report by a civil rights organization.

Numerous female inmates at Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Ala., reported becoming pregnant after being raped by male correctional staff over the past five years, said Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which investigated the allegations. Other sexual misconduct, including pervasive harassment, unwanted touching and invasion of privacy, is commonplace, Stevenson said.

Consensual sex between staff and inmates is strictly forbidden by prison regulations, but is also a regular occurrence, with staff requiring women to perform sexual favors in exchange for smuggled contraband goods, the report found.

"What we found is pretty shocking," Stevenson said. "We think there's widespread sex abuse and assaults of women by correctional staff."

Tutwiler, which holds more than 700 inmates, was identified by the Department of Justice in 2007 as the most dangerous women's prison in the country.

Kim Thomas, the Alabama Department of Corrections commissioner, said the agency was aware of the allegations. "This is a matter of grave concern to me," Thomas said in a statement. "Sexual misconduct of any kind, including custodial sexual misconduct, is not tolerated by this department."

Thomas did not address any of the specific allegations in the EJI report. The report's findings include allegations that inmates who reported sexual abuse by guards to senior corrections staff, including the warden, Frank Albright, say they were placed in solitary confinement, lost privileges and were subjected to verbal abuse.

"Many of them reported encounters with the warden that they characterize as abusive, threatening and intimidating," Stevenson said. "The women report that when you complain, you are placed in segregation and are subjected to very aggressive treatment by investigators and other staff. It is not an environment that encourages people to come forward with instances of abuse."

In his statement, Thomas said that the corrections department was "committed to improving security and providing for the safety of inmates and officers at Tutwiler."

The state's criminal justice system has also failed to aggressively punish guards who abuse inmates, Stevenson said. According to court records reviewed by EJI, six Tutwiler employees have been indicted on charges of sexual misconduct involving inmates since 2010. All of the charges were settled with plea bargains, and only one prison employee served more than six days in jail.

Stevenson said the Alabama attorney general's office had been alerted to the problem through lawsuits filed against the state on behalf of women raped and impregnated while they were inmates at Tutwiler. The state has aggressively fought to have the litigation dismissed. Suzanne Webb, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the agency had no comment on the report.

The Alabama Department of Corrections, meanwhile, has underreported sexual misconduct at the prison in official reports, according to court records obtained by EJI. In 2009, the corrections department reported no instances of sexual abuse at the prison, even as two officers at the facility were indicted for sexual misconduct.

EJI has requested a criminal and civil investigation by the Justice Department into the alleged misconduct and the failure of Alabama authorities to oversee the prison and aggressively prosecute abusers. Xochitl Hinojosa, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in an email that the agency is reviewing the allegations.

A 2011 Huffington Post investigation found that there is widespread brutality in Alabama prisons and limited oversight by corrections officials or state law enforcement.

The report comes just days after the Justice Department finalized new regulations requiring state corrections facilities to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse. The new standards specifically call for jail and prisons to restrict the use of solitary confinement as a means to protect inmates who have reported sexual abuse. The standards are mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law passed with broad bipartisan majorities in 2003.

Nearly 10 percent of former inmates in state jails and prisons reported being sexually victimized by a corrections staff member or another inmate, according to the results of a survey released earlier this year by the Justice Department.

Alabama ranks 14th in false sex crime convictions

If you go by PER CAPITA (number of false convictions per 1000), Alabama actually ranks 10TH. A new exoneration registry spotlights a number of false convictions, with 80%+ the result of faulty "eyewitness testimony." I'm willing to bet many are also the result of prosecutorial misconduct, more than the 1/3 of cases known to be the result of official misconduct. Yet Alabama denies this is a serious problem.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/05/exoneration_lists_exposes_caus.html


Exoneration lists expose causes for wrong convictions in Jefferson County and across nation
Published: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 10:30 AM 




Five men from Jefferson County and 12 others convicted but later cleared in Alabama courts are listed on a new national exoneration registry designed to highlight the issue of wrongful convictions and explain why they happen.


The registry, compiled by the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, profiles 873 cases from January 1989 through February 2012. The registry will be made available to the public online starting Monday.


Each convicted defendant was later cleared through DNA, confession by the real criminal or other circumstances. Most involved murder and sexual assault cases.


The cases highlight the legal pitfalls that can lead to wrong convictions, said authors of a study based on the registry, Samuel Gross and Michael Shaffer.


"The more we learn about false convictions, the better we'll be at preventing them -- or if that fails, finding and correcting them as best we can after the fact," Gross said in a statement.


The study found that bad eyewitness testimony was a factor in 94 percent of the exonerations, either because a person mistakenly identified the defendant or lied to put him behind bars.


Alabama, with one federal and 16 state exonerations on the registry, ranked 14th nationally for total false convictions. Broken down per capita, Alabama ranked 10th nationally, according to the report.
But the study's authors said the numbers can be misleading, because states like Alabama, Illinois and Michigan with larger Death Row populations and organizations dedicated to ferret out wrongly-convicted people will be disproportionately represented.


Also, cases such as homicide and sexual assault, which often involve DNA evidence and result in longer sentences, are more likely to provide the means and time needed to prove the wrong person was convicted, the study found.


Nearly 6 in 10 of the people on the registry were cleared by DNA. It took an average of 12 years from conviction and 13 years from arrest for them to find justice, the study found.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said he has confidence in the integrity of state criminal proceedings.


"The many safeguards in place provide sufficient opportunity to correct the very few errors that are made," he said in a statement. "Sixteen errors out of tens of thousands of convictions does not indicate a systemic problem but rather supports the high degree of accuracy in our proceedings."


High number


The study's authors concluded the actual number of wrong convictions is much higher.
Gross and Shaffer intentionally defined exoneration narrowly, only listing on the registry cases the authors identified in which a court, prosecutor, or governor found post-conviction evidence of innocence persuasive enough to drop the charge, release the defendant, order a new trial that resulted in acquittal or issue a pardon.


"It is clear that the exonerations we found are the tip of an iceberg," said Gross, a University of Michigan law professor and editor of the registry. "Most people who are falsely convicted are not exonerated; they serve their time or die in prison. And when they are exonerated, a lot of times it happens quietly."
More than 90 percent of the exonerated defendants are male. Half are black.


About 15 percent of the exonerations involved people who confessed to crimes they did not commit. Often these were juveniles or mentally-disabled defendants, the study found.
The study also found the main factors behind wrong convictions varied by crime:


Murder: Perjury or false accusations were found in nearly two-thirds of those exonerations. Official misconduct, from suggestive interview techniques to fabrication of evidence, also was found in more than half of those cases.


Adult sexual assaults: Mistaken witness identification was involved 80 percent of the time, and was especially prevalent when victim and defendant were different races. Nearly 4 in 10 cases also involved false or misleading forensic evidence.


Child sex abuse: The accuser most often made up the crime, the study found. Official misconduct also was found in more than one-third of the cases.


Many child-abuse exonerations stemmed from what the authors called the "hysteria cases" of the 1980s and 1990s. They included prosecutions such as the McMartin Preschool case in California in which several adults were charged with molesting dozens of children in what proved to be false accusations.


Robbery: Mistaken eyewitness identification was found in 80 percent of those exonerations.


Gross and Shaffer said the justice system needs to be more careful that mistakes are not made on the front end, and more open to genuine evidence of innocence post conviction. Alabama's attorney general, however, said the courts provide sufficient safeguards to correct genuine mistakes.


"The courts remain open to considering strong evidence of actual innocence," Strange said. "Oftentimes, post conviction courts are flooded with weak theories of innocence rather than actual evidence supporting innocence."


Jefferson County


Here are the cases of five men convicted in Jefferson County Circuit Court who are listed in a new national registry of exonerations:


Freddie Lee Gaines: Charged in a 1973 double homicide, he was acquitted in one death and convicted in the other. Gaines was released for good behavior after 11 years in prison. Five years later, in 1990, another man confessed to the crimes. Gaines received $1 million in state compensation, but was not pardoned until 2005.


Dale and Ronnie Mahan: Convicted of a 1984 kidnapping and rape, Dale was sentenced in Bessemer to 35 years and Ronnie received life without parole as a habitual offender. They were released after nearly 14 years when testing that was not available before trial showed they did not leave DNA found on the victim. She still maintained she was attacked by two men, but admitted she had sex with a man other than her husband earlier that day.


Louis Griffin: After his arrest on federal racketeering charges, the New York street gang member took credit for a 1992 drug-debt slaying in Birmingham. But when he and another man went on trial in Birmingham in 1997, Griffin said he made it all up to get a lighter sentence in his federal case. Both men were convicted, with Griffin getting a death sentence and the other man a life term. Griffin won a new trial in 2000 and was acquitted in 2001, but went to federal prison for the racketeering case.


Wesley Quick: Charged in the 1995 shooting deaths of two teens near Pinson, his first prosecution ended in mistrial due to juror misconduct. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997, but won a new trial and was acquitted in 2003. The trial judge then sentenced Quick to 76 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three burglaries, including one in which the murder weapon was stolen.   

GESTAPO ALERT Etowah County compliance sweep

Again with the catchphrases. "Its for the children (tm)." Hitler did it "for the children" too, you know. 

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20120517/NEWS/120519839/1016/NEWS?Title=Authorities-verify-Etowah-County-sex-offenders-8217-residences

Authorities verify Etowah County sex offenders’ residences


By Lisa Rogers
Times Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 10:07 p.m.


It’s for the safety of the children.

Sex Offender Verification Roundup
Gadsden Police Chief John Crane said a sex-offender compliance check is an important measure in verifying the location of convicted sex offenders in Etowah County.


More than two dozen law enforcement officers from several agencies spent Wednesday and Thursday verifying the locations of 178 convicted sex offenders living in Etowah County.


Of the 178, only one was not verified.

Not only does he share the Hitler philosophy,
he has the matching mustache. 

“It’s for the protection of the children,” Crane said of the sex-offender checks. “We need to know who’s out there and where they are at.”


Crane said working with the different agencies, including the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Alabama Bureau of Investigation, FBI, ATF, state probation and several municipalities, makes an operation like this one successful.


“This is what can be accomplished when we work as a team,” he said.


The officers worked in teams of two and filled out a verification form for each person registered in the county.


“This is the meat and potatoes of what we’re doing,” James Nolan, an agent with the U.S. Marshals Service, told the officers about the verification form as he explained the laws and the necessary paperwork required in the compliance checks.


“Slow down and think about what we’re doing,” he said. “If you make contact with the offender and they are in compliance, you are pretty much done.”

COMMENT: Remember when the US Marshals were called in for drug cartels and violent situations? Today, their job consists of harassing people at home to see if they are on the useless registry. 

He said it’s important for the officers to get a look inside the house. “If they don’t to let you go in, there’s probably something going on that they don’t want you to know about,” he said. There also is a law which makes it a felony to harbor a sex offender. He said even if all the sex offenders are found and verified, that does not mean they are in compliance, such as living in a house with children. Of the 177 verified, 154 were in compliance and 23 were not. Two offenders had died and three were in jail.

COMMENT: Did you catch that? Now if you don't allow them into your home you are automatically suspected of wrongdoing. 

By Thursday afternoon, a few of the sex offenders verified were found not to be in compliance, Sheriff Todd Entrekin said. He said the sheriff’s office verifies the residence of registered sex offenders monthly, but the unified effort sends a strong message that sex offenders living in Etowah County must stay in compliance or pay the consequences. “It’s important to keep a close eye on sex offenders,” Entrekin said.

COMMENT:  Monthly? They must have nothing better to do in Gadsden County. 

Sheriff Todd Entrekin

Entrekin said he believes by checking the sex offenders more often, there will be more accountability. “Nowhere in the law ... says we can check them too many times,” he said. Entrekin said most of the time, someone convicted of a sex crime against a child will re-offend. That’s why it is so important to keep track of convicted sex offenders, he said.

COMMENT: The sheriff is a full-blown idiot. Again with the "most will re-offend crap. That is a bold-faced lie, as statistics have proven consistently that recidivism rates are extremely low, but the registry has NO impact on recidivism.

Feel free to CONTACT THE SHERIFF and give this clown an education:

Sheriff Todd Entrekin Email: tentrekin@etowahcounty.org -- Phone: 256-546-2825

Here is the Gadsden city PD info, and they even have a handy page for filing a complaint against them. How nice!

Mailing Address: 90 Broad St., Gadsden, AL 35904 Phone: (256) 549-4500 Fax: (256) 549-4547

A look at how police keep track of sex offenders

The real headline is how Alabama harasses people needlessly:

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/mobile_county/keeping-sex-offenders-in-check


A look at how police keep track of sex offenders
Updated: Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 4:59 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 5:15 PM CDT


Paige Malone
MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) - Once a person is convicted as a sex offender the label dictates where they live, work and who they live with.


But, how do we know they are obeying the law?


FOX10 News reporter Paige Malone rode along with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office to find out.


Paul Uffmann spent Tuesday knocking on doors and ringing door bells. He was checking on sex offenders.


Some of those on his list include two men convicted of sex crimes where the victim was less than 4 years old. 


Uffmann is part of the volunteer corps, a group of deputized volunteers that help the sheriff’s office with tasks such as this.


Sheriff Sam Cochran says it saves the county money and countless man hours.


As a sex offender, you have a restricted lifestyle, and you have to register where you live and other personal information to make sure you are following the law.


Uffmann asks the sex offender to verify the information they have and talks to neighbors to get a second verification.


In one case, the sex offender was not living where they had registered. The woman at the house said it is because a 7-month-old child was now staying at the home. Uffman notes this and reports it to the deputy in charge.


Because the V-corps come unannounced, it’s not uncommon the offender won’t be home. In that situation, a piece of paper is left behind telling the offender to contact the sheriff’s office as soon as possible.


"We want to make sure they know were contacting them that we are doing what is required by law and we want to make sure they live there so they'll call us back within 5 days," Said Uffmann.


The V-Corps also lets neighbors know when a sex offender moves into a neighborhood.


"Well check with the neighbors and say look can you helps us? Will you let us know if you see any children around this house or will you let us know if this sex offender moves from the neighborhood or if you see something that appears to be improper?” said Cochran.


Cochran says these tips are a big part of keeping sex offenders away from possible victims.

Vague law leads to arrest- anti-loitering law

The law banning registrants has become vague and broadly applied. I think it is time to fight this unconstitutional law:

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/may/02/marion-sex-offender-arrested-ballgame-ar-2233962/


Marion sex offender arrested at ballgame


By: Richelle Bailey | Media General News Service 
Published: May 02, 2012
MARION -- A ballgame turned out to be anything but fun and games for a registered sex offender Friday.


Lt. David Marler of the McDowell County Sheriff's Office arrested Christopher ***** Patrick, 27, of **** in Marion at Maple Leaf sports complex and charged him with a felony sex offender law violation (being in an area where children gather).


Capt. Ricky Crisp said Marler received information from an anonymous caller that Patrick was at the ballpark, watching his son play.


The lieutenant went to Maple Leaf, found Patrick and arrested him there at 6:15 p.m.
Patrick was convicted in McDowell County in January 2004 of two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. He was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison followed by 3 1/2 years on probation.


Crisp stated that Maple Leaf is considered a county park and, by law, registered sex offenders aren't allowed there because it's a place children frequent.

Madison County Spring Cleaning is huge operation to verify sex offenders

This article makes me sick. The cops are destroying families. Notice how they bring the big guns for a simple compliance check. I guess there must be no real crime in Alabama at the moment.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/madison_county_spring_cleaning.html


'Madison County Spring Cleaning' is huge operation to verify sex offenders
Published: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 7:00 AM     Updated: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 9:37 AM
  By Chris Welch, The Huntsville Times 




HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- It seemed like something straight out of the movies or one of the "Cops"-type reality TV shows.
On Tuesday afternoon, a caravan of seven vehicles from the Madison County Sheriff's Office turned onto Ariel Drive into a Harvest subdivision.
One by one, the cars stopped in front of a house, the deputies spilling out of their cars and taking their positions - two on the left side of the house, four on the right, another in a black SUV that held K-9 Rambo and two others who approached the front door.
Some were in the foliage green, Army-like uniforms of the sheriff's SWAT team, others in the gray uniforms of the sheriff's reserve volunteers and one, Deputy Johnny Daversa, in the all black K-9 uniform.
When Deputy Cody Davis knocked on the door, the adrenaline started rushing and the heart started pumping just a little bit faster.
Would the suspect come out peacefully and surrender, start firing or head out the back door?
Nobody really knew.
These officers were among 65 taking part in "Operation Madison County Spring Cleaning" to verify 400 registered sex offenders are compliant with local and state sexual offender laws. The roundup included the U.S. Marshal's Office in Birmingham, Huntsville and Madison police, Madison County Sheriff's Office, Alabama State Probation Office and Madison County District Attorney's Office.
Madison County Sheriff's Office Investigator Brent Patterson said five of the sexual offenders have been arrested so far for noncompliance of the state and local sex offender laws.
"We've been planning this for 8 1/2 months," said Sheriff's Investigator Shawn McClure.
At the house in Harvest, a man came to the door and chatted outside with deputies and investigators. But he was not the sexual offender registered at the address. He told deputies, including Investigator Forrest Edde, in charge of this group, he had met the sexual offender in question once but he had never lived there. The homeowner told deputies he had been getting the offender's mail for two years and showed them a stack he was keeping inside.
"Deputy (Cody) Davis didn't see any evidence he had lived there," Edde said.
Because sexual offenders only have to report in to law enforcement every three months, and because of the shortages in law enforcement, it's not always easy to verify the address, officials say. Thus, the need for yearly roundups like these.
Satisfied the sexual offender wasn't at the Harvest address, the deputies got back in their cars and headed off to plan their second attempt at an arrest. Stopping on the side of the road near a grain mill in Harvest, the deputies went over the sexual offender's history, called up his address via Google Maps on their car-mounted laptops, made their plan and piled back into their cars.
The caravan headed to Sam Thomas Road in Huntsville and deputies again got out and took their positions near a dilapidated wooden house. There were no cars outside or signs of life until the deputies knocked on the door. It opened and a little dog came running out, barking.
The registered sex offender, thin and frail-looking with glasses, walked outside, chatted with deputies for a few minutes and then sat down on the steps. As it turned out, Edde said, the man was the sexual offender in question, but the person on a harrassment warrant the deputies had planned to serve was actually the man's son of the same name, who was at work.
As deputies looked around the house to make sure the sexual offender was compliant, his grandchildren got off a yellow school bus and walked through the maze of police. Law enforcement officials aren't very sympathetic toward sexual offenders, but deputies said it was sad the children had to go through this, especially since their classmates on the bus had driven by.
Children aren't normally allowed in the homes of sexual offenders, but if they're relatives and list in the court order it's OK, Edde said. The offender's son and his family had moved into the home to help his dad, who has been out of work for three years, keep the electricity on. Now, the son and means of support are in danger of going to jail.
As for the Madison County Sheriff's deputies and investigators, Edde said they'd done their jobs -- making sure sexual offenders are where they're supposed to be, and when they're not, reporting it.

Chris Norwood defends his crappy pro-Adam Walsh Act article

Thank you ReFORM-AL readers for trying to educate this fool, Chris Norwood of the Daily Home, but he's stubborn as, well, an Alabamian, so he posted a response. Don't let up, slam this chump with the truth:

cnorwood@dailyhome.com

http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/17936904/article-Our-View--Sex-offender-law-helps-balance-safety-and-justice-?instance=home_opinion

Our View: Sex offender law helps balance safety and justice

Mar 20, 2012 | 608 views | 1  | 0  |  | 

Response to a Sunday article about reforms in sex offender reporting laws drew some surprising responses in the comments section of this newspaper’s website.

Some of the changes were about doubling the number of times per year convicted sex offenders are required to register with law enforcement, and some dealt with ways in which some of the offenders can be relieved of the requirement to register altogether — such as an older offender who is living out his last years in a nursing home, or someone who was convicted of having consensual sex with an underage person, if the age difference was no more than four years. Exemptions may also be made for juvenile offenders after 25 years.

The increased requirement for registering not only increases the burden on the offenders, but also doubles the workload on those keeping tabs on the offenders.

Some of those commenting insist that most convicted offenders are not dangerous to others, and provide links to data that tend to support that argument. But even those numbers suggest that about 13 to 20 percent of child molesters reoffend, and 19 to 23 percent of rapists. While “most” don’t, those are still disturbingly high percentages.

Another mentioned the difficulty offenders have in finding employment and supporting themselves.

Also mentioned was an elderly man in Florida allegedly beaten to death because someone thought he was a sex offender in a tragic case of mistaken identity. The writer was one of several opposed to having registries.

States have online registries that allow people to check to see who and where registered sex offenders live based on name, city, zip code or county. Alabama’s registry can be found at http://dps.alabama.gov. At least one website, www.familywatchdog.us, offers an interactive map, based on the address entered that shows the residences of offenders in the area.

We think having those registries available can help people make better-informed decisions regarding safety in the community, but we are pleased to see exemptions being offered for some of the least dangerous offenders.

Another article with the obligatory "protects kids" catchphrases for the AWA

More AWA propaganda. Feel free to comment:

http://dailyhome.com/view/full_story/17921838/article-New-legislation-closes-loopholes--promotes-child-safety?instance=home_lead_story#cb_post_comment_17921838

New legislation closes loopholes, promotes child safety

by Chris Norwood

 March 18, 2012

According to the Alabama Department of Public Safety, there are 185 convicted sex offenders currently living in Talladega County, and 190 in St. Clair County. New legislation passed last year will change the way they have to live and double the number of times they must check in for verification of compliance.

According to Talladega County Assistant District Attorney Christina Kilgore, the state of Alabama adopted national standards for community notification in 2006, but the current version of the sex offender registration and notification act (SORNA) became law on July 27, 2011.

“The new act repealed several parts of the previous act to close some loopholes,” Kilgore said. “And the law itself states that its purpose is not to punish the offenders more, but to protect the public and promote child safety.”

One of the biggest loopholes closed by the new act involves sexually motivated offenses that may not normally be classified as sex offenses.

“Say you have a burglary in the first degree where someone breaks in and rapes the victim. They would be convicted of burglary in the first degree, which is not a sex offense. Under the new law, he would still be required to register once he got out of prison,” Kilgore said.

Another major change involves when an offender has to register. Previously, he did not have to until he was released from prison. Under the new law, he will have to register as soon as he is convicted or found guilty.

“We’ve already had a case here where that was an issue,” Kilgore said. “A man pleaded guilty and was out on bond, but he didn’t register.”

Convicted sex offenders must now register with the sheriff of the county and the police chief of the municipality (if applicable) where he lives, works or goes to school. Offenders cannot change their names unless the name change reflects a change in marital status or religion.

Under the old law, offenders were required to verify their residence only in their birth month and six months later. Under the new act, they have to check in during their birth month and every three months. If an offender becomes homeless, he is required to check in every week.

A convicted sex offender cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school, childcare facility, former victim or victim’s immediate family member (including grandparents, parents, spouses, children or grandchildren).

Under the old law, residence was established if the offender either stayed in the same place for three consecutive days or spent 10 or more days there in the same month. According to Kilgore, the new law adds “failure to spend three days away from the residence without notification unless the offender is incarcerated, in a medical facility or in a mental facility. If they’re planning on being away, they must also notify and complete a travel permit at least 21 days in advance.”

The new law also bars offenders from coming within 100 feet of any of their victims or their victims’ families, and adds college and university campuses to the places where offenders are not allowed to loiter. An offender must have a valid driver’s license or identification card.

The bill also strengthens communications between law enforcement agencies.

The other major change in the new law is that certain offenders can petition the court to be exempted. An offender who has become terminally ill or permanently immobile can petition the circuit court to lift the living restrictions. People who are convicted of consensual sex crimes (where there was no force but the victim was under age, such as rape or sodomy in the second degree) can also ask for exemptions. The law requires that the victim be at least 13 and the offender must be no more than four years older. The new law also provides employment relief in these cases, as well as for juvenile convictions after 25 years.

Offenders cannot work in schools, day cares or any vendor that supplies schools or day cares.

Records will be maintained for 75 years after the adjudication of the case, Kilgore said.

Lastly, the law bars harboring an offender who may not be compliant. “You can’t warn them or provide transportation, disguises or aid in counseling.”

Victims must notify the state Attorney General’s Office if they want notice of release and residence. 

In addition to one case where a defendant failed to register after pleading guilty, Kilgore said mainly what she has been seeing are “petitions for relief in consensual offenses. People are asking for relief that was not available under the old law, but none of them have had hearings yet. We’ll see other aspects of the law go into effect over time, too, but everyone was trained in the new act several months ago. It will definitely put more on the compliance workers in terms of workload.”

Investigator Owen Walton, who handles sex offender registration for St. Clair County, said he has definitely seen his own workload increase. “Adults are required to register every three months instead of every six, and they all have to register in Pell City. If you actually live in Pell City, you’re going to be checking in eight times per year. It’s still too early to say how effective this will be, but it’s a good tool. It lets us keep a closer eye on them, handle them better.” 

Ala. to try anti-clustering bill. Here we go again.

I defeated this bill in 2010, but like bad sequels, they keep coming back, lamer than ever. The bill is not online yet, but when it is I'll post it.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/17040714/law-targets-sex-offenders-living-together

Law targets sex offenders living together

Updated: Feb 28, 2012 10:03 PM CST

By Sally Pitts

Alabama's sex offender registry lets everyone locate where registered sex offenders live.

 A quick search revealed surprising findings in Montgomery.

"I have three small children, myself..." says Johnny Dixon. "It bothers me that it's so close to home." A check of the area near Dixon's home on Congressman Dickinson Drive showed several sex offenders living nearby at the Regency Inn motel. The registry shows nine registered sex offenders living on the Regency's premises.

Another eight offenders call the Rodeway Inn on the West South Boulevard "home" and in total, more than 27 sex offenders live on the West South Blvd.

"As for the hotel issue on the boulevard, at Mobile Highway, it's relatively inexpensive," explains Lt. L.H. Persky, who keeps track of sex offenders in Montgomery County. "It's hard for these guys to get jobs. Some of them don't have a lot of family support." 

The sex offender law limits where registered sex offenders can live. Lt. Persky says that's why you see them grouped in certain areas of town. A map of Montgomery shows that many live very close to one another.

"I don't have statistics that show whether or not it's a good or bad thing," Persky explains. But he adds that from a law enforcement stand point, it's easier to check on offenders if they live in one area.

State Representative Kurt Wallace (R- Chilton County) is not happy with the close proximity offenders have with each other. "You don't put that many like-minded people together and not have some residual effects," he says. 

Wallace has presented a bill in the Alabama legislature that would make it illegal for more than one sex offender to live at the same address.

"What my bill does is basically say that you can't live within 300 feet of each other, unless you're in a treatment facility or unless you are a family member."

Rep. Wallace says he drafted the bill after he learned of a whopping two dozen registered sex offenders over the last 18 months as listing one home in Chilton County as their address on the sex offender registry.

One of those registered sex offenders is Selid Holt. He has lived with Ricky Martin for the past year. "There's been no kind of offenses committed by these guys that we've helped get out of prison," Martin said. all that have left...have been success stories."

Martin calls it a compassion to help. It's the same reason the Reverend Curtis Browder gives for housing 13 sex offenders in a lot full of trailers off the Mobile Highway. "It's a ministry," he says. "We minister to these guys on a daily basis, and when they get out, they need a place to go."

Wallace says he has no problem with supervised, state-approved and licensed facilities. " I realize that sex offenders need a place to go. I realize they need help. I just know that when you have that many of anybody doing anything together, you worry."

Attempts to contact the Rodeway Inn were met with a decline to comment on this story. The manager at the Regency Inn says he hasn't had any problems with the sex offenders who are living there.

Copyright 2012  WSFA 12 News.  All rights reserved.

Here is State Rep. Kurt Wallace's Info:

REPRESENTATIVE KURT WALLACE (R) 42nd District (Chilton and Shelby)

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State House:	Room 522-C 11 S. Union Street Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7772	Home Address:	24 Maple Drive Maplesville, AL.  36750
Work Phone:	(334) 366-4211	Email:	representativewallace@gmail.com

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Representative Kurt Wallace was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives on November 2, 2010.





He describes himself as a Conservative Christian who will “fearlessly defend my God, country, and family against all who would do them harm.”

First look at the newest sex crime legislation for 2012

"Although the act is intended to promote the legitimate and compelling state interest of protecting minors from internet predators, the near total ban on Internet access imposed by the act unreasonably  restricts many ordinary activities that have become important to everyday life in today’s world." -- US District Court Judge Brian Jackson, in a decision declaring Louisiana's internet ban unconstitutional.

I recently mentioned a proposed social networking ban (complete with sponsor Brooks's contact info to oppose the bill), but today, KLTV-7 reports the name of the new bill, SB 161, and Sen. Brooks is getting support from Mark Klaas of Klaas Kids in steamrolling this bill through legislation. In light of the recent federal decision striking down Louisiana's social networking ban, Alabama is merely setting itself up for a costly lawsuit. 

More info on Internet laws in general: http://www.oncefallen.com/InternetLaws.html

A second bill, SB 148, "makes surveillance for sexual gratification an aggravating circumstance," which means they will be added to the state sex offender registry. I'm personally against the bill because it creates more registrants. Below is from an article discussing the bill. Notice the reporter claims it is "not illegal" to peep on others but then discusses it is a class B misdemeanor. The second is the "escalation" theory, which is no more true for sex addicts than cigarette/ pot smokers:

http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/story/Possible-Change-to-Peeping-Tom-Laws/kb1kL6elSESnljc_oP7Ahw.cspx

It may come as a surprise that "peeping" at people in inappropriate places is not illegal in Alabama. Watching someone can get you put in jail, but doing so for sexual gratification doesn't increase the penalty. State Senator Arthur Orr says this is a problem. 

 

“Alabama has not done what a lot of our sister states here in the southeast have done which is really tighten the laws for voyeurism,” he explained.  That is why Orr has introduced Senate Bill 148 which makes surveillance for sexual gratification an aggravating circumstance. 

 

"Simple criminal surveillance is a Class B misdemeanor in Alabama which does not qualify for sex offender status,” explained Lieutenant John Crouch of the Decatur PD. “Anyone convicted of that regardless of the circumstances is not required to register as a sex offender.” 

 

If the bill passes that will all change. Crouch says if offenders are forced to register it will be much easier for his department to keep the public safe. 

 

"Anyone engaged in this sort of activity certainly has the potential to escalate to other activities and we feel this will better enable us to keep track of these individuals."

Here is a list of  Senate Judiciary Committee Members:

JUDICIARYBrooks, Co-Chairperson; Ward, Co-Chairperson; Coleman, Fielding, Keahey, Orr, Smitherman, Taylor, Whatley, Williams, Brewbaker (President Pro Tempore Designee).

Below is Senator Orr's contact info:

SENATOR ARTHUR ORR (R) 3rd District (Limestone, Madison, Morgan)

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State House: Phone:	Room 730 State House 11 South Union Street Montgomery, Alabama 36130 (334) 242-7891	Business:	Post Office. Box 305 Decatur, Alabama 35602 (256) 260-2147
		Personal Website:	Senator Arthur Orr

Alabama looks to add email addresses and social networks IDs to registry

I will add the bill whenever it is added to the "ALISON" legislation tracker, but below we already have some info on yet another idiotic bill. I wonder i this is just another way to just try to fill the state prisons even further, who may be looking to pimp out prison inmates to private businesses looking for more cheap labor. Come on vacation, leave on probation.

http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/story/Adding-Registering-Requirements-for-Sex-Offenders/OAm0ZotD-UK3NH0YFzkfCg.cspx

Adding Registering Requirements for Sex Offenders

Reported by: Andrea Ramey

Email: aramey@local15tv.com

MOBILE, Ala.) - Alabama lawmakers are considering legislation that would place more registering requirements for convicted sex offenders. State Senator Ben Brooks (R-Mobile) is sponsoring the bill that would make sex offenders register things like their email address and social media log-in names.

"This is a tool that we'll be able to use that we will be able to track them better," said Lori Myles with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

Myles says the laws that force sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies were written in a time when things like text messaging and Facebook didn't exist, and it's time the laws reflect how potential victims now are contacted.

"We are just now catching up with it. It was a playground for them, for a while," said Myles.

"So much communication takes place on the internet," said Child Advocacy Director Pay Guyton.

Guyton says this proposed law could prevent children from being victimized. He says if sex offenders provided their technology addresses, investigators would have a better idea of what to monitor and would be able to track what offenders are doing online.

"A lot of that can be traced if we have the correct address," said Guyton. "You go on a Facebook account, and someone posts something on your Facebook and says, 'I'm a 15 year old girl and I just want to know what other girls think about this.' And really it's a 65 year old sex offender. You have no way of knowing that. And it happens. Unfortunately, it happens all the time."


It goes without saying ReFORM-AL strongly opposes this bill. 


Flood this Senator with opposition:

SENATOR BEN BROOKS (R) 35th District (Mobile)

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State House: Phone: Fax:	Room 729 State House 11 South Union Street Montgomery, Alabama 36130 (334) 242-7882 (334) 353-8277	Business:
Home: Phone:	4953 Audubon Drive Mobile, Alabama 36619 (251) 666-7116