February 2, 2010 – 10:41 pm
In a ruling applauded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Supreme Court upheld restrictions that would prohibit sex offenders from living near schools and parks. In a 5-2 vote, the court ruled that residency requirement applied to all registered sex offenders, even those who were paroled before the measure was passed in November 2006.
The law prohibits registered sex offenders from living with 2,000 feet of schools or parks where children gather. Four parolees filed suit, saying there was no place they could live. The four were paroled before the law passed and none were on parole at that time.
Justice Carlos R. Moreno said in his dissenting opinion that the law did not state it would be retroactive. The ACLU says the ruling would lead to more homelessness among sex offenders.
Schwarzenegger said he was pleased by the ruling and called the residency requirement “an important public safety measure.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jessicas-law2-2010feb02,1,7117062.story
January 31, 2010 – 8:48 pm
The failure to do a criminal background check on a convicted felon violated policy at a Charlotte, N.C. public housing complex and may have led to her death, her family said. Kenneth Cyrus is charged with the murder of 63-year-old Eva Green. Cyrus and Green were neighbors in Charlottetown Terrace, a public housing complex.
A former housing official said during her trial that Cyrus should not have been allowed to live in the complex. A background check showed that Cyrus had three felony drug charges in Maryland. The official said there was no record of housing authority officials doing a background check on Cyrus.
Neighbors said they were afraid of Cyrus who said he heard voices. Management did nothing about the complaints filed on Cyrus.
The family has filed a suit against the housing authority. However city attorneys have raised questions as to whether or not the law requires national criminal background checks.
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Mistakes-at-public-housing-blamed-for-elderly-womans-murder-82839157.html
January 30, 2010 – 11:30 pm
Most states require background checks before you can purchase a firearm. In New Jersey, authorities were able to catch a man wanted for leaving the scene of an accident when he tried to buy a gun.
Jeffrey Adams of East Orange was wanted for an accident that occurred on July 6, 2008 in which he hit a car head on. One of the passengers died a month after the wreck. Police issued a warrant for Adams for leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in a death. But police had no address on Adams.
Last week Adams tried to buy a gun and was rejected because of the background check. But he wrote his current address on the application which was processed through the state. Police arrested him at his home. He is being held in the Essex County Correctional Facility pending extradition to the Hudson County Jail.
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/01/background_check_for_gun_permi.html
January 26, 2010 – 1:14 pm
The city council in Richmond, Virginia wants to take a closer look at firefighters before they are hired. City Councilman Bruce Tyler is questioning the hiring practices of the Richmond Fire Department. The current policy requires a background check after the fireman is hired. Tyler said the applicants should be screened before then.
Fire Chief Robert Creecy said once the background checks are completed, they are examined on a case by case basis. Tyler says there is no law that prohibits hiring convicted felons. The police department says it is their policy not to hire convicted felons. Jurisdictions around Virginia have similar policies.
http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-richmond-fire-background-checks,0,5383607.story
January 22, 2010 – 7:48 am
Officials in Greenup, Ky. are wondering how a convicted felon got into a fifth grade classroom without credentials or a criminal background. According to an investigation by a local television station, Dakoda Bowling sat in on the classroom of a veteran teacher. But students said Bowling also taught the class at McKell Elementary.
Bowling was later approved as a substitute teacher by the school board. The superintendent said a criminal background check did not show any arrests. A further check of criminal records shows that Bowling had several convictions for charges including theft by deception and bad checks. Police officials said that other charges are pending.
The school superintendent said that the incident will lead to a double check of all personnel records to make sure “no one else slipped through the cracks.”
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/82314727.html
January 19, 2010 – 4:57 pm
Four years after it was put online, South Dakota’s sex offender registry is still confusing to some residents. Lawmakers are looking toward changing the sex offender registration laws because some of the laws have changed since the offender’s convictions. An investigation by a South Dakota newspaper revealed that 450 of the 2,600 offenders were convicted of crimes that had been redefined.
One of the biggest changes in the law involves statutory rape. Many of these cases involve young men who had consensual sex with their girlfriends—who may have been 16. In July 2005, statutory rape was listed as a more serious offense—third degree rape. A change in the law now classifies statutory rape as a fourth degree rape.
Lawmakers are proposing a division of the offenders into three categories. These categories will be based on the seriousness of their crimes.
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20100119/NEWS/1190328/1001/news
January 18, 2010 – 12:20 am
Weeks after a North Carolina police officer was charged with sexually assaulting women during traffic stops, a police official said a background check should have shown some red flags. Marcus Jackson is being held in jail on a $423,000 bond for allegedly sexually assaulting up to five women while on duty.
A criminal background check did not reveal a 2005 restraining order filed by a girlfriend who said Jackson hit her. A criminal background check did not reveal the restraining order, which was filed in civil court. The deputy chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said he thought the criminal background check would have revealed the civil restraining order.
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=135934&catid=57
January 13, 2010 – 4:59 pm
A Florida sheriff is being questioned about criminal background checks he is accused of doing as a favor to his cousin. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott told a newspaper that he did a criminal background check on two people because his cousin asked for a favor. The problem is he may have used the state and federal search systems, which is violation of the county’s agreement with the state.
The sheriff asked his lieutenant to do the background checks. The lieutenant has resigned from the sheriff’s department and is reported to be thinking about running against the sheriff.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is not investigating the sheriff’s actions. A spokesman said Scott is on the ‘honor system” and he would be responsible for reporting any violations.
January 9, 2010 – 7:13 am
A retiring Michigan judge expressed his frustration with the sex offender laws in a recent interview. Judge William C. Buhl said fear drove lawmaker to create a registry that included anyone who had committed a sex-related crime. Buhl said he would like to narrow the offenses that could be listed and change requirements that could keep offenders on the list for a minimum of 25 years. Buhl said he spoke for the majority of judges in Michigan but that others were afraid to speak out for political reasons.
Buhl cited the case of a 17-year-old who was pursued by his 15-year-old girlfriend. The teenager was charged with violating the state’s criminal sexual conduct law, even though the sex was consensual. Now he is on the list for 25 years. Buhl cited other cases where the laws seemed to be not fair.
The judge’s wish list included a process for evaluating and treating underage sex offenders. He said he also suggested that the only sex offenders on the list should be ones that “we need to worry about.” Those included violent rapists and child predators.
http://michiganmessenger.com/32878/an-ornery-judicial-view-of-mich-sex-offender-laws
January 6, 2010 – 7:23 am
Florida residents with criminal records say they can’t find a job. They are now seeking to have those criminal records expunged in hopes that it will help them find a job.
The unemployment rate in Florida is 11.5 percent, the highest rate since 1975. In 2008, as the recession dawned, more than 14,000 Florida residents had their criminal records sealed or obliterated—twice as many as the year before. However, private companies who have access to the information are still dispersing the information, since they have no legal obligation to expunge the information.
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/01/05/florida-criminals-expunging-records/?test=latestnews
