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The News -
Local - Massachusetts
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Written by By Denise Lavoie - AP Legal Affairs Writer
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05.08.2012 : Tue |
 BOSTON—The highest court in Massachusetts has thrown out a request to hold a Level 3 sex offender beyond his sentence after prosecutors missed a mandatory deadline.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday in the case of David Gangi, a sex offender who was serving time for indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.
Gangi, 72, has four convictions, according to the Sex Offender Registry Board, including two others for indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 and one for indecent assault and battery on a person under 14. Level 3 offenders are considered to have a high risk to re-offend, according to the state's classification system.
The law allows prosecutors to seek civil commitment of offenders beyond their prison sentences.
Once a judge finds probable cause the person is "sexually dangerous," the person is committed to a treatment center for up to 60 days while examiners evaluate him or her and make a recommendation to the court.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Gangi's commitment exceeded the 60-day maximum, but said it was due to a court clerk error.
The SJC said the delay was not justified and dismissed the petition to commit Gangi.
"Because `extraordinary circumstances' are not present, we do not consider whether the sixteen extra days of Gangi's confinement constitute a `very brief' delay," Justice Barbara Lenk wrote in the unanimous ruling. "Absent `extraordinary circumstances,' any violation of the sixty-day statutory deadline, however brief, requires dismissal."
A spokeswoman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said Monday that the court's decision takes effect in 29 days and Gangi would be eligible for release from custody at that time.
Gangi's lawyer, John Fennel, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
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Last Updated ( 05.08.2012 : Tue )
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The News -
Local - Massachusetts
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Written by Bruce Mohl and Christina Prignano
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04.10.2012 : Tue |
The state classifies 2,400 sex offenders as dangerous and likely to reoffend, but some question the accuracy of those judgements
On a chilly night in early February, the Massachusetts website that informs the public where the state’s most dangerous sex offenders are living indicates 41 of them are staying at Boston’s Pine Street Inn. The homeless shelter’s guests, according to their website profiles, include men who have raped and abused children, committed indecent assault and battery on children, raped women, and engaged in incestuous intercourse.
 Level 3 sex offenders from the Sex Offender Registry Board's website
But the state website’s tally is wrong. Most of the sex offenders are not at the Pine Street Inn that night, and it’s unclear where they are. At the request of CommonWealth, the homeless shelter checked its guest list against the 41 names from the state website and found only 10 were actually at the homeless shelter or an affiliated facility that night. Some of the others had stayed at Pine Street Inn in the previous 30 days, but quite a few hadn’t been there in more than a month and one had never been there, according to the shelter’s records.
Officials at other homeless shelters across the state report similar experiences. They say homeless sex offenders often register with the state as living at a shelter, but then move on after staying there for a day or two.
“Where are they?” asks Lyndia Downie, executive director of the Pine Street Inn. “This whole system of monitoring sex offenders seems to be creating a false sense of security. It represents that we know where these people are and we’re watching them. But if you don’t know where half or more of them are, then you’re not really watching them.”
Sex offenders are the lepers of 21st century American society. Their crimes are so  repulsive that states not only prosecute them and put them in jail but track them after they get out. Massachusetts posts the descriptions and locations of the most dangerous sex offenders on the Internet. A growing number of Massachusetts communities are passing ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. Sex offenders are also barred from federally subsidized housing and state law prohibits them from staying at nursing, convalescent, and rest homes.
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Last Updated ( 04.11.2012 : Wed )
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The News -
National
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Written by The Associated Press
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04.01.2012 : Sun |
 LAWRENCE KS - Sexually violent predators who are ordered to a state hospital for treatment after serving prison sentences are almost never released, and Kansas officials say they expect the overcrowded program to continue expanding.
The Sexual Predator Treatment Program, which began in 1994, gave prosecutors a place to indefinitely hold convicted sex offenders who are considered too dangerous to release from prison. Instead, prisoners are sent to Larned State Hospital for treatment with the goal of being released back into society.
But data from the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services shows that only three have been released since 1994, The Lawrence Journal-World reported. In the same time period, 17 have died, according to the SRS.
"You don't get out of here," said Mark Brull, a convicted sex offender confined to the program.
Since 2009, about 16 offenders have been committed to the program each year. Current projections predict the program will grow to more than 370 residents by 2020, said SRS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha.
The program currently costs the state $13 million a year, and the social services department asked the Kansas Legislature in September for another $2 million for facility upgrades to accommodate the anticipated growth.
Treatment for Brull, who was convicted of aggravated sexual battery and indecent solicitation of a child in 1997, costs Kansas about $60,000 per year.
"It's a very expensive warehouse," Brull said.
Treating violent sexual predators can take a significant amount of time, said Larned State Hospital Superintendent Christopher Burke.
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Last Updated ( 04.02.2012 : Mon )
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The News -
National
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Written by GateHouse News Service
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03.19.2012 : Mon |
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 Chester, Ill. — The Illinois Senate is set to debate the merits and costs of SB3359 this week in Springfield. This bill, introduced by State Senator William Haine (D), attempts to bring Illinois into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act which was passed in 2006. Since then, only 16 states of been deemed in “substantial compliance” with the Act, leaving Illinois among the majority of states which have failed or refused to comply. Since its passage in 2006, the Adam Walsh Act has come under fire as an unfunded mandate that requires states to expend unprecedented resources in order to meet the stringent requirements set forth by the federal government. Failure to comply results in a 10% reduction in states’ Byrne Grant allotment, which translates into a loss of about $1.5 million annually for Illinois. At the same time, the Justice Policy Institute estimated that the initial cost for Illinois to comply with the Adam Walsh Act would be over $20 million. In addition, the Illinois Department of Corrections has stated that the costs of compliance would be “substantial as more sex offender registration violations occur.”
The controversy surrounding the Adam Walsh Act has prompted several states to publicly defy the federal government, opting to accept the reduction in the Byrne Grant money instead of spending many times that amount in order to comply. A Criminal Justice committee commissioned by the Texas State Senate concluded in their report that “based on the research, the testimony provided during the hearing, it is clear registries do not provide the public safety” and then recommended that Texas not comply with the Adam Walsh Act. The Senate agreed and Texas joined several other states, including California and New York, in rejecting the federal government’s mandate.
Illinois must also consider the difficulty faced by those states that have attempted to enact their own version of SB3359. The state of Ohio recently announced that it has spent millions of dollars in its attempt to become compliant with the Adam Walsh Act, but also spent many millions more defending over 7,000 lawsuits filed against the legislation. Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio law went far beyond the intent of the original sex offender registration laws and clearly crossed the line between community safety and punishment. The Court ruled that the Ohio law was unconstitutional and could not be applied retroactively.
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Last Updated ( 03.29.2012 : Thu )
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Video -
other
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Written by webmaster
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03.10.2012 : Sat |
Noted defense attorney Ron Kuby and Jesse Friedman (subject of the Academy-award winning documentary CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS) came to St. Francis College February 21, 2012. Friedman spent 13 years in prison for child sexual abuse, despite a total lack of physical or other evidence. The children in the case were manipulated by detectives using suggestive questioning and hypnosis, as well as other now-discredited techniques that can lead to false allegations of abuse. Kuby and Friedman will discuss the case and Jesse's decades-long effort to appeal his conviction.
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Last Updated ( 03.10.2012 : Sat )
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