FAIR, Inc. is working year-round to educate Maryland’s lawmakers about the wide range of people on the public registry, and how damaging it is to innocent family members. We are also working to monitor and encourage legal challenges to the unconstitutional aspects of public registration laws as well as raise funds to support any legal injunction we may need to file, should our legislative efforts fail. We are especially busy during Maryland’s legislative session, from mid-January through early April.

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Registry and other restrictions on “sex offenders” serve punitive, not safety, purpose

By Jacob Sullum . . . The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear Louisiana’s appeal of a decision against its 2006 law requiring that people on the state’s sex offender registry carry IDs or driver’s licenses that say “SEX OFFENDER” in orange capital letters. A year ago, the Louisiana Supreme Court concluded that the requirement amounted to...

NARSOL E.D. Brenda Jones interviews on MO’s Halloween restrictions for registrants

By Liam Garrity . . . Across the nation and the Ozarks, police departments are checking in on sex offenders to make sure they are compliant with Missouri’s Halloween law. Buffalo’s police chief, Chris Twitchell, said the Halloween law in Missouri was put in place in 2008 to limit sex offenders from contact...

Person-first language takes hold in CO

By Colette Bordelon . . . A board created by Colorado’s state legislature, which develops standards for the treatment and supervision of convicted sex offenders, is changing the language surrounding the term “sex offender.” The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) was created in 1992 and works with around 500 treatment providers within the state,...

Connecticut Supreme Court delivers hopeful verdict December 2, 2021
Anthony A. v. Department of Correction By Larry . . . This is a lingering case that has gone on for several years. NARSOL has decided to use fewer quotes from the court’s opinion than we normally do because some of the language is very graphic in terms of the sexual acts alleged. In 2017, […]
Emily Horowitz’s take on the wrongful rape conviction in the Alice Sebold case December 1, 2021
Originally published at Reason 11/29/21. Reprinted in full with permission. By Emily Horowitz . . . Alice Sebold’s bestselling 1999 memoir Lucky tells the story of a young woman raped by a stranger while attending Syracuse University. In the book, the rapist is caught and convicted. After writing about the experience, Sebold went on to write the […]
Time to decide: Will we settle for “feel-good” laws? November 30, 2021
Originally published at the Times-Union, Albany, New York 11/30/21 Reprinted in full with permission. By Sandy . . . Approximately 180,000 individuals are incarcerated in the United States for a sexual crime. The offenses range from violent rape to exhibitionism. The vast majority will be released into the community to complete the sentence under probation […]
Iowa SC declines registrants’ petition; says constitutional rights not violated November 24, 2021
By Erin Jordan . . . The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a district-court decision that the state is not wrongfully denying liberty to sex offenders who aren’t eligible for parole because they haven’t been able to get into a required treatment program in Iowa’s prison system. The opinion filed Tuesday said the Iowa Department of Corrections has […]
CO SOMB changes ‘sex offender’ to ‘adults who commit sex offenses,’ but not without dissention November 20, 2021
By Sandy . . . The Colorado Sex Offender Management Board has taken a bold move. After barely having sufficient margin in a vote taken earlier this year to even consider the issue, they passed a motion in a November 19th meeting to replace the term “sex offender” with “adults who commit sexual offenses.” While […]
Deep discount for 2022 conference nearing end November 13, 2021
Just a quick “heads up” for anyone thinking of attending NARSOL’s 14th Annual Conference in Raleigh, NC in June… You’ve got just a few days left to take advantage of NARSOL’s 2022 Conference Super Early Bird special price of $139. After November 21st the price will revert back to $259, excluding any other discounts. The […]
Person-first language takes hold in CO November 12, 2021
By Colette Bordelon . . . A board created by Colorado’s state legislature, which develops standards for the treatment and supervision of convicted sex offenders, is changing the language surrounding the term “sex offender.” The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) was created in 1992 and works with around 500 treatment providers within the state, which serve approximately […]
On Halloween, focus on “sex offenders” misplaced, neglects real risks to children November 10, 2021
By Sandy . . . Under the header, “Local law enforcement performs Halloween sex offender checks,” the second sentence of the article explains. “Designed to keep the community safe on Halloween, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Troy Police Department, conducted sex offender checks throughout the county, with positive results.” The “positive results” […]
NARSOL’s directors elect new chair November 10, 2021
By Sandy Paul Shannon. In some circles that name is as familiar as is one’s own. I will never forget the first time I met Paul. It was in 2012 at NARSOL’s Albuquerque conference, the first conference I attended. I was still fairly new to NARSOL and was meeting everybody in person for the first […]
NARSOL E.D. Brenda Jones interviews on MO’s Halloween restrictions for registrants November 1, 2021
By Liam Garrity . . . Across the nation and the Ozarks, police departments are checking in on sex offenders to make sure they are compliant with Missouri’s Halloween law. Buffalo’s police chief, Chris Twitchell, said the Halloween law in Missouri was put in place in 2008 to limit sex offenders from contact when a large […]