Smells Like Bovine Excrement: The baby from the cover of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album is suing while claiming cover is "Child Porn" and "Sex Trafficking"

After reading this, it seems to me that that Spencer Elden is suing because he was snubbed by the band when wanting them to promote his art. If he simply sued over name and likeness, that's fine, but he went the extra mile to claim the image is "CP" and is also that, as reported by CNN, "Elden was sexualized because the dollar bill used in the image made the baby resemble 'a sex worker.'"

Claiming the album cover is CP is absurd. In the words of Curt Cobain, “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/arts/music/spencer-alden-nirvana-nevermind.html

Why the Baby on Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ Album Is Suing Now

Spencer Elden, 30, says Nirvana engaged in child pornography when the band used a picture of him naked on the cover of the breakthrough album.

By Maria Cramer

Aug. 25, 2021

Spencer Elden was 4 months old when he was photographed by a family friend in 1991 drifting naked in a pool.

The picture, taken at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, Calif., would be used that year for the cover of “Nevermind,” Nirvana’s seminal second album that helped define Generation X and rocketed the Seattle band to international fame.

In the decades that followed, Mr. Elden appeared to celebrate his part in the classic cover, recreating the moment for the album’s 10th, 17th, 20th and 25th anniversaries, though not naked.

“It’s cool but weird to be part of something so important that I don’t even remember,” he said in 2016 in an interview with The New York Post, in which he posed holding the album cover at 25.

Now, however, Mr. Elden, 30, has filed a federal lawsuit against the estate of Kurt Cobain, the musician’s former bandmates, David Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and Mr. Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, among other parties. He claimed that they, along with Geffen Records, which released “Nevermind,” profited from his naked image. It is one of the best-selling records of all time, with at least 30 million copies sold worldwide.

“Defendants knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday in federal court in California.

Mr. Elden suffered “permanent harm” because of his association with the album, including emotional distress and a “lifelong loss of income-earning capacity.” The lawsuit did not provide details about the losses and said they would be disclosed at trial.

Mr. Elden, an artist living in Los Angeles County, has gone to therapy for years to work through how the album cover affected him, said Maggie Mabie, one of his lawyers.

“He hasn’t met anyone who hasn’t seen his genitalia,” she said. “It's a constant reminder that he has no privacy. His privacy is worthless to the world.”

The lawsuit said that Mr. Elden is seeking $150,000 from each of the 15 people and companies named in the complaint, including Kurt Weddle, the photographer who took the picture. Mr. Weddle did not respond to messages requesting comment.

The photo of Mr. Elden was picked from among dozens of pictures of babies Mr. Weddle photographed for the album cover, which Mr. Cobain envisioned showing a baby underwater.

Mr. Weddle paid Mr. Elden’s parents $200 for the picture, which was later altered to show the baby chasing a dollar, dangling from a fishhook.

“They were trying to create controversy because controversy sells,” Ms. Mabie said. “The point was not just to create a menacing image but to cross the line and they did so in a way that exposed Spencer so that they could profit off of it.”

She said her client sometimes agreed when the band, media outlets and fans asked him to recreate the photo as an adult, but he eventually realized that this only resulted in the “image of him as a baby being further exploited.”

The representatives for Mr. Cobain’s estate did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Representatives for Mr. Grohl, Ms. Love, and Geffen Records, which is now part of Universal Music Group, did not respond to messages.

Mr. Elden, who declined to comment on his suit, said in a short documentary in 2015 that the album cover had “opened doors” for him. For example, he worked with Shepard Fairey, the artist who was sued by The Associated Press for using an image of Barack Obama for his piece “Hope.”

Over the years, he has expressed ambivalence about the cover.

“It’d be nice to have a quarter for every person that has seen my baby penis,” he said in a New York Post interview in 2016.

In a different interview that year, he said he was angry that people still talked about it.

“Recently I’ve been thinking, ‘What if I wasn’t OK with my freaking penis being shown to everybody?’ I didn’t really have a choice,” Mr. Elden said to GQ Australia.

He said that his feelings about the cover began to change “just a few months ago, when I was reaching out to Nirvana to see if they wanted to be part of my art show.”

Mr. Elden said he was referred to managers and lawyers.

“Why am I still on their cover if I’m not that big of a deal?” he said.

Ms. Mabie said that Mr. Elden has long felt discomfort over the images and had expressed it in even earlier interviews when he was teenager.

“Mr. Elden never consented to the use of this image or the display of these images,” she said. “Even though he recreated the images later on in life, he was clothed and he was an adult and these were very different circumstances.”

Ms. Mabie said his parents never authorized consent for how the images would be used.

She noted that Mr. Cobain once suggested putting a sticker over the baby’s genitals after there was pushback to the idea for the cover.

The performer, who died in 1994, said the sticker should read: “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.”

Mr. Elden is “asking for Nirvana to do what Nirvana should have done 30 years ago and redact the images of his genitalia from the album cover,” Ms. Mabie said.

This lawsuit is not a typical child pornography case, said Mary Graw Leary, a professor at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.

“Nudity of a child alone is not the definition of pornography,” she said. “The typical child pornography that is being seen in law enforcement and pursued in the courts can be violent. The children are young and it is very graphic.”

But there are factors under federal law that allow a judge or a jury to determine whether a photo of a minor “constitutes a lascivious exhibition of the genitals,” including if they were the focal point of a photo, Professor Graw Leary said.

That part of the law “gives a bit more discretion to the court,” she said. “It’s not a case with easy answers.”

Mr. Elden’s past comments about the cover should not undermine his current claim that he was a victim of child pornography, she added. The law does not pick between children who immediately denounce their abusers and children who initially were dismissive about what happened to them, she said.

“We don’t want to be in a position where we’re only going to consider one case criminal because in the other, the child didn’t think it was a big deal at the time,” Professor Graw Leary said. “We don’t only protect certain kids.”

Jessica Ye of the University of Maryland calls for vigilante actions if you don't like how "justice" plays out in America

 “If our institutions cannot ensure that people will be safe and that criminals will suffer consequences for their actions, society should.” These are the words of Jessica Yu in this recent OpEd to The Diamondback, a student newspaper for the University of Maryland. 

“This country was founded on vigilantism.” These were the words uttered by Patrick Drum, a career criminal who used the public sex offense registry to plan the execution of four Registered Persons, murdering two on his hit list before his capture. He is now sitting in a Washington State Prison for the rest of his natural life with no chance of parole.

Perhaps UMD should reconsider how they are educating their students. 

https://dbknews.com/2021/08/04/public-shaming-olympics-fencing-pink-masks/

The public must hold sex offenders accountable, even if institutions don’t

Jessica Ye

Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.

Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction. He wasn’t even reasonably believed to be innocent of the crimes he was accused of committing — rather, the judicial system had made a technical error during his trial. So even though he probably did commit horrible acts, our judicial institutions failed to hold him accountable.

Unfortunately, our institutions failing to appropriately investigate and punish sexual offenders seems to be quite common. From Roman Polanski to Jeffrey Epstein and now Bill Cosby, it’s difficult to think people who might’ve committed these types of crimes can avoid trial or get out on a technicality. Shouldn’t society demand that people who’ve seriously harmed others receive equally serious consequences?

When it comes to perpetrators escaping the system, individuals should be encouraged to step up and dole out certain consequences themselves. Some sex offenders can return to their normal lives after upending those of their victims’. But individuals can make “normal life” harder for these despicable people through public humiliation and accountability.

Last Friday, members of the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team did just that to Alen Hadzic, an alternate member accused of rape and sexual assault. Hadzic stood alone in a black mask at a match. His teammates — épée fencers Jake Hoyle, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez — wore pink masks to support sexual assault victims and to express disdain for Hadzic.

I usually consider public humiliation to be a pretty useless and unnecessarily cruel punishment for crimes that specifically target vulnerable people. However, there’s a marked difference between sexual crimes and most other crimes.

In the context of sexual crimes, I think public humiliation achieves some necessary objectives if there’s no institutional or legal punishment. First and most importantly, it serves to keep potential victims away from people with a history of sexual harassment accusations. In Hadzic’s case, although USA Fencing discreetly put measures in place to separate Hadzic from female athletes in Tokyo, the pink mask stunt will likely warn other women who work in and around the venues to stay away from him.

Second, public humiliation can also have indirect consequences on perpetrators’ future careers and reputations. Before his appeal, Hadzic was initially removed from the U.S. Olympic team. These public accusations will probably (I’d like to say undoubtedly, but some men in positions of power seem to be totally okay with this type of thing) play a factor in his future endeavors, whether as a fencer or not. No one wants to be part of a company that hired a dude with a history of sexual harassment accusations.

Frankly, the pink mask stunt will likely follow Hadzic into all aspects of his life — and it’s exactly what he deserves.

These consequences of public humiliation are totally fair given the crimes committed. Victims of sexual crimes can suffer career repercussions and damage to their reputations, not to mention physical and mental health tolls that can come with losing the basic right to control what happens to their own bodies. Out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, only 25 perpetrators end up incarcerated, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. It doesn’t make sense for people who caused so much pain to be able to walk off virtually scot-free, with no sort of punishment or justice served.

It especially doesn’t make sense that someone like that could represent the U.S. at an international level despite being both a safety risk and a distraction to other hard working teammates. If you’re like me, embarrassed to be represented by someone like Hadzic, go the route of his teammates and return the favor.

Embarrass sex offenders. Make sure their communities know who they are and to stay far away. They might already be public, even if the repercussions of that publicity haven’t landed yet.

If our institutions cannot ensure that people will be safe and that criminals will suffer consequences for their actions, society should. Public humiliation might just be the most effective tool individuals can use.

Jessica Ye is a rising sophomore government and politics and economics major. She can be reached at jye1@terpmail.umd.edu

Pearl -clutching OpEd by Zach Husted of Victoria, MN claims kids are pissing themselves over Registrant placement

If you want to see the dumbest example of Chicken Little writing, read the last paragraph. If I had to take a guess, he ate every oyster he could find until he got enough pearls to make a necklace so that he may clutch them. 

https://www.swnewsmedia.com/chanhassen_villager/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-work-toward-a-better-minnesota/article_bd0aacdd-4259-5def-b449-edceb26aa7ee.html

Letter: Work toward a better Minnesota

Mark Olson Jul 22, 2021 

Editor’s note: The author submitted the following letter on behalf of Wassermann neighbors in response to: “Victoria neighborhood protests level 3 sex offender.”

Minnesota uses a determinate sentencing model, whereby a level 3 child predator is serving his last one-third of his sentence among 700-plus children within a 1.5-mile radius of his residence.

The DOC informed our community they have a “density of victim” factor when reviewing placements, and determined on July 2 that this factor will remain arbitrary. In other words, the DOC does not have any legal responsibility to review the location of a level 3 child predator when it comes to the density of children living near his residence.

This community was given two business days of notice, that a level three child predator, who has a history of “sexualiz[ing] 90% of minor females” and “after three years of treatment is scoring at high risk to reoffend” (according to public court record, county attorney’s summation letter) will be living among their children.

Moreover, the Department of Corrections is minimizing the fact that he was leveled just prior to release — as the highest risk of reoffending — when it states, “… we have an extremely successful record working with this type of clientele.”

Our community appreciates the difficult position the DOC is in when it comes to lack of funding and limited resources for placing level 3 child predators, yet the DOC seems to be villainizing a community when claiming people are not giving him “the opportunity to succeed.” Our community wants nothing more than for the DOC’s “clientele” to be rehabilitated, and that is just the point. Approve a placement that will foster his rehabilitation.

How can the DOC find it ‘acceptable’ to approve a level 3 child predator’s residence surrounded by a high density of children resembling his previous victims, and when the sentencing judge states in a previous publication “The bottom line is this, [y]ou are not allowed to have contact with children period.”

Last week’s article includes a statement to our community, wanting the level 3 child predator to have an “unobstructed opportunity to succeed or fail on his own.”

How can failure be observed and reported without 1:1 supervision of potential non-contact sexual probation violations, or when the residence is allowed to record our children playing in their own backyards? Or, does failure come at the expense of another innocent child? There is no “fail on his own” with those horrifying circumstances, and failure is perpetuated in the lives of his victims indefinitely.

Lastly, our community is aware that only more level 3 child predators will be released this year, the next, and the following. It is our commitment to work with legislators such as Rep. Jim Nash, Rep. Greg Boe, and Sen. Julia Coleman to provide a framework for the DOC when placing level 3 child predators in the future.

As we watch our neighborhood children have night terrors, pee themselves in their own home, start antidepressants, see therapists, are unable to have use, enjoyment, tranquility in their own backyards, we will continue to work towards a better Minnesota that can find a more acceptable process than tormenting our children.

Zach Husted

Victoria

Vigilante scumbag and past Shiitake Award "Winner" Curtis J Hart drops out of local council race "Because Stupidity"

Curtis J(uicy) Fart, seen here campaigning for another
Shiitake Award victory

Imagine that, Curtis Hart, self-professed "open records hound", drops out of council race because he doesn't want anyone seeing his personal records.

How ironic. Or moronic. Or both. Yeah, both. 

https://tdn.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/curtis-hart-pulling-out-of-kelso-city-council-race/article_eddec0a0-c259-5aa5-b857-53026a97a2e5.html

Curtis Hart pulling out of Kelso City Council race

Brennen Kauffman Jul 14, 2021 2

Curtis Hart will appear on the ballot for the Kelso City Council primary, but he is working to suspend his campaign.

Hart said Wednesday that he was no longer planning to move forward due to concerns with years of financial disclosures, for himself and his wife, that are required by the Public Disclosure Commission for political candidates and office holders.

“I’m a public records hound, so I know what can happen once you have those records open to the public, especially if there are people that don’t like you,” Hart said.

His decision to suspend the campaign came after the drop-out deadline for the Aug. 3 primary election. Cowlitz County’s ballots were in the process of being shipped out Wednesday and will list Hart as a candidate for position 1 on the Kelso City Council.

Hart gained notoriety over the last four years for his aggressive vigilante work against sexual offenders in Kelso, often through public records. A record request he made to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office for details of every low-level sex offender turned into a three-year lawsuit after a group of “John Doe” offenders sued to stop their release.

The “John Does” argued they would suffer severe harassment and harm if Hart went through with plans to publicly release their information. In March, the Washington State Court of Appeals issued a decision in favor of Hart obtaining the full list of records.

Hart said he had initially entered the City Council race because of discussions around limiting the number of sexual offenders who can live in one residence in Kelso. The city staff began drafting an ordinance to establish limits for registered sex offenders in May and Hart said that progress was another reason he was happy to exit the race.

Cowlitz County Auditor Carolyn Fundingsland said if candidates miss the initial withdrawal deadline, there was no process for them to be removed from the ballot any other time before the November general election.

“There is no leeway in state law,” Fundingsland said. “Those candidates, if voted for they will advance to the general election and can be elected to office.”

Hart said Wednesday that he would refuse the position if he did end up winning the race in November.

The other two candidates on the ballot for position 1 in Kelso are incumbent Jeffrey McAllister and Brian Wood. The two candidates with the most votes in the August primary will go on to the general election in November.

Justin Lundy intentionally inflames and misreads viewers by claiming trailer park is becoming a "sex offender sanctuary"

The article misleads people believe the entire trailer park is going to become a haven for "sex offenders" and of course, the internet gangsters on social media are in full force. This isn't just a one-off story either, judging by Justin's Facebook account. 

Maybe he should spend less time working on bringing that MC Hammer hairdo into the 21st century and less time inciting hatred and ignorance in his viewers. 

https://wcyb.com/news/local/neighbors-concerned-about-plans-for-a-registered-sex-offender-sanctuary-in-wise-county

Neighbors concerned about plans for a registered sex offender sanctuary in Wise County

by JUSTIN LUNDY | WCYB Staff

Monday, July 5th 2021

WISE COUNTY, Va. (WCYB) — An East Stone Gap community is concerned after learning a sanctuary for registered sex offenders might be intentionally relocated to their neighborhood.

Longtime resident Vernon Porch Jr. has an 8-year-old daughter. Porch says he plans to leave the mobile home park.

"Most of the time we have eight kids here just playing at my house and we can't live here anymore if it's going to be like this," Porch said.

According to Virginia state law, registered sex offenders must live more than 500 feet from a church, school or daycare.

East Stone Gap Baptist Church is about 1,000 feet away from the mobile home park. Head pastor Lonnie Brooks says that's still too close for his own comfort.

"I know the state police came and measured all of that to check that they were within those boundaries," Brooks said. "But it still seems very close."

Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Slemp says he's also concerned about the safety of the East Stone Gap community.

"Obviously we're looking at it from every angle to determine what law enforcement or our county can do," Slemp said. "We're ready to step up enforcement and step up additional patrols. We'll do whatever we need to do for the safety of the community and residents in that community."

We reached out to Inby Home Trailer Park LLC for comment and have not yet received a response.

A public meeting about the proposed sex offender sanctuary is scheduled to take place on July 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Taylor-Lewis Baptist Community Center.

Biased Marion Co IN Sheriff Kerry Forestal justifies harassment campaign by claiming high reoffense rates

It is obvious here that Sheriff Forrest-Gump is trying to pressure Registered Persons to leave his county. He should be investigated for abusing his position. Lying to the public about reoffense rates is also a disservice to the community. 

He thinks we're all telling registrants to go to Indianapolis. Hello, big city means more people snd thus Registered Persons. What a putz!

https://fox59.com/news/sheriffs-office-ramps-up-efforts-to-educate-crack-down-on-noncompliant-sex-offenders-in-marion-county/

Sheriff’s office ramps up efforts to educate, crack down on noncompliant sex offenders in Marion County

by: Courtney Spinelli

Posted: Jul 7, 2021 / 11:21 PM EDT / Updated: Jul 7, 2021 / 11:22 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) shared it has reallocated resources to put an emphasis on proactively tackling the issue of non-compliant sex offenders in the community.

Right now, Marion County has 1,815 registered sex offenders that live in it, which the MCSO said is by far the most in any county in Indiana.

“Before I was the sheriff, I was the division commander and had the sex crimes unit under me and it continued to have more people from other counties come to Marion County,” said Sheriff Kerry Forestal. He told FOX59 he hoped to discourage this as he ran for Sheriff but said several contributing factors have made it difficult to control a growing number of outside offenders coming to the county.

Data provided by the MCSO reveals a growth in the percentage of registered sex offenders living in it, who were not convicted in the county, but instead moved after their release.

In 2018, the MCSO said 39% of registered sex offenders in Marion County were convicted elsewhere. That number rose to 42% by January of 2021, and in just six months, it moved to 45% by June.

“My issue isn’t the percentage increase, it’s when those increases come,” said State Representative Mitch Gore.

“It took three years to get to 42%, an increase of 3%, but it only took six months to get to 45%,” he said, “What I think we’re seeing is an exponential increase in the number of out-of-town sex offenders and I want to know, are they talking to each other? Why are they coming here? Is the state dumping sex offenders in our county?”

FOX59 reached out to the Indiana Department of Correction, who said each release of inmates is planned with the offender by members of its Re-Entry Division and Transitional Healthcare Services team.

“Each release includes an approved placement for the releasing citizen, which is determined based on a multitude of factors, including education, employment opportunities, family support, housing, transportation, resources and any restrictions or requirements put in place by the sentencing court,” a spokesperson for IDOC told FOX59.

Still, Forestal said he feels there are programs in Marion County he believes could be moved elsewhere, making it less convenient for sex offenders to move within county limits after their release.

“It’s easier to mix into to a population of 900,000 so they’ll move their post-release housing into our county,” said Forestal. “I want Hoosier hospitality to be people that we want in our community. Now, they want to go back in their community, that’s where they need to be.”

Forestal said he wants to encourage parents to keep an extra watchful eye on their children and the MCSO is working to increase its social media awareness on the community’s non-compliant sex offenders as part of this effort.

“We want our kids safe. I think parents should be able to feel they can send their kids out to the parks without having to look over their shoulders, but we’re in reality. We do need to look over the shoulders,” Forestal said.

“We feature, every Monday, a sex offender and if you notice, they’re always somebody who’s from out of town and it’s always somebody who’s failed to register,” said Gore. “We are seeing more and more that the people that come here are failing to register.”

To make his message clear that MCSO is cracking down more than ever on sex offenders that are not complying with rules, Forestal said he placed a sign in the lobby where they are required to register, which reads, “You’re welcome in Marion County as long as you follow the law.”

“The law allows you to be here and if you follow that, fine. I don’t like the programs that encourage them to come to Indianapolis,” he said. “Some of the smaller communities they may be recognized as being what they did and they’re choosing to avoid that detection by coming here.”

Last session, Gore introduced a piece of bipartisan legislation, House Bill 1556, co-authored by State Rep. Mike Speedy, which sought to allow a county’s legislative body to restrict the ability of a sex offender to move into a community, unless they were coming for legitimate reasons like employment or treatment programs.

“It did not get a hearing, but I’m hopeful when we explain this issue to other state legislators that they see the need and they allow it to move forward,” said Gore.

He said he is meeting with other state legislators and certain stakeholders to get a firm grasp on the factors surrounding the issue, and to have firm information so they can hopefully move forward and re-introduce the legislation in next session.

“It’s a problem that the state has helped create and so it’s one that we all have to get together and try to fix going forward,” said Gore. “It’s an issue in red counties and blue counties, which don’t really exist when we talk about this issue.”

Gore shared that he is glad to see Sheriff Forestal and the department taking an increased focus on proactivity when it comes to keeping an eye on the sex offenders living within county lines.

“What it really helps us do, is it gives us much better data and a much better idea of how pervasive this issue is so I can go to my colleagues at the Statehouse, give them hard data, say ‘this is how it affects my county; I can help you get the data for your county, and can we show you, is this happening in your county to the same extent.'”

Gore said Marion County is in a unique position, where it has to deal with this problem in a greater volume than any other in Indiana.

“There are other counties that don’t have to deal with this, so they’re able to allocate resources to their jail and their warrant teams and they’re able to go out and arrest, you know, violent offenders that are on the run,” he said. “We have to dedicate a great amount of time and resources to the sex offender issue, when almost half of them shouldn’t even be here.”

Gore hopes a bipartisan piece of legislation on this would keep the issue at the forefront of Marion County residents’ minds, and to know there are things they can do, and law enforcement is doing, to keep their kids safe.

Forestal said, “We keep the eyes on the people who want to keep their eyes on the children. Sex offenders have a very high recidivism rate and to make that very clear, they do it again.”

“They’re getting a second chance. The fact that they’re out on the streets and not in jail, a judge somewhere has made the decision to allow them to do that,” Forestal said.

He said all is he asking them to do is follow the rules, and because he knows some out there are not doing that, he and his department are committed to conducting unannounced sweeps and focusing resources on the issue, as needed.

MCSO said so far, year to date, they have conducted 3,600 in-person compliance checks. Additionally, the department has launched 195 criminal investigations, which is a 49% increase from the same time period in 2018.

Also up 35% from the same time period in 2018 is the number of warrant applications made due to registered sex offenders failing to comply. So far this year, the department has made 42 applications.

This year, 36 non-compliant sex offenders have been arrested in Marion County, which the MCSO said is a 140% increase from the same time period in 2018.

Current numbers show in the county jail, there are 212 people charged with some kind of sexual or sexually violent crime. The crimes range anywhere from rape to child molestation.

Sheriff Forestal said his message for registered sex offenders in the county is clear: “Another sweep will be coming and as we mentioned before we don’t tell you when, but for the sex offenders, we will be coming for you again, so follow the rules or move out.”

“Those sweeps call it to attention that we will be knocking on your door. If you tell us this is your address, it better be current and we’re gonna take action against you.”

Rittenhouse attorney wants to show victim was a "Sex Offender"

Allow me to correctly dissect the events surrounding this shooting. Then 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse grabbed a gun and joined a group of rabblerousers looking to start a fight, and he did indeed find a fight. When he couldn't handle the fight, he pulled out his gun and started shooting. As it turns out, one of Rittenhouse's victim was a Registered Person, so he thinks that somehow absolves him. 

https://www.dailyunion.com/news/nation_world/rittenhouse-attorney-wants-to-show-victim-was-sex-offender/article_a491ae56-0178-5101-ae40-1057c699e9b5.html

Rittenhouse attorney wants to show victim was sex offender

Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney wants a judge to allow him to argue that one of the men his client killed during a protest in Wisconsin last year was a sex offender, in hopes of showing the man was trying to steal Rittenhouse's gun because he couldn't possess one

By TODD RICHMOND - Associated Press Jul 6, 2021 Updated 2 hrs ago

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney wants a judge to allow him to argue that one of the men his client fatally shot during a Wisconsin protest was a sex offender, saying it supports a defense theory that he attacked Rittenhouse and intended to take his gun because he couldn't legally possess one.

Mark Richards maintained in court filings Thursday that Joseph Rosenbaum was convicted of having sex with a minor in Arizona in 2002 and was prohibited from possessing firearms. Rosenbaum started the altercation with Rittenhouse in hopes of making off with his assault-style rifle, which only bolsters Rittenhouse’s self-defense argument, Richards wrote.

Kimberley Motley, an attorney representing Rosenbaum's estate, rejected Richards' theory but declined to comment further since the case against Rittenhouse remains open.

“We believe strongly that Mr. Rittenhouse was the aggressor and his actions were not lawful,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Richards also filed a motion to dismiss a charge that Rittenhouse couldn't possess a gun because he was too young under Wisconsin law, arguing that statutes prohibit minors from possessing short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and Rittenhouse's assault-style rifle doesn't meet that definition.

Rittenhouse, who is white, traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, on Aug. 25 to answer a call from local militia to protect businesses from protesters. The demonstrations began after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, during a domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed from the waist down.

The protests turned chaotic that night. According to prosecutors, Rittenhouse opened fire on Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz. He killed Rosenbaum and Huber. Grosskreutz was hit but survived.

Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time. Now 18, he maintains he fired in self-defense but prosecutors have charged him with a litany of counts, including reckless homicide, recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and being a minor in possession of a dangerous weapon.

Black Lives Matter supports have painted him as a trigger-happy white supremacist. Conservatives have made him into a symbol for gun rights, generating $2 million for his bail. His trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.

Prosecutors filed motions last week asking a judge to allow a video from July 2020 which they said shows Rittenhouse striking a teenage girl in the back on Kenosha's waterfront. They also want to argue that Rittenhouse is affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.

Photos taken in January show Rittenhouse drinking in a Mount Pleasant bar and gesturing with what appeared to be a white power symbol. Prosecutors said in their motions they have learned the people Rittenhouse was with included the leader of the Proud Boys' Wisconsin chapter and several of its high-ranking members.

Richards filed another motion on Thursday arguing evidence related to the altercation between Rittenhouse and the teenage girl is irrelevant.

He also argued that there's no indication Rittenhouse knew any of the Proud Boys before that night in the bar or that he has associated with the group. What's more, nothing supports the argument that race was a factor in the shootings, Richards said.

Huber and Grosskreutz were part of a “mob” that was chasing Rittenhouse, Richards wrote in the motion. Huber hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard and tried to grab his gun, and Grosskreutz pointed a pistol at him, Richards wrote.

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder has scheduled a hearing on the motions for Sept. 17.

A Bridge Too Far: Registrant's name physically scratched off a commemorative plaque in Devon, UK

The UK can be just as stupid about sex offense panic as the US can be. At least the BBC didn't misuse the term "paedophile" in this article. The logic behind this move is asinine-- alleged victims and survivors of other offenders would be triggered by seeing this person's name on a commemorative plaque. Seriously, who even looks at these things?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-57375578

Sex offender councillor's name removed from plaque

Published2 days ago

The name of a former council leader jailed for sexually assaulting three women has been removed from a plaque marking the opening of a bridge he helped campaign for.

Ex-Devon County Council boss Brian Greenslade was jailed for 16 months after being convicted in May.

His name has been scratched off the sign marking the opening of the Western Bypass and Taw Bridge in Barnstaple.

Devon County Council said the work was an "interim measure".

A spokesman for the authority said it was exploring longer term options to commemorate the opening of the bridge.

He added: "Following Brian Greenslade's conviction, we are sensitive to the potential offence likely to be caused to survivors and others affected by his historic actions."

The 72-year-old, from Marwood, near Barnstaple was also a member of the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority.

He denied the assaults, which took place in the 1990s and 2000s, dismissing one allegation as "absolute nonsense" but was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.

The Barnstaple Western Bypass and £42m Taw Bridge opened on 23 May 2007.

The project took two years to build and Greenslade said at the time the opening was a wonderful day for him after two years of hoping it would become a reality.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey vetos beneficial sex offense legislation over balanced budget dispute

I suppose I've seen dumber reasons to veto a beneficial registry reform bill, but pouting over a budget issue is pretty stupid. 

https://www.azmirror.com/2021/05/28/ducey-vetoes-22-bills-says-nothing-will-be-signed-until-budget-is-approved/

Ducey vetoes 22 bills, says nothing will be signed until budget is approved

By Jeremy Duda -May 28, 2021, Last Updated: May 28, 2021 3:00 pm

Gov. Doug Ducey is ratcheting up the pressure on GOP lawmakers to reach an agreement on the budget, vowing not to sign any other legislation that reaches his desk until he gets a budget, and backing up his threat by vetoing 22 bills.

Ducey made the announcement in response to both the House of Representatives and Senate adjourning until June 10 after Republican legislative leaders failed to round up a majority to pass the budget deal they forged with the governor. The GOP has only a one-vote majority in both legislative chambers and Democrats oppose the proposed budget, meaning Republican lawmakers must vote unanimously to approve the plan.

“We have the opportunity to make responsible and significant investments in K-12 education, higher education, infrastructure and local communities, all while delivering historic tax relief to working families and small businesses,” Ducey wrote on Twitter on Friday afternoon. “Once the budget passes, I’m willing to consider some of these other issues. But until then, I will not be signing any additional bills. Let’s focus on our jobs, get to work and pass the budget.”

The governor wasted no time acting on his ultimatum, vetoing all 22 bills that were on his desk. That list of bills included legislation to ban certain kinds of anti-racism training for government employees, a bill that would make it a felony for election officials to send early ballots to voters who don’t request them, a bill that make it easier for some low-level sex offenders to remove their names from the state’s sex offender registry and legislation improving treatment for pregnant prison inmates. 

“Some are good policy, but with one month left until the end of the fiscal year, we need to focus first on passing a budget. That should be priority one. The other stuff can wait,” Ducey wrote on Twitter. 

Useful Idiot: Wisconsin State Rep. Samantha Kerkman admits civil commitment is just an extension of prison time

There are a lot of bad things to unpack here, like the use of "pocket parks" to banish Registered Persons from living in the community, but a Republican state rep potentially helps out future lawsuits by admitting civil commitment is being used to incarcerate people beyond their sentences. I'm sure her cohorts in the WI legislature are unhappy she spilled the beans. 

https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/new-hearing-set-friday-on-placement-of-two-sex-offenders-in-camp-lake/article_638a7bbc-2bff-596d-8740-855324734219.html

RESIDENTS OBJECT TO SEX OFFENDER PLAN

WATCH NOW: New hearing set Friday on placement of two sex offenders in Camp Lake

JILL TATGE-ROZELL 18 hrs ago

SALEM LAKES — Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas is scheduled to consider new information Friday about the proximity of parks to a village home where two sex offenders were ordered for placement, District Attorney Michael Graveley told more than 200 people at a meeting on the issue Wednesday night.

“We’re going to see what happens on Friday, but from my perspective you have a reason to be optimistic,” Graveley said, adding he can’t promise anything.

The hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. All parties will be communicating via telephone conference. However, the public will be able to listen if present in the courtroom at the Kenosha County Courthouse.

Both Graveley and Sheriff David Beth said Salem Lakes Village Administrator Mike Murdock supplied information about the location of parks not initially presented to the judges who approved the placement at a home at 2756 Camp Lake Road.

“If there’s a hero today whose here, it’s Mike Murdock,” Graveley said, garnering applause from the public.

Beth said, based on the information provided by Murdock, “detectives were able to determine there are several small parks within 1,500 feet of the residence.” Both state statute and village ordinance prohibit the placement of sex offenders within this range.

“The Sheriff’s Department no longer feels that this house fits for the placement of these two people,” Beth said, also to the applause of the crowd, which did get vocal in opposition to the pending placements at times during the meeting.

A map with a 1,500-foot radius drawn around the home address, on display at the meeting, clearly shows the locations of multiple parks. Graveley and Beth said this information is part of a new report that will be provided to the judge.

Resident Adrienne Kiesler, who spoke to the panel Wednesday, provided a photo showing the line of sight from her pier to the house located 175 feet away.

“My children are their number-one target,” Kiesler said, adding one of her sons in the same age as one of the offender’s victims. “All I can do is beg and plead that this gets to the right people to turn this down.”

Offenders’ records

The sex offenders scheduled for release are Dale H. Peshek, 48, and Brian T. Threlkeld, 39. Peshek was convicted in 1998 for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in 1997, and with child enticement involving the same boy in 1995.

Threlkeld was convicted in 2000 for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy, and, according to archival news reports, admitted to assaulting others.

Both Peshek and Brian Threlkeld were found to be “sexually violent persons” by the court under Chapter 980 of state statutes. To be declared as such, an offender must have a mental disorder that predisposes the person to engage in acts of sexual violence and make it likely the person will engage in future acts of sexual violence.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which handled the petition to declare Peshek as a sexually violent offender, Peshek also committed sexual assaults of younger children in 1986 and 1988 when he was a juvenile.

Sex offenders who are deemed sexually violent begin a civil commitment at a treatment facility in Mauston after they have completed their criminal sentence. It is not for a specific time. The sexually violent offender is reevaluated yearly for supervised release.

Since 2017, an offender’s county of residence has been mandated by law to find a location for placement of upon their release.

Offenders will stay in county

Graveley said should the court decide Friday the home in Camp Lake is not an appropriate placement, another different location in Kenosha County will need to be found.

Representatives from the Department of Corrections, Department of Health Services, and other agencies involved explained the supervised release process and were on hand to answer questions.

State Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem Lakes, said she and state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, “are working together to enhance our 980 statute” with additional notification rules. The legislators’ districts include Salem Lakes.

“We are lucky the statute was put on the books in 1994 because it’s helped keep people who are sexually violent incarcerated for an additional time period,” Kerkman said. “It’s an involuntary commitment essentially to help keep our communities safe.”

Triggered Campus Snowflake Caresse Boulter of Riverside City College Apparently Can't Handle the Real World

I was expecting this campus snowflake to be a gender studies major, but apparently she's a political science major, which is, incidentally, also a degree that specializes in spreading bovine excrement. God help us if she enters the workforce, especially if she becomes a public official. 

There's Registered Citizens EVERYWHERE, Caresse. Welcome to the real world. 

https://www.pe.com/2021/05/23/another-convicted-sex-offender-running-for-student-body-president-at-rcc/

Another convicted sex offender running for student body president at RCC

"What's disheartening is when there's no consideration being given to survivors of sexual abuse," says one student

For the second time in the past eight years, a convicted sex offender is running unopposed for student body president at Riverside City College, and once again it is generating quite a stir among some students.

Since enrolling at RCC in January 2019, J., 45, of Moreno Valley has been a model student and taken an active role in student government and leadership. Less than three years since his release from prison, he is seeking office in a special election this week, May 25 through May 27.

But some students have complained about Jaramillo’s criminal background and status as a registered sex offender, and at least one student has demanded that he withdraw his candidacy.

RCC senior Caresse Boulter believes administrators have been insensitive to the concerns of students, especially survivors of sexual abuse. She said she complained to Student Activities Coordinator Deborah Hall about J’s bid for president and was told nothing could be done.

“What’s disheartening is when there’s no consideration being given to survivors of sexual abuse. It is what it is and you just have to deal with it,” Boulter said in a telephone interview.

Boulter, who served in student government and leadership herself, said she has nothing personal against J. “It’s purely because I am concerned for the mental well-being of survivors at the school,” she said.

RCC spokeswoman Peggy Lomas said community colleges are open access institutions supporting anyone seeking higher education. She said J, in his two years at RCC, formerly served as the director of special events and is now the director of the Inter Club Council.

“In student government, he’s been nothing but a model leader,” Lomas said.

Moving forward

J said in an email he has been diligent in following the conditions of his parole and was deemed by the state to not be a threat to public safety.

“I understand the severity of the nature of my offense and have taken tremendous steps to learn and grow from it,” J said, adding that he understands the concerns of some students about his past transgressions.

“I will continue to advocate for students to ensure that victims of any crime can receive the help they need,”  J said. “I will also advocate for formerly incarcerated students, of any crime, to be allowed the same opportunity to achieve higher education in a safe college environment.”

Conviction disclosed

J’s conviction was revealed to students during a recent meeting of RCC’s Inter Council Club, of which J is the director, when a student broached the subject, Boulter said.

Boulter said she personally asked J to withdraw from the election on Friday, May 14. She said she also spoke out against Jaramillo’s candidacy at the most recent ICC meeting on Monday, May 17, but was not allowed to directly address J. Instead, student body Vice President Stefany Moctezuma Perez fielded the questions regarding J, Boulter said.

Perez could not be reached for comment.

“Now that this news is out, what’s going to be done for students interested in joining clubs or in student government?” Boulter asked. “It’s actually triggering to see that there’s somebody who has this record who’s now in the position of power making decisions for students.”

Lomas would not comment further on how the college was addressing student complaints, nor how many complaints college administrators received about J’s sex offender status.

Model student

J, who was released from prison in October 2018, joined the Transitioning Minds club at RCC shortly after enrolling more than two years ago. The club assists formerly incarcerated students with their educational goals. He was subsequently appointed special events council director and then took on the role this year as Inter Council Club director.

He said he is on track to complete his associate degree in welding technologies and is also pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship. “My goal is to open my own business, with the skills and knowledge gained here at RCC,” J said.

Among J’s other leadership responsibilities at RCC include serving as the student body representative for several college committees as well as for the Riverside Community College District’s Board of trustees.

J has been forthright about his conviction, and told RCC’s student newspaper Viewpoints he would be willing to address the matter with the student body during a live forum, but would not go into details. When he enrolled at RCC, J said the first thing he did was report his conviction and sex offender status to campus police.

Boulter said she understands J has rights and has paid his debt to society. She even commends him on his academic successes and ambition. But she remains disturbed by what she says is the lack of concern of college administrators and other student body leaders.

If J becomes student body president, Boulter said, it can potentially trigger painful memories and traumas for survivors of sexual abuse.

“It’s just a big mess, and it’s an unfortunate situation,” Boulter said.

Civilian Virginia State Police SOR employee charged with possessing CP

On the one had, the pics were of someone just shy of her 18th birthday (and she's being charged with making the pics); on the other hand, this guy worked for the agency that adds people to the public registry in VA, so you'd think he would know what happens to those convicted of a sex offense. 

https://swvatoday.com/news/article_0ad662fa-b286-11eb-86e3-d7d9a02eac1c.html

VSP employee charged with possessing child porn in Wythe

By JEFFREY SIMMONS | Staff May 11, 2021

Wythe County man who made sure men and women on Virginia’s sex offender registry were following the rules has been charged with crimes that could ultimately land him on registry

Shane Alan Underwood, 47, of Speedwell was arrested on May 5 and charged with seven counts of possessing child pornography, according to arrest warrants obtained by Virginia State Police Trooper B.R. Edwards.

In a criminal complaint, Edwards said investigators searched Underwood’s cell phone in March and found seven images of possible child porn. Underwood, who’s on unpaid leave, was a civilian employee with the state police’s firearms and sex offender investigate unit, according to a VSP spokesperson.

Police were able to identify the female in the images who confirmed she was 17 during the offense dates – Dec. 4, 2019, to Dec. 4, 2020. Now an adult, the female named in the complaint, 18-year-old Keilee Jude whose birthday is Dec. 4, is facing Bland County charges of possessing child porn.

Jude and 41-year-old William Dean Blankenship were arrested in February after police searched a Bland County residence and reported finding drugs and cell phones containing pornographic images of Jude and two other juveniles – one 17 and one 16.

“Both the phone that Mr. Blankenship identified as his and the phone Ms. Jude identified as hers contain dozens of pictures depicting Ms. Jude nude or performing sexual acts while under the age of 18,” a deputy wrote in court documents.

The search warrant related to Underwood was sealed by a Wythe County judge.

In addition to his state police job where he verified information reported by sex offenders, Underwood also worked for GFS Secure Solutions but is now on a leave of absence, according to court documents.

A Linkedin page under his name said he had 17 years of experience in corrections, law enforcement and security.

“States he will appear in court and has a steady job,” a magistrate wrote when setting Underwood’s bond at $5,000. “Very cooperative and polite.”

Given a court-appointed attorney to represent him, Underwood has a June 24 preliminary hearing set in Wythe County General District Court.

If convicted of possessing child porn, Underwood faces a maximum five-year prison sentence on each count.

Crappy local news rag Crawford County Now (Ohio news site) bashes Registered Citizen working as a paralegal in upcoming trial

These reporters didn't even have the guts to add their names to the article, but it isn't like they have that many reporters, so chances are, Randy Bigley (News Director) and/or Kim Gasurus (News Reporter) wrote this hit piece. Since I can't narrow down who actually deserves this nomination, so I'm just giving it to the whole paper for now. 

I hope they get sued for trying to disrupt the trial. 

Update -- The scumbags from the Crawford County Now are threatening to sue the Shiitake Awards because they are butthurt over the nomination. They apparently don't understand fair use. So maybe they will end up getting sued after all. 

(As an aside, I would not be shocked if it turned out a scumsucker from the Persecutor's office was the "anonymous tip.")

Below are the offensive statements from the articles. Maybe the Crawford County Crapper and their attorney, Mr. Derriere, can take the time to look up what constitutes fair use. 

https://crawfordcountynow.com/local/tier-1-sex-offender-assists-in-benedict-jury-selection/

Tier 1 sex offender assists in Benedict jury selection

By Crawford County Now Staff April 26, 2021 11:32 pm

Crawford County Now

BUCYRUS—A jury was seated in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Monday to hear the case against Joshua B**...

An anonymous tip was verified revealing that a Tier I Sex Offender was assisting defense attorney Adam Stone during jury selection....

T**** was designated a tier one sex offender (the lowest level offender) and must report annually to the Sheriff’s Department of the county where he resides for the next 15 years...

T*** is currently a paralegal at Stone’s law firm.

During the course of discovery, trial preparation, and today’s jury selection, T*** was present with Stone and actively participating in proceedings.

When reached for comment, Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall noted that his office policy is to not publicly comment on issues regarding an ongoing trial. No comment was given by Adam Stone or representatives of his office in response to inquiries made by Crawford County Now...

https://crawfordcountynow.com/local/benedict-frustrated-and-sickened-by-story/

Benedict ‘frustrated and sickened’ by story

By Crawford County Now Staff April 27, 2021 3:50 pm

Crawford County NowCCN staff

...Yesterday, Crawford County Now received an anonymous tip that a Tier I sex offender was assisting in the jury selection process.

Howard noted that Ryan T***, a paralegal for defense counsel Adam Stone was indeed an active registrant on the offender registry in Crawford County. Howard noted that T** had spent time incarcerated and had done everything required of him. Hall also confirmed that T** was assisting at the defense table during jury selection.

Stone (who had represented T*** in his case) told the court he did not want B** to suffer for a choice he made. He said that B** knew T***’s record and agreed to his assistance in the case. Stone said he has employed T*** for a year and a half. He told the court that T*** has amazing resolve and can communicate effectively with B**. He also noted that since losing his teaching license, T*** had advanced his education to paralegal studies.

Hall then asked B** how he felt about Stone’s ability to effectively represent him.

“I am frustrated and sickened by what happened last night (CCN article). It was formed to hinder our argument, but I don’t feel it hinders Adam’s defense.” B** said.

Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler told the court that he disagreed with B**’s accusation regarding the intent of the article.

“There was no involvement of the state that led to this article. The author of the article contacted the state for a comment, and we offered no comment,” Hoovler said.

It was concluded that the article was not seen by any of the jurors or alternate jurors....

In case you didn't already see this: Missouri is adding conservation areas to the list of places Registrants can't go near

I'm still trying to catch up on events from the end of last month until now due to my work on the new website, but this silly law will add conservation centers or certain athletic fields to the growing list of places Registrants cannot even be near. 

https://www.senate.mo.gov/21info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=54105512

SB 91Prohibits certain offenders of sex crimes from being near certain propertiesSponsor:

Riddle

LR Number:0456S.02PCommittee:General LawsLast Action:4/26/2021 - HCS Voted Do Pass H Judiciary

Journal Page:Title:SCS SB 91Calendar Position:Effective Date:August 28, 2021

Current Bill Summary

SCS/SB 91 - This act provides that persons guilty of certain sex crimes cannot be present or loiter within five hundred feet of athletic complexes or athletic fields that exist primarily for use and recreation of children or within five hundred feet of Missouri Department of Conservation Nature or Education Center properties, unless the registered sex offender is the parent of a child participating in an educational program of the Department of Conservation and has permission to be on the property.

This act is identical to provisions in SB 250 (2021) and similar to SB 638 (2020) and SB 35 (2019).

The village of Hartland WI has a "saturation" law. Now they're justly getting sued for it

 "Village" is a bit of a misnomer. Hartland, population 9268, is a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so it is a bit big for a village. Regardless, in all my years of covering various laws against Registered Persons, I've never seen a law that could be described a "saturation" law. Essentially, the village has placed limits on the number of Registered Persons who can live within the limits of the community. And now they're getting sued for their efforts. Good.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2021/04/21/lawsuit-challenges-hartlands-limit-sex-offenders/7322327002/

Would-be resident sues Hartland, calls ban on more sex offenders unconstitutional

Bruce Vielmetti

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Karsten Koch, 34, has been living with his parents in Nashotah, but he would like to move out to his own place in Hartland to be closer to his job but not too far from family.

Hartland's police chief has warned Koch he's not welcome, citing the village's moratorium on any more sex offenders living there.

In a federal lawsuit, Koch contends that the village's 2018 ordinance, applied retroactively, amounts to an illegal ex post facto law, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. 

The "designated offenders" banned by the ordinance include anyone on the state's sex offender registry. Koch is listed there because of a 2007 conviction for sexual assault of a child.

According to the suit, Hartland officials decided a few years ago that too many sex offenders — 32 — already lived there, a "saturation level" 6.75 times higher than other Waukesha County communities.

The ordinance thus declared a moratorium on any more offenders moving to Hartland until the saturation level more closely matches that of Waukesha County overall.

Koch's lawsuit seeks to represent the class of any registered sex offenders who want to move to Hartland. It says the ordinance violated the ex post facto clause "because it makes more burdensome the punishment imposed for offenses committed before enactment of the ordinance," because it applies retroactively to people, like Koch, who are designated offenders because of crimes committed before Hartland passed its ordinance.

The suit asks the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional, stop village officials from enforcing it, and grant unspecified damages to Koch.

Koch's attorneys, Chicago civil rights lawyers Mark Weinberg and Adele Nicholas, have challenged similar restrictions on sex offenders inother Wisconsin municipalities, like Oak Creek and Muskego, and other states.

"So many of these restrictions are so harsh, arbitrary and capricious that they're constitutionally infirm," Weinberg said. 

For years, local communities have struggled with the presence of sex offenders on supervised release. As some areas passed laws prohibiting them from within a certain distance of schools and other places children might gather, state officials had to find homes for them in other towns, which then passed their own limits, and on and on until there are few possibilities left.

Eventually, the state imposed a new rule that put the onus on counties to find suitable residences for the offenders on supervised release.

But that applied only to so-called violent sex offenders, those being released from civil commitment under Wisconsin's Chapter 980. That law allows indefinite confinement and treatment for certain sex offenders after they complete criminal sentences. 

The local restrictions still make it difficult for ordinary sex offenders to live while on supervised release.

Koch served seven years in prison for his conviction but is slated to remain on community supervision until 2034. In December, he found a room for rent in a ranch house on Merton Avenue in Hartland, and a landlord who agreed to rent to someone on the sex offender registry.

But earlier this month, according to his suit, Koch got an email from Hartland's police chief informing him the moratorium was still in effect.

Chief Torin Misko did not immediately return a message seeking the current sex offender count in the village.

Village AttorneyHector de la Mora noted that Koch never approached the village about appealing or being granted an exception, as the ordinance provides.

He also said the very fact Hartland had the highest per-capital population of sex offenders among Waukesha County communities indicated that village officials believed that people have a right to live where they choose, and it was only when the concentration became so great that it adopted the ordinance.

Weinberg said the chance to seek an exception from the village, at officials' discretion, doesn't change the validity of Koch's constitutional challenge.

Republican California State Senator Brian Jones is trying to prevent Registrants from being placed in his community

Pete Wilson was one of the worst governors in CA history, so I'm not sure following his bad example is a good look for the state. 

https://www.kusi.com/state-senator-jones-calls-to-halt-proposed-placements-of-svps-in-east-county/

State Senator Jones calls to halt proposed placements of SVPs in East County

Posted: April 16, 2021  KUSI Newsroom

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Sen. Brian Jones said Friday he has asked Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to halt the potential placements of two convicted sex offenders in an East County home.

The placements in question are the proposed conditional releases of Douglas Badger and Merle Wakefield, both of whom the Department of State Hospitals has recommended be housed in a supervised home on Horizon Hills Drive in the Mt. Helix neighborhood.

Badger, 78, was convicted of sexual assaults dating back to the 1970s, mostly victimizing male hitchhikers, while Wakefield, 64, was convicted of sexual assaults dating back to the 1980s, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Both men are classified as sexually violent predators, a designation for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend.

After serving their prison sentences, sexually violent predators may undergo treatment at state hospitals, but may also petition courts to continue treatment in supervised outpatient locations. Both men’s requests for conditional release have been granted by judges.

Badger has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday regarding his potential placement, while Wakefield’s hearing is scheduled for next month. Both hearings are public and will be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jones said he sent two letters this month to Department of State Hospitals Director Stephanie Clendenin after constituents expressed concerns regarding the proposed placements.

In a statement, Jones cited two instances in which former Govs. Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian overruled state authorities to order convicted rapists to serve the remainders of their parole in trailers on the grounds of state prisons.

“Neither Douglas Badger or Merle Wakefield are suitable to be released from secure state facilities, let alone dumping them in a residential neighborhood in Mt. Helix,” said Jones, R-Santee.

“Both are dangerous sexually violent predators who have repeatedly targeted and attacked children. Rather than renting a spacious home to serve as a boarding house for these people, Governor Newsom ought to follow the lead of former Govs. Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian. Both of these governors got creative and ordered that dangerous parolees be housed in trailers at state correctional facilities.”

C'mon man! President Joe Biden erroneously claims "the average rapist rapes about six times"

It is not secret that I'm not a conservative snowflake. I revel in featuring many conservatives here. Unlike many people, I also realize that there is a difference between political alignment and party affiliation. A person runs on the Democrat ticket is not automatically a liberal. Job Biden is a Democrat but politically as conservative as any Republican save an extremist like Trump. 

Joe Biden may not have invented the registry, but he was instrumental in making it federal law. It certainly does not help when he makes idiotic statements like this one. As usual, we find politicians willing to use junk "science" to promote an agenda. I thought we were through with that trick when Trump was ousted, but apparently not. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/12/bidens-claim-that-average-rapist-rapes-about-six-times/

Biden’s claim that the ‘average rapist rapes about six times’

Glenn Kessler

April 12, 2021 at 7:00 a.m. UTC

“The average rapist rapes about six times.”

— President Biden, in remarks during the weekly economic briefing, April 9

During an economic briefing, the president touted his budget proposal, highlighting additional funding for programs funded by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 — a bill Biden had shepherded to passage as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In particular, he highlighted a push to provide additional funds to end a backlog in rape kits.

Then he mentioned this statistic — and stepped into a hornet’s nest of fierce debate among specialists on sexual assault.

This is one of those easy-to-remember statistics that emerge out of academic research. But whether it is accurate is another question.

The Facts

The White House did not respond to a request for a source for Biden’s comment. But Biden most probably was referring to a 2002 study, “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists,” principally by David Lisak, then at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. (Lisak is vice chairman of 1in6, a group that helps men who have had abusive sexual experiences.)

The report said it drew on four samples of a total of 1,882 men between the ages of 18 and 71, who answered questionnaires, in exchange for a small payment, after they encountered researchers while walking across a college campus between 1991 and 1998. The researchers found 120 men “whose self-reported acts met legal definitions of rape or attempted rape, but who were never prosecuted by criminal justice authorities.” Of these men, 76 were identified as “repeat rapists” based on their survey responses. “These repeat rapists each committed an average of six rapes and/or attempted rapes and an average of 14 interpersonally violent acts,” the report said.

While Biden spoke generally about all rapists, the report purported to be about college rapists (though it is not known if all of the men surveyed were actually college students, and the average age of the respondents was 26.5 years old). Note also that the statistic is for both rapes and attempted rapes, not just rapes.

The statistic is still in circulation, even though it is based on data as much as 30 years old, but it has been controversial. Lisak and his research methods have been under attack for many years.

Linda LeFauve, associate vice president for planning and institutional research at Davidson College in North Carolina, has written at length about what she views as the flaws in Lisak’s paper. She has charged he pooled data from surveys of uncertain provenance, the participants were not necessarily college students and it’s unclear how many people were subject to follow-up interviews.

“There is no research to confirm the Lisak statistic, studies that dispute it, and more than sufficient evidence that Lisak has been perpetrating a fraud,” LeFauve said. Nevertheless, she said, his research was embraced during the Obama administration when the White House organized a task force on campus sexual assault. And she said — even though she voted for both Barack Obama and Biden — she was dismayed to see it resurrected under Biden.

Mary P. Koss, a regents’ professor in the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, noted that she testified before Biden’s committee when the Violence Against Women Act was under consideration. “I am very saddened that advisers to the president have misinformed him,” she said. “The figure he uses is actually not able to be fact-checked because it provides an ‘average,’ which would most appropriately come from a national sample that doesn’t exist in the scientific literature.”

As for college students, she said she published the only national study of rape perpetration by college students — a survey of more than 6,000 students published in 1988 — and “the average number of rapes by men who self-disclosed acts that met a legal definition of rape was 2.6.”

In 2015, Koss contributed to a report published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics that was a direct assault on Lisak’s research. “Though a small group of men perpetrated rape across multiple college years, they constituted a significant minority of those who committed college rape and did not compose the group at highest risk of perpetrating rape when entering college,” the study said.

The study, whose lead author was Kevin Swartout of Georgia State University, “was highly contested, re-peer-reviewed three times by JAMA at Lisak’s complaints, was deemed sound and never withdrawn,” Koss said. “Lisak’s critique of the study was also peer-reviewed and rejected for publication. This paper is scientifically complex but at highest levels of peer review discredits Lisak’s empirical work and the claims he extrapolates from it.”

Lisak, in an exchange of emails with The Fact Checker, dismissed the 2015 JAMA study: “Those researchers brought the number of serial offenders in their study down by redefining serial offending so that many subjects who had multiple victims were no longer counted as serial offenders.”

Lisak denied he submitted a critique of the JAMA study. (Koss says she saw his comments but conceded that perhaps he did not formally submit them because it was “a losing battle.”) Lisak provided a 2017 report, written by Jim Hopper, one of his former students, and posted on Hopper’s website. Hopper said he adjusted the JAMA data set to the definitions used in Lisak’s 2002 report, coming up with similar results. “Research suggests that about two‐thirds of college rapists are repeat offenders, who account for the great majority of rapes (over 90%), and about one‐fourth of college rapists admit to committing rapes over multiple years of college,” Hopper wrote.

“The Internet is not a valid source of peer-reviewed information,” Koss said. “He has his self-serving opinion, but JAMA did not support it.”

Lisak also pointed to two subsequent studies that he said reported numbers close to his, one from 2009 (6.5 rapes per serial rapist among Navy recruits) and one from 2019 (five rapes per serial rapist among college students).

“Reports of Rape Reperpetration by Newly Enlisted Male Navy Personnel.” (2009). This study surveyed 1,146 enlisted male Navy personnel and found that 13 percent (144) engaged in actions that met the definition of attempted or completed rape. Of them, 71 percent engaged in more than one attempt, with an average rate of almost 6.5 incidents. This is clearly a study of serial rapists, not necessarily “average” rapists.

“Is Campus Rape Primarily a Serial or One-Time Problem? Evidence From a Multicampus Study.” (2019). This study relied on data from the Core Alcohol and Other Drug Survey of 12,624 college men at 49 community and four-year colleges and concluded that serial rapists were the cause of most campus rapes. The lead author, John D. Foubert of Union University, acknowledged that the survey (in question 21) does not actually ask about rape but offers a vaguer question — whether the person had “taken advantage of another sexually” because of alcohol or drug use. “You are right to question the item we used, though. It is the major limitation of our study,” he told The Fact Checker. “In my view, it would be better called ‘sexual assault’ than rape.”

“As a researcher, I see many limitations to these studies,” Lisak said. “However, given the research we have, it is clear that 1) serial sex offending is an extremely important issue; 2) the available data tells us that serial offenders account for the majority of sex offenses being committed (which is also true of drug dealers, burglars, bank robbers, etc.).”

Lisak summed up: “Six is as good a number to cite as any, and probably better than most.”

“At present, I don’t know of other research that would confirm the finding,” said Foubert, who is dean of the College of Education at Union. “I will say that in my experience as a college administrator, anecdotally, it did seem to me that offenders were often multiple offenders.” He added: “I’m thankful that President Biden is at least citing a study that is peer-reviewed. Many politicians don’t understand the difference between a peer-reviewed study and a Cosmo article.”

New research may further undermine this statistic. Swartout said he had recently completed a national survey of 697 male four-year college graduates based on their sexually violent behavior while in college. “I found that the average college man who commits rape assaults 1.48 victims. To help contextualize this a little more, 81.7 percent of the men in the study who reported committing rape reported assaulting one victim,” he said. “Overall, 10.2 percent of the overall sample reported perpetrating rape while they were an undergraduate student.” He said the study was being finalized for peer review and would be submitted to JAMA Pediatrics.

Koss said Biden should withdraw his statement. “The president’s statement, sadly, should be corrected to advise policymakers on the basis of sound scientific evidence,” she said.

LeFauve said these sorts of statistics are appealing because they fit neatly in existing narratives. “No one wants to be on the side of the bad guys,” she said. “And the minute you question rape statistics — the misleading claims about false reports is its own rabbit hole — you’re on the wrong side.”

The Pinocchio Test

Sexual assault of women is an important issue, and Biden has long been a leader in pressing for laws to combat it. But now that Biden has the presidential megaphone, he has a responsibility to use statistics that are widely accepted and not controversial.

Perhaps he remembered this statistic from the Obama administration’s work on campus sexual assault, but that was some time ago. Even then, Lisak’s findings were under fire from other academicians.

The Lisak paper was published almost two decades ago and primarily focused on campus sexual assault, not the “average rapist,” as Biden put it. Moreover, the statistics come from a relatively small sample of men who were randomly self-selected as they walked across a college campus. It was not based on a nationwide sample.

Obviously, The Fact Checker cannot litigate the debate between Lisak and his critics. But the White House should be aware of the dispute and be more cautious about validating a statistic that may or may not be correct. Otherwise, Biden may be perpetuating misinformation.

Ordinarily, given the academic dispute, we’d consider this a Two-Pinocchio claim. But because the president turned a study about campus rape into a statistic about the average rapist, he earns Three Pinocchios.

The arrest of Offendex extortionist Charles "Chuck" Rodrick is an event over a half-decade in the making

For nearly a decade, Charles "Chuck" Rodrick lived high off the hog by using the registry to extort victims out of millions. But his time is finally up. 

Look at those soulless eyes and that unkempt appearance. This isn't Rodrick's first rodeo. In fact, Rodrick and his cohort Oesterblad were busted for fraud back in the 1990s.

This arrest should have happened as far back as 2011. I'm not sure what finally prompted the FBI to finally lock this loser up. He has spent years avoiding the law while continuing his campaign of online terror, and soon he'll be more permanently in a familiar location.  Courtkey.com, formerly owned by Sucky Chucky, now owned by one of his victims, has full coverage of the Rodrick arrest. 

https://apnews.com/article/us-news-arizona-phoenix-ebb4b491d744316e6faa403b9d3697ac

Arizona man charged in scheme targeting sex offenders

By JACQUES BILLEAUD

4/8/21

PHOENIX (AP) — Three people have been charged with fraud in Arizona in what prosecutors say was a harassment scheme to get payments from sex offenders in exchange for removing their names from a website.

In an indictment released Thursday, Charles Rodrick of Scottsdale and Brent Oesterblad are accused of obtaining information from the National Predator Database’s site and posting it on a site created by Rodrick.

Prosecutors say Rodrick, Oesterblad and Sarah Shea then received money for removing the names from Rodrick’s site but failed to do so or republished the victims’ profiles on other sites owned by Rodrick. They also said the trio harassed others whose names weren’t listed in the National Predator Database by posting fraudulent sex offender profiles on Rodrick’s websites.

Rodrick, 60, was taken into custody Tuesday at Sky Harbor International Airport as he was returning from Costa Rica.

At Rodrick’s first court hearing, prosecutor Nicole Shaker said Rodrick has a separate $3 million civil judgment against him in Maricopa County for the victims in the criminal case, yet he hasn’t paid them anything. Shaker said Rodrick uses limited liability corporations and girlfriends to hide his assets.

At the hearing, Rodrick said the FBI had tried to build a federal case against him several years ago, but the case was turned down by a federal grand jury. “For this to surface now in 2021 is a shock to me,” Rodrick said.

Shaker disputed that the current case went before a federal grand jury.

Bond was set at $30,000 for Rodrick, who also was ordered to wear an ankle monitor when outside of jail.

Messages left Thursday for Rodrick’s attorney, Kristopher Califano, weren’t immediately returned.

It’s unclear whether Oesterblad and Shea have attorneys who can comment on their clients’ behalf.

Although Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office released the indictment, the court file itself wasn’t publicly available at midday Thursday. Oesterblad and Shea didn’t have listed phone numbers.

Disgraced former FloriDUH State Senator Frank Artiles is arrested for voter fraud

Disgraced former FL State Senator Frank Artiles sponsored the bill in 2014 that made changes to the FL Statutes to make the drivers license marks that say "Sexual Predator" them (the law existed before then but the statute number was listed, not the phrase). From Frank Artiles's own website, he made it a point to be a part of the 2014 "scorched earth policy", adding, "It is a top priority of the Florida House to make Florida the most unfriendly state in the nation for sexually violent predators." So I don't feel bad at all that this piece of crap was busted for election fraud. 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article250026354.html

Former Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles is finally getting his due: criminal charges | Opinion

BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO

MARCH 19, 2021 06:00 AM, 

Confirmed: There was voter fraud in Florida in the 2020 election after all.

And the alleged perpetrator, foul-mouthed Frank Artiles, is getting his due.

The disgraced former Florida lawmaker and GOP operative is charged with making a mockery of democracy: rigging a 2020 state Senate race in Miami-Dade by planting and paying $44,708 to a bogus, no-party candidate with a similar name to the Democratic incumbent.

His masterful strategy to win for the GOP — now the stuff of riveting search and arrest warrants — was to siphon off votes from the Democrat.

Who needs to rack up endorsements, debate the issues and highlight experience, when all you have to do is hire a guy who lives in Boca Raton with the last name of Rodríguez?

Two Cuban-American Rodríguezes against a Cuban-American García amounts to perfectly executed confusion for the largely Hispanic and Anglo voters of Miami, Coral Gables and Pinecrest.

The Senate 37 race between Democratic Sen. José Javier Rodríguez and his newcomer Republican opponent, Ileana García, founder of Latinas for Trump, was decided in her favor after a three-day recount — and by only 32 votes.

The shill candidate drew 6,382 votes.

García’s win was one of the upsets that expanded the majority Republican dominance of the Florida Legislature. García is there right now casting votes and shaping policy along predictable party lines — and we may never know if that was truly the voters’ will.

We do know Artiles’ intention — he even bragged about the candidate plant — and we know who benefited from his dark money criminal enterprise: the Republicans.

Like in a movie, he allegedly paid Alexis (Alex) Rodríguez for the dirty deed by repeatedly raiding his Palmetto Bay home safe, grabbing stacks of cash — from $3,000 to $5,000 — so rewarding a nondescript auto parts dealer he didn’t think anyone would bother to track down.

Idiot that he has always been underneath the bravado, Artiles didn’t think the money and paper trail would lead to him — or that three reporters, the Miami Herald’s Samantha Gross and Ana Ceballos, and WPLG TV’s Glenna Milberg, would tirelessly pursue the truth.

Or, that the cheating Alex Rodríguez would talk.

Or, for that matter, that the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Public Corruption Task Force would investigate and pursue the case.

His home raided by law enforcement, Artiles now faces several felony campaign-finance charges and additional ones for false swearing in connection with voting or elections.

May he languish in prison for it, although that remains to be seen, given Miami-Dade’s prosecutors’ poor record for putting corrupt politicians behind bars, where they belong.

But for now, it’s democracy-affirming to see the law catch up to his shenanigans.

ARTILES’ BULLY BEHAVIOR

The ex-Miami state representative for District 118 and senator has been a slimy politician his entire career — with the support of his colleagues and his party, it’s worth noting.

He broke the law in 2010 when he ran for office in District 119, which spanned from Sweetwater to Homestead before redistricting, where he didn’t live. When caught by Political Cortadito blogger Elaine de Valle at his Palmetto Bay house wearing gym pants and socks at 9:45 p.m. on a Monday night, he claimed ignorance.

In 2016, post redistricting, he won his Senate seat using ethnic-baiting tactics in a heavily Hispanic district. He told voters that his African American contender, Dwight Bullard, supported “a terrorist organization.” It was Black Lives Matter. Shameful.

In the Senate, he bullied Senate colleagues. He bullied the Miami Dade College president.

He hurled racist and misogynist rants at an African-American senator in front of colleagues gathered at a Tallahassee bar in 2017.

He called Senate President Joe Negron a “p---y” and the senators in the GOP caucus that elected him “n---as.” He called Sen. Audrey Gibson, an African-American Democrat from Jacksonville, sitting across the table from him at the Governor’s Club, a “b---h” and a “girl.”

Trying to escape Senate censure, he made things worse with an insincere apology that blamed his lack of basic human decency on growing up in Hialeah. He was eventually forced to resign in disgrace, although not by his Cuban-American colleagues, who did all they could to torpedo Senate censure.

Nothing much was lost.

A homophobe, he had been peddling a potty bill that would have made it illegal for transgender people to use a public bathroom that doesn’t correspond to their biological gender designation at birth.

Here’s hoping he liked the bathrooms at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he was booked Thursday morning and spent about nine hours before posting a $5,000 bond.

But what about the voters?

A rigged election shouldn’t be allowed to stand, but a special election can’t be called unless García is implicated, too, and so far, she hasn’t been.

For now, voters can only hope to savor the kind of justice served by the prospect of a five-year prison term for a bad actor who has long-earned banishment.

Bully, racist, misogynist, gay-hater — and hopefully soon, convicted felon, Frank Artiles is getting what he deserves.