Do Little If Anything To Deter Sex Crimes And Could Actually Lead To An Increase In Offences

02/28/2014

Proposed sex-offender registry will not deter crime, criminal lawyer warns

"They say it's for child sex offenders but we can guarantee you it will not just be those offenders, it will be all ex-offenders.

The Conservative government’s plan to create a publicly-accessible database of child sex offenders will do little if anything to deter sex crimes and could actually lead to an increase in offences, an Ottawa-based defence lawyer warns.

Michael Spratt, who has testified at numerous parliamentary committees on criminal legislation, says the sex registry is being sold as a way to protect children and assist parents, but it is nothing more than “false advertising.”

The Conservative government’s legislation, introduced Wednesday, would create a publicly-accessible database of high-risk child sex offenders. It would also require registered sex offenders to provide more information when they travel abroad and permit more sharing of information between federal agencies.

“Online registries, they’re seductive, they sound like a good idea and they’re easy to sell to the public and they’re an easy position to advertise,” Spratt told CTV’s Canada AM on Friday.

“But if you look at the criminological evidence that has dealt with public registries … that evidence has found that there isn’t a reduce in offence because of the registry, there isn’t a detection in crime because of the registry.”

Spratt says that some studies have actually found that public registries make reintegration of an offender back into society, increasing the chances of a person reoffending.

Spratt, who runs a legal blog, turns to several studies that show what he calls are flaws with registries.

One study that looked at New York’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law concluded the registry had little to no impact on reducing sex crimes because most offences are committed by those who have not previously been convicted of one."

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/canada-proposed-sex-offender-registry.html#.UxDC0s7dyuM

http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/proposed-sex-offender-registry-will-not-deter-crime-criminal-lawyer-warns-1.1708077

Thursday, February 27, 2014

CANADA - Public child sex offender database planned

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/canada-public-child-sex-offender.html#.UxDGHc7dyuM

http://metronews.ca/news/canada/954602/public-child-sex-offender-database-planned

Sex Offender Registries Do Little To Increase Public Safety, Either In Practice Or In Potential

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Does Sex Offender Registration Deter Crime?

"Studies Find They May Not Increase Public Safety

"Laws requiring sex offenders to register with law enforcement and notifying the public of their location may make us feel safer, but two scientific studies of these laws found they really do not do much to protect the public. In fact, one study found that making sex registry information available to the public may actually backfire, producing higher overall rates of sex crimes.""

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/does-sex-offender-registration-deter.html

*****

Sex Offenders Aren’t All Monsters [none are]

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/sex-offenders-arent-all-monsters.html

Sex Offenders Aren’t All Monsters

http://prisonlawblog.com/blog/2013/9/3/sex-offenders-arent-all-monsters

*****

How Likely Are Sex Offenders to Repeat Their Crimes?

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/how-likely-are-sex-offenders-to-repeat-their-crimes-258/

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/how-likely-are-sex-offenders-to-repeat.html

Underreporting Clouds Attempt to Count Repeat Sex Offenders

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120122376053515485.html

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/underreporting-clouds-attempt-to-count.html

*****

Quinn signs new sex offender McLaw

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/quinn-signs-new-sex-offender-mclaw/article_dba5c29e-0367-11e3-8649-001a4bcf887a.html

Michigan introduces a bill to restrict certain registered sex offenders, 365 days of the year, as to their interaction with minors under 16, under a host of circumstances

http://sexoffender-holiday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/michigan-introduces-bill-to-restrict.html

Eleventh

PUBLISHED: 11:26, 26 February 2013 | UPDATED: 18:20, 26 February 2013

Compulsive liar is jailed for making her ELEVENTH false rape claim, against an innocent man 'who she decided she didn't like any more'

>Elizabeth Jones, 22, invented her first sex attack in 2004, when aged 13,
>Her latest victim was targeted because she didn't like him,
>After he was held for nine hours CCTV disproved her malicious claim.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284677/Compulsive-liar-jailed-making-ELEVENTH-false-rape-claim-innocent-man-decided-didnt-like-anymore.html

Cease And Desist

February 9, 2013

Desistance and rehabilitation – seminar podcasts on iTunes U

"Glasgow University have published the podcasts of ten seminars on desistance and rehabilitation, featuring Fergus McNeill.

The seminars are part of the University’s ‘Rehabilitation and desistance from crime’ module, which aims to develop critical understandings of concepts of offender rehabilitation and their contested roles within theories and practices of punishment; and research about desistance from crime and its relationship to theories and practices of offender rehabilitation."

http://eyeshareinfo.com/2013/02/criminal-justice-system-desistance-and-rehabilitation-seminar-podcasts/

Podcasts

Same Old, Sad, Shameful, Stupid, Story

Updated: 28/12/2012 16:05 GMT

India Sex Offenders 'Named And Shamed', After Protests Over Brutal Delhi Student Gang Rape

"India's convicted sex offenders will have their names, photographs and addresses published, in a highly controversial measure by the government to tackle growing anger after a series of high-profile sex attacks in the country.

Protests have been ongoing since the brutal gang rape of a Delhi student on a local bus by six men, leaving her hospitalised with serious internal injuries.

Medics describe her condition as "critical" and she has been moved to a specialist hospital in Singapore."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/28/india-sex-offenders-list-gang-rape-student-delhi_n_2375708.html?

Friday 28 December 2012 09.44 GMT

India to name and shame sex offenders as rape protests grow

"There are fears that identifying convicted rapists will lead to vigilante attacks. Others point out that, with a national average conviction rate of 25% for rape cases, and with many charges taking several years to reach court and enormous numbers of incidents going unreported, the measure can only have a limited effect. Women's rights campaigners have, however, backed the idea.

"It is true that there is a risk of such attacks but at the moment it is the victim who has to suffer the shame and social ostracism," said Ranjana Kumari, director of Delhi's Centre for Social Research. "She can't get married, for example. This will make sure the rapist is shamed. He won't get a job, or somewhere to live and will be cut off from society. This is a powerful deterrent," Kumari, who is also a member of the national commission for empowerment of women, told the Guardian."

"The six men responsible for the incident in Delhi included a driver of an unlicensed private bus, a vegetable seller and a gym assistant. Most had grown up in deeply conservative parts of rural India before moving to the capital."

"Kumari, one of those who suggested the public sex offenders' register, said she was pleased with the government's move but disappointed that finances devoted to women's schemes had been cut at a meeting earlier this week."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/28/india-name-shame-sex-offenders

MP to seize driving, arms licences of sex offenders

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mp-to-seize-driving-arms-licences-of-sex-offenders/1049915/

Delhi to have 5 fast track courts for sexual assault cases by January 3

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_delhi-to-have-5-fast-track-courts-for-sexual-assault-cases-by-january-3_1782862

India calls for death penalty for those accused of brutal gang rape of medical student who later died

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-calls-for-death-penalty-for-those-accused-of-brutal-gang-rape-of-medical-student-who-later-died-8433978.html

Jayalalithaa proposes death, chemical castration for rapists

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/jayalalithaa-proposes-death-chemical-castration-for-rapists/article4261610.ece

Govt seeks inputs from all parties to amend rape laws

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/11/20130101201301012223273637afd364f/Govt-seeks-inputs-from-all-parties-to-amend-rape-laws.html

Delhi gang-rape case: Sonia Gandhi makes suggestions to govt for stricter laws

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_delhi-gang-rape-case-sonia-gandhi-makes-suggestions-to-govt-for-stricter-laws_1784007

Activists wary as India rushes to justice after gang rape 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/06/uk-india-rape-reforms-idUKBRE9050BI20130106

We Know

Monday 03 December 2012

Sex criminal register does not work as a deterrent: report

"Setting up an official register of sex offenders, as happens in the US and Britain, does not reduce the re-offending rate, a report for the Dutch justice ministry said on Monday.

Nor is there any evidence that updating locals on the presence of sex offenders stops further crimes, the report says.

In fact, notifying locals that someone convicted of sex crimes has moved to their neighbourhood can have a negative effect by isolating the offender from society. This could make it more likely that he will re-offend, the report says.

Trials

The report coincides with an experiment currently under way in 50 local authority areas in the Netherlands. The experiment, based on British practices, involves informing police and mayors when sex offenders are released from jail and settle in their locality.

Sex offenders in the Netherlands can be kept under official supervision for up to nine years.

If the experiment proves successful, it will be expanded nationwide."

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/12/sex_criminal_register_does_not.php

Watching The News Is As Serious As Murder

September 21. 2012 12:37AM

Judge says child pornography is as serious as actual assault

"BRENTWOOD — When a Salem man argued he should receive a suspended sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, the judge responded by explaining why he views the crime more seriously than he once did.

ZG, 20, was sentenced 2 to 4 years in state prison Wednesday morning on two counts of attempted possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty as part of a negotiated disposition.

Prosecutors focused their arguments on G’s criminal record, which included convictions for misdemeanor sexual assault and criminal threatening dating back to 2009.

Defense lawyer James Rosenberg argued that Gray was still a young man with a troubled past trying to turn around his life through a battery of counseling.

But Judge Kenneth McHugh said Gray’s case was more about deterring the public from committing similar crimes.

“I’m convinced this is as serious and sometimes a more serious crime than an actual sexual assault,” McHugh said while handing down the sentence.

His comments marked the second time in recent days that a Rockingham County judge said he believes child pornography needs to be taken more seriously by both the court and the public."

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120921/NEWHAMPSHIRE1411/709219923/1007/news09