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SATI e-News: July 8, 2002
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In This
Issue: |
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Legal Update
Conference Announcements
DNA News: From Washington
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Michigan
Court Opinion Impacts Law Enforcement’s Internal Sex Offender
Records |
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As reported in the June 10 issue of
SATI e-News, a federal judge declared Michigan's sex offender
registry unconstitutional. The state’s registry listed 29,000 sex
offenders on the state’s public website, until officials pulled
the plug on June 4th in response to the Court’s decision.
After SATI e-News went to press last month, the Detroit
Free Press reported that the decision also forced state
officials to shut down a lesser known but important law
enforcement tool—the confidential list used internally by police
departments across the state to track sex offenders. The list has
been used by law enforcement to track offenders who were
discharged on an unsupervised basis. An estimated 93 of these
offenders were added to the internal list monthly, while an
average 264 offenders were being added monthly to the public
registry, according to Michigan’s Assistant Attorney General,
Margaret Nelson and reported in the Free Press.
State officials have requested that the Court delay enforcement of
its order—at least for the internal list— pending the outcome of
the Attorney General’s appeal to a higher court. The appeal is
expected to be decided in “the coming months,” according to the
Free Press.
Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court recently picked up at least one
sex offender case for review, a Connecticut sex offender registry
case, to decide whether to force states to evaluate cases
individually before listing former sex offenders on registries.
The Supreme Court decision is expected some time next year, and
the Free Press indicates its outcome may affect some 20
state sex offender registries.
Thanks to Leslie A. Hagen, Staff Attorney for the Michigan
Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, for bringing this
update to our attention.
Original sources:
“State pleads for registry; second sex-offender list could be lost
under ruling,” Detroit Free Press, June 11, 2002
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/nstay11_20020611.htm
“State sex offender list ruled unlawful by court,” Detroit Free
Press, June 4, 2002
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/offend4_20020604.htm
“Federal Judge Strikes Down Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry, “
SATI e-news,
June 10, 2002.
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Supreme
Court Finds Offender Treatment Program Constitutional |
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The Supreme Court ruled that a
Kansas sex offender rehab program that forced a prisoner to
reveal past crimes did not violate the Constitution.
The Kansas program is voluntary, but there are incentives for
prisoners to sign-up for it, according to the UPI. Once
they are enrolled in the program, offenders are required to
complete and sign an “admission of responsibility” form for all
the crimes they’ve committed, including any illegal offenses for
which they have not been charged.
The inmate who filed the suit contested that the form compelled
self-incrimination—even though the program is voluntary—because
not participating resulted in harsh punitive measures such as
withdrawing television privileges.
While Kansas does not consider the information provided by the
inmates in the offender program to be privileged, the state has
never acted on it, according to the UPI.
Source:
“Rape rehabilitation program constitutional,” UPI, June
10, 2002
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=10062002-014718-8826r
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Project GHB
Conference: Save the Date |
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Project GHB (www.projectghb.org)
will hold a national conference in Orlando Florida, March 13-15,
2003. The conference is geared to front-line
professionals—medical personnel, crime labs, law enforcement,
prosecutors, victim advocates, school administrators and
counselors—who commonly come in contact with those who have
ingested the drug, either voluntarily or involuntarily. This
forum will bring together top experts to share the most
up-to-date-information on GHB and other club drugs. Conferees
will learn how to educate others on the front-lines in their
communities about the signs of GHB use, and about the unique
qualities of this drug that require specialized treatments and
protocols. Project GHB is working with the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and the Florida Drug Czar on conference
plans. Registration details will be provided in future issues of
SATI e-News.
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Multi-Disciplinary Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Training in
Troy, NY (Albany) |
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The principals of SATI
(Sexual Assault Training & Investigations) and STOPDV
(Specialized Training on Preventing Domestic Violence) will hold
an intensive two-day state-of-the-art DV and Sexual Assault
training, September 25-26 in Troy (Albany), New York.
Presented by Sgt. Joanne Archambault (retired), the sexual
assault sessions will focus on case dynamics: investigating
tough cases (non-stranger, drug facilitated sexual assault,
mentally ill, runaways), developing skills to interview
survivors, evidence assessment, interpretation of findings and
case impact. The DV topics, to be presented by Sgt. Anne O’Dell
(retired), include intervention, sophistication of batterers,
strangulation investigative techniques, mutual combat and
lethality, risk assessment and stalking. Advance registration is
required. For details, see
http://www.mysati.com/reg_ny_9_2002.htm or call Rose Frey at
the New York State Prosecutors Training Institute (518)
629-4822. Register early--seating is limited to 200.
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National FBI
Conference for Crime Lab Managers |
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Crime lab managers are invited to
attend the FBI’s annual conference, which will be held this year
in St. Louis, September 23-25, at Washington University’s Olin
School of Business Executive Management. Contact the FBI Lab
Training Coordinator at703/632-4622 or see
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/trainingupdt.htm.
For a list of other FBI forensic trainings and meetings, see:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/rapidmtg.htm
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International
Association of Forensic Nurses |
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The 10th anniversary scientific
assembly of the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)
will be held in Minneapolis, MN October 9-13
http://www.iafn.org/events/02conf/.
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International DV/SA/Stalking Conference |
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Register now for the
3rd annual
International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and
Stalking, April 23-25, San Diego.
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National DNA
Database |
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) Laboratory announced it reached one million profiles, a
major milestone in building the National DNA Database. In a press
release issued June 14, the FBI acknowledged “the excellent
cooperation of the criminal justice community, especially the
participating laboratories and their staff who are responsible for
the success of this program, which has been instrumental in
solving some of the most heinous serial violent crimes.”
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Rape Kit and
Perpetrator DNA Backlog |
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Various efforts are underway in this
session of Congress to address the enormous backlog of rape kits
and perpetrator DNA samples. The backlog of rape kits alone is
estimated to be as high as 500,000.
Passing new legislation this year poses a challenge even greater
than usual, due to competition for resources against domestic
homeland security initiatives, as well as time constraints. The
target date for Congress to adjourn before mid-term elections is
October 4.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) was one of the first to identify
the issue, and has proposed a significant increase through Justice
appropriations to speed processing of the backlog.
In addition, a bill named for rape survivor Debbie Smith is being
considered in both chambers, and has bipartisan support. Debbie
swept Capitol Hill late last month in a series of legislator
visits and publicity efforts. She was joined by her husband Rob, a
Lieutenant with the Williamsburg Police Department, as well as
RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), and the
National Center for Victims of Crime.
Lifetime Television is supporting the Debbie Smith Act through its
online petition effort: http://lifetimetv.com/community/olc/violence/debbie_smith_pledge.html.
Debbie and the team delivered the first batch of signatures during
their Hill visit.
http://lifetimetv.com/community/olc/violence/debbie_smith_pledge.html
Debbie Smith Act Senate Bill, S.2055:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:SN02055:@@@P
Debbie Smith Act, House Bill, HR.2874:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR02874:@@@P
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