Archive for November, 2021

Man Imprisoned for 16 Years for Raping Lovely Bones Author Is Exonerated

Tuesday, November 30th, 2021

The Lovely Bones (WINGNUT FILMS/Album/Newscom)

‘Broadwater married after prison, but he never had children; he recently told the Syracuse Post-Standard that this was because he didn’t want them growing up with a father with a rape conviction. Meanwhile, the newspaper notes, he was “turned away from countless jobs and educational opportunities over the years for one simple fact: he’s a convicted rapist on the sex offender registry.” This story is familiar to the nearly one million Americans on such registries, who are well-aware that the stigma extends beyond them to their families and all those close to them. Every registrant’s photo, address, and crime are publicly posted, creating inescapable infamy and extremely limited job opportunities.’

Read the article by NCRJ Director Emily Horowitz in Reason magazine.

Rethinking the ‘Sex Offender’ Label

Saturday, November 27th, 2021

Photo by Remain Anonymous via Flickr

‘Victim advocates and prosecutors argued that replacing the term “sex offender” with different terminology “minimizes harm.” Victim advocates, including those currently on the SOMB, had argued they suffer lifelong consequences as victims and therefore those who have committed an offense should also suffer for life.

‘But this argument merely proves the intent of sex offense treatment schemes and post-conviction laws are to dehumanize and cause enduring harm to those who have committed offenses in the past.’

Read the article by Derek Logue in “The Crime Report,” from the Center On Media and Justice at John Jay College