National Legislation

	San Diego To Enter Settlement Talks In Sex Offender Residency Lawsuit. September 17, 2019 California – San Diego City Council members on Tuesday will get their first official update in two years on a lawsuit challenging a city law that restricts where sex offenders can live. The plaintiffs also argue that indiscriminate restrictions on where sex offenders can live is not just unconstitutional — it’s also bad policy. They point to reports from the California Sex Offender Management Board warning policies that restrict where sex offenders can live, however well intentioned, are ineffective, make communities less safe and increase the likelihood of sexual recidivism.
	Judge strikes down Kentucky’s social media ban for sex offenders. October 20, 2017 Kentucky – A federal court judge in Kentucky just struck down two parts of Kentucky’s sex offense registration law! Individuals on the registry were banned from using social media, and required to divulge so-called internet identifiers–email addresses and such. Today’s ruling overturns both restrictions and strengthens the First Amendment rights of everyone to use the Internet.
	New Law Reforming California’s Sex Offender Registry is a Great First Step. October 10, 2017 California – With Governor Brown’s signature on SB 384, California takes a significant step toward an important goal: ending the abusive policy of putting children on the sex offender registry.
	Supreme Court of the United States: Packingham v. North Carolina. June 2017 Washington, DC – Based on First Amendment rights, SCOTUS strikes down as unconstitutional a North Carolina law banning the use of social media sites by registered citizens.
	Facebook’s SO discrimination policy under attack. Civil rights group calls on Zuckerberg to follow Supreme Court’s lead. Washington, DC – Representing nearly a million American citizens and their families, the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is asking Facebook to permit registered sex offenders to create and maintain user accounts on the world’s largest forum for social communication for the first time since early 2009.
	Constitutional controversy: Why sex offenders suing southeast Wisconsin cities. Wisconsin – Several southeast Wisconsin cities are now the target of federal lawsuits by registered sex offenders. The two civil rights attorneys representing them recently won a major verdict against Pleasant Prairie.
	In denying Snyder petition, Supreme Court upholds Sixth Circuit ruling. September 2017 Michigan – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that “sweeping” conditions imposed retroactively under Michigan’s sex offender registry law were unconstitutionally punitive.
	Florida’s Released “Sexually Violent Predators” Are Not “High Risk” For 14 years, Florida Statutes required a long-term study of the efficacy of Florida’s Sexually Violent Predator Program (SVPP). Data collection stopped in 2013, and the law was changed so that no further study was authorized.