Rights To Online Anonymity Given To Sex Offenders

Online Anonymity Given To Sex Offenders

In California, a bill that would remove the rights of a sex offender to have online anonymity while using email, instant messaging and social media, among other sites and service online, has been blocked by a federal judge. Judge Thelton Henderson deems Proposition 35 to be an unconstitutional bill.

The State of California has summarized the bill in question as this:

Sign, Wapello, Iowa. This was put up in reacti...
Sign, Wapello, Iowa. This was put up in reaction to Megan’s Law. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Human trafficking fines and prison sentences would be increased and the convicted human traffickers would be required to participate in the sex offenders registry. The registered sex offenders would be required to reveal all activities and identities pertaining to the Internet. It would cost the state and local governments a few million dollars to address the offenses of human trafficking. However, this cost could potentially be offset with the increase in the fines that are dedicated to the victims of the crime.

This bill was passed by a majority vote of 81% in November. However, it was blocked temporarily by the filing of a lawsuit by the ACLU and a few sex offenders.

Speaking of the bill, the ACLU stated that Proposition 35 adds penalties to the sex offenders and puts upon them new restrictions. The example given to back up this claim was that of older crimes that have nothing to do with children or the Internet. The bill would require these offenders to disclose their screen names and their Internet provider’s information. This bill hampers the offenders freedom of anonymous speech online, which infringes upon their First Amendment right to free speech.

The judge who imposed the blockage of the bill stated that while the government has a legitimate purpose in their fight of human trafficking and online sex offenses, they can not regulate a person’s right to speech in this way.

While offenders search for a clear answer of how they can exercise their right to free speech, this issue is not a cut and dry one as the response varies from state to state. In Indiana, it was decided that a social media site ban for sex offenders was lawful. While a similar case in Nebraska was dismissed.

International Child Abuse Club Busted and Cooked Babies in the News

Casey Anthony has been booked into the Orange ...
Image via Wikipedia

With talk of the Casey Anthony case plastered all over the news and search results, it can be difficult to weed through the drama and find updates on real news concerning cases of child abuse, neglect and murder. Unfortunately, there are definitely more horrifying things going on right now than a drawn-out suspected murder case that everyone is tired of hearing about.

For instance, a sickening case of international child abuse was recently uncovered. As of today, August 3, 2011, a group of at least 72 identified individuals, including 43 from the United States, are being charged for circulating pictures and participating in an online forum used to promote child abuse and rape. The investigation is still ongoing, and it originally targeted 600 private members of this twisted, international child abuse network.

Participants in the network attempted to conceal their identities and locations by using proxy servers – unfortunately, authorities are unable to fully identify some of the participants, and now only have their user names with which to work.

However, it is now known that members were spread across at least 13 different countries, including France, Germany and Switzerland. So far, there have only been 43 arrests made in the United States, and a total of 9 spread across the rest of the 13 countries.

There were different levels of membership to the forum, including a “Super VIP” section that required participants to maintain their status by consistently uploading pictures and other content depicting children they had molested and physically abused. While the thought of such a large-scale child abuse operation is horrifying enough, some of the children posted on the forum were infants.

On a lesser scale, but just as sickening, a California mother is involved in an ongoing trial for allegedly trying to cook her baby in the microwave.

The case was opened in March, and the woman is now scheduled for an August 26 hearing that will determine if she is guilty of murdering her 6-week-old infant in a microwave. Although the proceedings are currently on hold due to lack of evidence, the injuries that killed the infant girl have already been identified as microwave burns.

According Ka Yang’s attorney, Linda Parisi, she may be suffering from psychological problems. In any event, the child was found in the suspect’s home already dead from the burns she sustained. The mother has already been charged with one count of murder due to the intentional and involved torture.

By Jacob Maslow.

Despite having five children, Jacob finds the time to be the editor of Rapid News Network and Marketing Director for a large ecommerce company that sells various items including allergy bedding and the popular Melissa and Doug toys

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