Group items tagged

Open States is a collection of tools that make it possible for citizens to track what is happening in their state's capitol by aggregating information from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Using the site is simple: enter a U.S. address or select a state to start to research bills, review voting records, contact elected officials and more. Check out this Sunlight Academy tutorial to see how Open States can help citizens, journalists and activists learn more about their state government. Open States is a project of the Sunlight Foundation. Thank you to the Rita Allen Foundation, Minnesota Historical Society and Open Society Foundations for their generous support. Additionally, collecting this data would not be possible without the support of a community much larger than the team here at Sunlight. A special thanks to all of our volunteer contributors and the authors and maintainers of all of the libraries that we depend upon.

The SMART Office was authorized by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 to: - administer the standards for the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program set forth in Title 1 of the Adam Walsh Act; - administer grant programs relating to sex offender registration and notification authorized by the Adam Walsh Act and other grant programs authorized by the Adam Walsh Act as directed by the Attorney General; - cooperate with and provide technical assistance to states, the District of Columbia, principle U.S. territories, units of local government, tribal governments, and other public and private entities involved in activities related to sex offender registration or notification or to other measures for the protection of children or other members of the public from sexual abuse or exploitation; and - perform such other functions as the Attorney General may delegate.

On May 17th, 1996 the then president, William Jefferson Clinton signed into law, Megan's law. In the video he repeats the same lies about sex offenders having "high" recidivism rates. Well, we believe he's just repeating the s...

SORNA refers to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act which is Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248). SORNA provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA aims to close potential gaps and loopholes that existed under prior law and generally strengthens the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs. Additionally, SORNA: - Extends the jurisdictions in which registration is required beyond the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the principal U.S. territories, to include also federally recognized Indian tribes. - Incorporates a more comprehensive group of sex offenders and sex offenses for which registration is required. - Requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school. - Requires sex offenders to provide more extensive registration information. - Requires sex offenders to make periodic in-person appearances to verify and update their registration information. - Expands the amount of information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. - Makes changes in the required minimum duration of registration for sex offenders.