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Janet Allison

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"J.A."
StatusNamed on a nationwide list of sex offenders
Criminal chargesex offender

Ms. A. is a registered and convicted sex offender in the state of Georgia, USA.[1] Her case has won widespread national and international interest, as an example of unjust, ineffective, and counter-productive sex offender registration legislation. Her case is brought forward as an example that some people are being indiscriminately labeled as a dangerous sex predators although they in reality poses little if any real danger.[2][3]

As the case is presented in various sources, including a leader column in The Economist, an article in USA Today and a televised interview by herself, her offense was that she in 2002 did not prevent her pregnant 15-years old daughter from having sex with a 17-year old boyfriend.[3][4][5] Mrs. JA, a mother of five, was subsequently arrested and found guilty of being "party to the crime of child molestation". Mrs JA, is now in a public sex-offender register in which she will stay for the rest of her life.[1] She was not given a prison term. But three of her children have been taken away from her and put in foster care. Due to a Georgia law that sets restrictions on where sex offenders can live, she had to relocate because her downtown Dahlonega four-bedroom house was within quarter-mile of a church. She now lives in a mobile home "way off on a dirt road".[3] The daughter and the boyfriend later married and had a child. Mrs. A. is not allowed to have contact with either the daughter or the child.[3]

The case has dwawn substantial international attention as an example of legislation that should not be repeated in other countries, most notably in the coverage by The Economist. Her case was in the same effect mentioned in the Chairman's address at the annual meeting of Napo, a British trade union and professional association for family court and professional staff.[6] After the high-level exposure in the leader in the Economist, her case has been referred to in blogs in Russia and China.

Within the United States, her case has drawn the attention of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and of the Southern Center for Human Rights.[7] Her case is mentioned in scholary works published in Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.[2] Other scholary works show that Georgia's residency restrictions laws for registered sex offenders effectively banishes them from state territory, an outcome the Southern Center for Human Rights has challenged in Federal Court as unconstitutional.[8] Her case has also been picked up by various media, including a televised interview in which she, along with other registered sex offenders explain their offense, the legal action, and the deep impact the conviction had on their lives.

References

  1. ^ a b "America's unjust sex laws". The Economist. 2009-08-06. Archived from the original on 2009-08-20.
  2. ^ a b Sarah Geraghty (2007). "Challenging the banishment of registered sex offenders from the state of Georgia: A practitioner's perspective". Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. 42: 513-. Retrieved 2009-08-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Wendy Koch (2007-02-25). "Sex-offender residency laws get second look". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2009-08-20.
  4. ^ "Laws end up hurting the not-so-dangerous". The Milford Daily News. Aug 27, 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Georgia Sex Offender Law". Religion and Ethics Weekly. 2007-01-26. Archived from the original on 2009-08-20. Episode=1022
  6. ^ Mike McClelland (2007-10-16). "Chair AGM Speech – 2007". Napo. The trade union and professional association for family court and professional staff. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  7. ^ "Georgia's Sex Offender Law Challenged in Federal Court". Southern Center for Human Rights. 83 Poplar St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30303. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  8. ^ Yung, Corey Rayburn (2007-04). "Banishment By a Thousand Laws: Residency Restrictions on Sex Offenders" (PDF). Washington University Law Review. 62 (4): 795-. Retrieved 2009-09-04. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • "Chair AGM Speech – 2007". Mike McClelland. Napo. The trade union and professional association for family court and professional staff. 16.10.07. Retrieved 18 August 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • "Georgia Sex Offender Law". Episode no. 1022. Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. An online companion to the weekly television news program. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. January 26, 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) (includes a link to view the TV program)
  • Bluestein, Greg (Oct. 13, 2006). "Group Protests Church Limits of Sex Offender Law". Associated Press. National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Washington, DC. Retrieved 22 August 2009. By virtue of their advanced age and/or physical condition, these plaintiffs are not a danger to anyone," according to a draft of the motion obtained by The Associated Press. "Yet the law makes no exception for them. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
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