Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor BoulevardSunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
FORT MYERS Pedestrian dead after crash on McGregor Boulevard The Fort Myers Police Department is investigating a crash that left at least one person dead Saturday night.
Sunday brings sun and clouds with chance for a stray shower The Weather Authority forecasts another seasonal day across Southwest Florida, with temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon.
Family of Eagles: FGCU volleyball star graduates with Master’s Degree Saturday marked a special day for Florida Gulf Coast University as more than 1,800 students graduated. For one student-athlete, graduating from FGCU runs in the family.
lehigh acres LCSO: Man shot by car owner protecting property The Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Lehigh Acres early Saturday morning.
NORTH FORT MYERS Lee County residents wait hours for D-SNAP assistance The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) is at the Lee Civic Center all weekend, ready to help southwest Florida.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA First eaglet hatches in famous SWFL eagle nest Welcome E24! The third eaglet from the nest of M15 and F23 has hatched according to the Southwest Florida eagle camera.
Rock for Equality: SWFL non-profit hosts benefit concert for Palestine A Southwest Florida non-profit hosted a benefit concert on Friday night to help with humanitarian aid in Palestine.
Warm, breezy Saturday with a few showers possible The Weather Authority is forecasting a breezy, warm weekend in store across Southwest Florida, with the chance of a few showers, particularly on Saturday.
CAPE CORAL Active investigation underway in South Cape Coral Cape Coral police are investigating at a home on Southwest 49th Terrace in South Cape Coral early Saturday morning.
16 transported after 2 airboats crash in Collier County According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, two airboats crashed south of U.S. 41 east between mile markers 74 and 75, leaving well over a dozen people injured.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA New bill filed: Auto shop and law enforcement must work together to solve hit-and-run crashes There could be new detectives on the block, located in your nearest auto shop. A new state bill aims at trying to stop hit-and-run drivers from getting away.
CAPE CORAL New leash on life; Cape Coral shelter dog beats cancer with drug being tested for humans A drug now being studied in human trials to kill cancerous tumors, is already approved and helping animals.
CAPE CORAL City of Cape Coral planning a new interchange with I-75 The city of Cape Coral is in the early stages of planning a new interchange with I-75, an idea that has been discussed for more than a decade.
Tracking invasive species after hurricanes Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t just bring wind and rain, they brought new threats to southwest Florida’s ecosystem.
PUNTA GORDA Woman in Punta Gorda shooting charged with 2nd degree murder A woman in a homicide investigation on Nasturtium Drive in Punta Gorda has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.
In this Sept. 2, 2016, Brock Turner leaves the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose, Calif. When the former Stanford University swimmer registered as a sex offender in Xenia, Ohio, Sept. 6, 2016, he joined a nationwide legion of criminals that has grown dramatically in recent years and now numbers more than 800,000. As registration has expanded along with the definition of sex crimes, so have legal challenges to a one-size-fits-all punishment that can treat a one-time peeping tom the same as a serial rapist. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group via AP, file) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner became a registered sex offender for life last Tuesday, he joined a nationwide list of registered sex criminals that has grown dramatically in recent years to more than 800,000. Even some who have denounced Turner’s six-month jail sentence as too lenient for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman question whether he should spend his life with the stigma and onerous restrictions of a registered sex offender. They join a growing number of defense attorneys, advocates and judges who are questioning the fairness of applying lifetime, blanket restrictions to expanding definitions of sex crimes that frequently treat first-time offenders the same as serial rapists. In California, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama it’s impossible for people convicted of any sex crime to be removed from the online registries showing their pictures, addresses, convictions and probation details. Offenders have been turned into victims themselves when they are targeted in vigilante attacks or can’t find jobs or places to live, critics say. Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, who lambasted Turner’s sentence as too lenient and is leading a campaign to oust the judge who imposed, said requiring the 21-year-old man to be registered as a sex offender until he dies may be too harsh. “No one should be defined by their worst decision for the rest of their life,” Dauber said in an interview. “Deciding who should be removed, which cases or crimes should qualify would require thoughtful legislation, a fair process and, of course, an unbiased judge.” Dauber stressed there are many criminals who deserve lifetime registration, but said at some point after at least 10 years on the registry Turner should be given a chance to get off it by proving he has successfully rehabilitated himself. Turner was released from jail Sept. 2 and moved to his parent’s home in Bellbrook, Ohio, registering as a sex offender at the Greene County sheriff’s office four days after his release from a California jail for good behavior after serving half his sentence. Protesters demonstrated in front of the home before and after his arrival and Turner’s parents told police eggs were thrown at the house. Advocates for sex crime victims insist that lifetime registries make the public safer by preventing offender recidivism and giving citizens and police access to crucial information on the whereabouts of sex offenders and where they are prohibited from going — like schools and other areas frequented by children. Access to that information in 50 state registries plus a federal government registry, they say, far outweighs complaints about the registry burdens for criminals who have served their prison sentences. “Sex offender registries are an important part of the criminal justice system,” said Staca Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “Registries assist law enforcement —and the public — to keep track of the locations of convicted sex offenders.” But some defense attorneys say registration has turned into such a harsh punishment that they now negotiate longer jail terms for their clients in return for prosecutors dropping sex offender registry requirements, trading incarceration for pleading guilty to charges that don’t require registration. “At least a prison sentence ends,” said Gary Goodman, a public defense lawyer from Palo Alto, California. “Registration is forever.” Most states allow peeping toms and people convicted of crimes like indecent exposure to have their names removed from registries after 10 to 30 years of good behavior, while more serious sex crimes like rape and the sexual assault Turner was convicted of are punishable with lifetime registration whether they are committed by first time offenders or people with a history of sex crimes. California attorney Janice Bellucci has filed more than 50 federal lawsuits challenging sex offender registration conditions in cases that have forced cities to amend or eliminate residency restrictions imposed on criminals listed in in the registries, rescinding prohibitions for them to be physically present in public places like street side bus stops and parks. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 upheld the legality of sex offender registries, but the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that changes to Michigan’s sex offender registry law cannot be applied retroactively to offenders convicted before the changes were put in place. Calling Michigan’s residency and loitering prohibitions for registered sex offenders similar to “the ancient punishment of banishment,” the appeals court panel wrote that the state “brands registrants as moral lepers solely on the basis of a prior conviction.” Federal officials have been trying with mixed success for a decade to get all 50 states to adopt uniform registration requirements as part of a single national database they say would make the system uniform and improve tracking of sex offenders who move from state to state. But only 17 states have substantially compiled so far. The federally registry has helped investigators quickly identify potential sex crimes suspects and capture offenders who have fled their home states, said Luis deBacca, the U.S. Justice Department official in charge of the federal sex offender registration and tracking office. “We really do see this as making a difference in the community,” deBacca said.
Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, who lambasted Turner’s sentence as too lenient and is leading a campaign to oust the judge who imposed, said requiring the 21-year-old man to be registered as a sex offender until he dies may be too harsh. “No one should be defined by their worst decision for the rest of their life,” Dauber said in an interview. “Deciding who should be removed, which cases or crimes should qualify would require thoughtful legislation, a fair process and, of course, an unbiased judge.” Dauber stressed there are many criminals who deserve lifetime registration, but said at some point after at least 10 years on the registry Turner should be given a chance to get off it by proving he has successfully rehabilitated himself. Turner was released from jail Sept. 2 and moved to his parent’s home in Bellbrook, Ohio, registering as a sex offender at the Greene County sheriff’s office four days after his release from a California jail for good behavior after serving half his sentence. Protesters demonstrated in front of the home before and after his arrival and Turner’s parents told police eggs were thrown at the house. Advocates for sex crime victims insist that lifetime registries make the public safer by preventing offender recidivism and giving citizens and police access to crucial information on the whereabouts of sex offenders and where they are prohibited from going — like schools and other areas frequented by children. Access to that information in 50 state registries plus a federal government registry, they say, far outweighs complaints about the registry burdens for criminals who have served their prison sentences. “Sex offender registries are an important part of the criminal justice system,” said Staca Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “Registries assist law enforcement —and the public — to keep track of the locations of convicted sex offenders.” But some defense attorneys say registration has turned into such a harsh punishment that they now negotiate longer jail terms for their clients in return for prosecutors dropping sex offender registry requirements, trading incarceration for pleading guilty to charges that don’t require registration. “At least a prison sentence ends,” said Gary Goodman, a public defense lawyer from Palo Alto, California. “Registration is forever.” Most states allow peeping toms and people convicted of crimes like indecent exposure to have their names removed from registries after 10 to 30 years of good behavior, while more serious sex crimes like rape and the sexual assault Turner was convicted of are punishable with lifetime registration whether they are committed by first time offenders or people with a history of sex crimes. California attorney Janice Bellucci has filed more than 50 federal lawsuits challenging sex offender registration conditions in cases that have forced cities to amend or eliminate residency restrictions imposed on criminals listed in in the registries, rescinding prohibitions for them to be physically present in public places like street side bus stops and parks. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 upheld the legality of sex offender registries, but the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that changes to Michigan’s sex offender registry law cannot be applied retroactively to offenders convicted before the changes were put in place. Calling Michigan’s residency and loitering prohibitions for registered sex offenders similar to “the ancient punishment of banishment,” the appeals court panel wrote that the state “brands registrants as moral lepers solely on the basis of a prior conviction.” Federal officials have been trying with mixed success for a decade to get all 50 states to adopt uniform registration requirements as part of a single national database they say would make the system uniform and improve tracking of sex offenders who move from state to state. But only 17 states have substantially compiled so far. The federally registry has helped investigators quickly identify potential sex crimes suspects and capture offenders who have fled their home states, said Luis deBacca, the U.S. Justice Department official in charge of the federal sex offender registration and tracking office. “We really do see this as making a difference in the community,” deBacca said.