In response to input from advocates and others around the country, the SMART office (it’s an acronym for an office created following approval of the Adam Walsh Act!) had modified its guidelines to permit states discretion to exempt information concerning sex offenders required to register on the basis of juvenile delinquency adjudications from public web-site postings. So, although registration requirements remain pretty much the same, this at least appears to allow Wisconsin some discretion on whether to include some youthful offenders on a registry that is then open to the public. We continue to express our concern that blanket decisions about making youthful offenders names available to the public serve neither to protect the public nor to assist youthful offenders in becoming positive, contributing members of our communities. So, we urge the Department of Corrections to propose rules and procedures that take advantage of this new-found flexibility and resist a one-size-fits-all registration/disclosure system for youthful sex offenders.
At the Start of the New Year, Minimum Wages Went up in 21 States. Wisconsin Wasn’t One of Them.
Low-paid workers across the country are getting raises because 21 states and 35 cities and counties increased their minimum wages around the beginning of the year. Those raises will lift workers out of poverty, help struggling families make ends meet, and make it...