General Comments April 2014

Wow.. I had an interesting day at Hermosa Beach today… I was dropping off my sister there for something that lasted about an hour. I parked my car at the one of those public parking lots, paid for the spot and just sat near by enjoying the nice weather. No where near a park or a beach. The Hermosa Community Service Enforcer came by with those tag readers, just slowly coasting by the cars.. It coasted by mine and it stopped and reversed until it was directly behind my car.. I remember I heard those tag readers show information if the car was stolen or owed massive amounts of parking tickets, but now I think I can safely say it is linked to the sex offender database… I watched the person talked on the radio and coasted away… About 10 minutes later two police cars showed up. 4 police officers stepped out and eyeballed my car, literally cupping their hands and looking through the windows. One of the officers went back to his car ( there was a laptop mounted on the dashboard, I couldn’t tell what was on the screen cause it was angled away from my vision) He stepped out of the car and scanned the area and he noticed me, and he went back to police group and said something I couldn’t hear and they all approached me.. “Excuse me Sir, is that your vehicle?” I responded “Yes it is.”.. “We have a report of a stolen car matching that description.. Can I see your driver license?” “Yes of course officer” I handed him my driver license, he went into his car… Another officer told me to remain seated and have my hands flat on my head… The officer with my driver license went back to my car and read off the VID numbers of my vehicle dash. I couldn’t hear anything from the radio.. The officer handed my driver license back and said ” Why are you here?” I told him I’m just waiting to pick up my sister, then he ask “Are you normally here in Hermosa?” “No, I live in Long Beach, just here to drop off and pick up my sister.” The officer responded “Okay, you have a great day”… And they left… My sister saw the whole thing and she was afraid that I did something… it was embarrassing, but I don’t think I did anything illegal…

@ mch, you asked me to keep you informed on my case and I have good news. The appellate court unanimously ruled in my favor to uphold my expungement. I’m not in the clear yet as the DA can still appeal that decision but now two appellate courts have ruled that an attempted 288 is not “any violation of 288”.

My biggest fear now is if my case gains notoriety that I would essentially be outted and that would make the expungement useless. I am even scared sharing this information but I want to help as many people as I can get on with their lives and stop being persecuted by law enforcement and prosecutors.

One Day;
Since the appellate ruling is “not any violation of 288”, then stands to reason that a felony reduction is in order, or should be. With that ruling you have a few options. If reduced, then you can petition for removal from the internet and it should be a slam dunk, but then I know how prosecutors are or how persecutors are. Successful challenges like yours and others make many of the registered citizens like sand in the prosecutions hands. The harder they squeeze, the more sand falls through their fingers. Things like this are slowly exposing the weaknesses in the registry. I’m in the process of filing my petition for record clearance as per PC 1203.4 Curious how the angry DA is going to respond.

@ Guest;

I was told by an attorney that a 288(a) is NOT a wobbler and is a straight felony, however, I’ve had no attorney explain whether an attempt (664) COULD be a wobbler, they either don’t know, don’t care or won’t look into it. If a person is fortunate enough to get a felony reduction, then it seems that they could file with the DOJ for removal from internet disclosure, which, at best, is a longshot. I’m not very legally adept, and there are many more on here who are far smarter than I am about these things. Time will tell for all of us stuck on the registry.

I was running some numbers tonight from CASOMB Sex Offender Tracking Program.
In 1947-49 there were only 119 new sex offenders
in the 2000’s (a decade) 34,104 new sex offenders were added to the registry.
In 60 years the California Sex Offender Registry has grown from 119 to 98,219 people, an average growth of 1,637 per year, 136 per month or 4.5 per day.
In 1970’s 3,290 new offenders were added, but skyrocketed in the 1980’s to 15,349 or a 367% increase of new registrants, and its been growing steadily ever since 1946.
I’m curious why the growth spurt in the 1980’s; any ideas?

Another idea for legal attack, this regarding whether 290 is punishment, an argument that has never been presented, and I think shows how the state high court ruling that said 290 is no punishment at all was wrongly decided.:

If 290 is legally justified on the basis that (former) sex offenders remain a danger going forward, that is that they are not rehabilitated, and if it is not just punishment that comes due to the conviction and remains regardless of rehabilitation, then the standard established to be able to stop registering MUST match that, or the justification for 290, its very foundation, is bankrupt, making 290 itself illegal.

That is, if it is predicated on the notion that a (former) sex offender must register as they are not rehabilitated, as it states in its own language, then the standard to get off registration must be a showing a rehabilitation, not some higher level — for if the standard goes beyond the justification, the foundation of 290, then that standard to end registration takes 290 to being something other than based on rehabilitation.

If it is based on simply needing to know about and be aware of someone dangerous, someone who is not rehabilitated, then that is the argument for it being regulatory; but if relief from it requires not a showing a rehabilitation but an application for forgiveness, which is what an application for a pardon is about, then it is not about public safety, instead is about whether the applicant should be forgiven and thus relieved of the punishment that comes with a conviction, the duty to register and suffer all the collateral disabilities. Those different standards are different specifically on the basis of punishment. If 290 is not lifted at the determination of rehabilitation — and by law that is what probation and parole are about — then it is being applied to those who have passed the test of rehabilitation and so legally not considered to be a danger –and thus, it is not regulating public safety but applying punishment.

To state it a bit differently, if that helps: if the standard to stop registering is that you gain forgiveness, which is what seeking a pardon is about, rather than that you merely show rehabilitation, which is what probation and parole are the standard for showing, then you are not applying 290 as a matter of a public safety regulation but as a matter of punishment that requires forgiveness to end. Oh, not everyone gets probation or parole, so maybe some other method for them to show rehabilitation would be needed, but that does not undermine the argument.

So, they simply cannot have it both ways, must either choose probation and parole as the standard to get off 290, as it once was (well, I know probation was, I don’t know if parole was), or must admit it is punishment, which cannot be applied retroactively and which certainly would be subject to attack about whether it is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment or unequal punishment or whatever other punishment-oriented arguments might come up.

They have fantasized their way into having their cake and eating it too. They simply cannot have it both ways, as the one cancels out the other, an argument that has not yet been made and which, if 290 were left as-is, would have to invalidate the very foundation on which 290 now stands. When they increased the standard to get off 290, starting that increase in the mid-1980s, that is the legal misstep they made that undermines 290.

Of course, no matter the validity of this argument, as I have said many times in the past, any time the state high court has come up against an argument against 290 that it cannot overcome with logic and facts, it has simply ruled that red is blue and continued to support 290. They will do the same here, lie their way through it as they have repeatedly in the past. Such a shame to have to depend on an entire branch of government for your civil rights but that branch has been taken over up and down the ranks and across the board not by honest and truthful deciders, but by filthy liars who would make any fascist proud. This is not the court system — anywhere across the nation, at this point — that most of us grew up with.

Does any one here have permission to attend their children’s school events. I’m wondering about how hard it will be to attend my son’s Graduation?
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You