General Comments January 2016

INTERNET IDENTIFIERS IS ON THE MOVE!

SB 448 (“Sex offenders: Internet Identifiers”) received some traction yesterday when when it was read for a second time, amended, and then re-referred to the Committee on Public Safety!

The following needs to be brought forth in a CA court.. and also ,has anyone heard anything about the WAR class action that was supposed to be filed in the fall?

The sex offender registration and notification laws (CA Penal Code § 290, Sex Offender Registration Act) violate my constitutionally protected right to procedural due process with an irrefutable presumption of future offending that is universally untrue and which provides no meaningful process to determine such facts. When “particularly important” interests are involved in a civil proceeding, whether or not physical restraint is threatened, the United States Supreme Court has mandated a clear and convincing evidence standard of proof and stated that, “[n]otwithstanding ‘the state’s “civil labels and good intentions,” ‘ . . . this level of certainty [is deemed] necessary to preserve fundamental fairness in a variety of government-initiated proceedings that threaten the individual involved with ‘a significant deprivation of liberty’ or ‘stigma.’ ” Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 756 (1982) (requiring clear and convincing evidence standard to support termination of parental rights), quoting Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418, 425, 426, 427 (1979) (civil commitment); Woodby v. INS, 385 U.S. 276, 285 (1966) (deportation); Chaunt v. United States, 364 U.S. 350, 353 (1960) (denaturalization); Schneiderman v. United States, 320 U.S. 118, 125, 159 (1943) (denaturalization). A registrant’s liberty interest is seriously infringed in the creation of a long-term relationship with the police, in the potential criminal sanctions overshadowing that relationship, and in the stigma of notification – all penalties that are “more substantial than mere loss of money.” Santosky, supra, quoting Addington v. Texas, supra at 424.

The court also too easily confines the State’s interest to a single dimension. While the primary purpose of the registration statute is to protect the public from sexual predators, the State also has “an interest in ensuring that its classification and notification system is both fair and accurate.” E.B. v. Verniero, supra at 1107. The State has no interest in making erroneous classifications and implementing overbroad registration and notifications. Id. See Doe v. Pataki, supra at (slip op. at 32). Contrary to the court’s conclusion, the burdens on the government are great, without any likely benefit, when it holds hearings for and maintains the registration of thousands of registrants for whom there is no clear evidence that they pose any danger to the public. Requiring the government to assemble and present clear evidence of a sex offender’s dangerousness would ensure that limited adjudicatory and police enforcement resources would be concentrated on those individuals who realistically may pose.threats to young children and other vulnerable populations. As observed in an altogether different context, but oddly apropos of this classification system as well, “when everything is classified, then nothing is classified, and the system becomes one to be disregarded by the cynical or the careless.” New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 729 (1971) (Stewart, J., concurring).

Post conviction relief update:

Several months back I hired a national law firm specializing in post conviction relief. Goal was to end my probation early ($1,000), have my wobbler conviction reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, and expunged ($1,500). Last Friday was my hearing. Today I was informed that the judge approved all three. I took a plea deal before AB20 went into effect Jan 1, 2014 so expungement was still a possibility for me. My heart goes out for those with the same conviction as be but are subject to the horrible reality of AB20.

I will now pay them $200 to make sure that the major background check companies update their records so that (in theory…supposedly) my conviction will no longer be disclosed to potential employers doing a background check on me. They claim to “expedite” the natural process of the databases being updated. I will get a voucher to run a background check on myself to verify the results. Will it still show? Will have to wait and see. Will my 290 status show up/still show up? No idea.

A few months ago one attorney told me that if/once my wobbler felony is reduced to a misdemeanor…I should vanish from public disclosure on the Price Club membership website. Hopeful about this for me, my wife and two children.

Maybe in a year or two…might attempt to regain a state professional license I had n 2012 but surrendered after my conviction. It wasn’t what I did for a living…rather it was supplemental income. A law signed by Gov Brown back in 2013 (went into effect Jan 2014) opens the door for a chance at this. AB 2396. I will share the results on this site (good or bad) when I attempt it.

My post isn’t to brag about how grand life is for me at this point. It’s a far cry from what my life was in 2011 (before my arrest) or 2012 (after my arrest), or 2013 (the year of my conviction) but it’s certainly better than it was in 2013. At least I don’t cry almost every day like I did the for the 1st year. I make 1/2 what did in 2011 but I have a have a job, a roof over my head, and a beautiful wife that stuck by me.

I was released from prison in 2013 on probation for one year. I lived at a ministry downtown LA and after probation release my wife and 3 children moved here from Florida to be with me. Due to Fl laws it would be harder for me to move back there. When my wife and kids got here I was asked to leave the ministry. No one wants to rent to us and we have been living in a hotel for the last year. Our savings have been exhausted from the huge expense of hotel costs and fast food. We no longer have first month rent and deposit saved up so now even if we found someone willing to rent to us we would’t be able to come up with move in cost. Housing assistance is banned to sex offenders. These laws are more destructive than they help anyone. What are we suppose to do? I just feel so scared most of the time that I may inadvertently break one the registry requirements because life is always so unstable without a permanent place to live. I am in despair most of the time but struggle to not let it show to my family. I thank God that I do have a job but it pays much less than I am use to and they take advantage of me because they know how difficult it would be for me to get another job. We need to get laws changed. This can’t keep going on like this.

Can anyone suggest employment opportunities that have worked. I am in a minimum wage job, my ability to work in my field was forbidden until a COR (7 yrs), and interviews consist of ,”you seem like a good person, but…….. . I am getting less motivated to put any effort in each day. I have so much to offer. I see these specials about people laing their jobs and going homeless. Scares the cap out of me. My Healthcare career doesn’t transfer well to blue collar work. 0 experience. Beginning to feel not worth the trouble. Dreams are bullshit. Reality destroys them.