More than 40 people today participated in a peaceful protest held outside the federal district court in Oakland. Participants included registrants and supporters from California as well as several other states, including Florida, Missouri and Oregon. Today’s protest included the burning of sex offender registration cards by six registrants led by CA RSOL Treasurer Frank Lindsay.
Today’s protest was a tremendous success,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “We effectively communicated to the public and to the media our position that the International Megan’s Law (IML) violates the U.S. Constitution.”
The protest immediately followed oral arguments made in support of, and in opposition to, the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case. During the court hearing, the government argued that the federal government needs to notify foreign countries when registrants intend to visit in order to prevent child sex tourism and child sex trafficking. The government also argued the need to add a “conspicuous unique identifier” to the passports of hundreds of thousands of registrants in order to stop them from visiting multiple countries during a single trip.
Registrant attorney Bellucci argued that notifications sent to foreign countries have a “chilling effect” upon registrants, many of whom are now afraid to travel overseas. She also argued that notifications are harm registrants’ ability to travel overseas in order to meet with family members, conduct business and pursue cultural interests. She further argued that they place registrants and anyone who travels with them at risk of physical harms.
During today’s hearing, Bellucci asked Judge Hamilton to deny the government’s motion to dismiss the case and instead to allow registrants to amend the complaint. The judge did not issue a decision today, however, a decision is expected within the next 30 days.
Related
http://www.abc10.com/news/local/california/sex-offenders-protest-their-right-for-travel/282998981
http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/07/27/sex-offenders-fight-passport-scarlet-letter.htm
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/sex-offenders-fight-back-against-scarlet-letter-in-passports
roger that was a beautiful post and great argument you made and between you and janice I am convinced it is pretty important for us to show up and speak up. next time we need to show up here in Sacramento where I’m at i might even come join you and speak my story maybe if they hear everything I have done and am doing to get past my past may have a positive impact. and lake please don’t attack me on a personal level like you and a couple others did which initially started this confrontation between us.. if you don’t agree with my post respectively state your opinion and allow me to state mine..thanks….
thank you janice for your prompt very specific response. what you just posted is just a reflection of your compassionate loving caring nature. you have a very beautiful soul and I am so much more assured that you will be victories in our fight and you will truly be remembered and spoken of for generations to come.
Ok. After trying to get on RSOL all day, I finally get on this. Now I know there will be tweaks, but I like the name and moniker.
I do want to bring an idea up though. Be patient and listen. Don’t pass judgement.
Marijuana WILL be legal. There is no arguing the point. What my fiancé and I have done is acquire a testing platform for the chemical components of the flower. Right now, most growers do not have their flowers tested, but when it becomes legal, it will be mandatory.
Those that do send the flower to a lab and have to wait.
We can test in house and within 10 minutes we can have results printed out. Thc%,CBD,CBN and Terpenes.
My question is this. Is there any way that “we” can take advantage of the situation to not only benefit us as individuals, but generate a cash flow for Janice and company to challenge.
Just a thought.
I wish there had been over a hundred people, but folks, there have been demonstrations going back to 2007, and we’ve never had anyone beat up, arrested, or hurt in any way, so there is no reason to skip out on future demonstrations. And to all those complaining about money, I traveled 3 days and 3000 miles on a bloody Greyhound Bus just to be there. I’m in debt again but it is worth it to attend. So please, no more excuses! Folks, you need to make every effort to attend these events. I know a couple of cheerleaders here conspicuous by your absences. These events should be seen as a priority.
There is no valid reason to skip out unless you have a job or family issue. There were plenty of folks willing to carpool and share hotel rooms just to attend. As I stated already, I traveled by bus to get there. There are ways to show up if you really want to go.
By the way, I hope with the name change this also means that this group will release constraints that the national RSOL group has put on state affiliates and you’ll start promoting a wider variety of activist activity. The old California group hasn’t been helpful in supporting my past endeavors so I hope this attitude changes, otherwise you’ll be no better than the RSOL old guard.
I am fairly new to this site. I only recently learned of the IML and AWA. Only because I was denied entry into Thailand to visit my fiancé. Yes there are some that would say “Thailand, we know why he was there”. Well they would be dead wrong. I have been to Thailand twice in the last year to visit with my fiancé, once after IML was signed into law. To say this is a hardship is an understatement. My fiancé is so discouraged and so am I.
Reading through all these post I don’t understand all the bickering. We are all in this together. I live in Washington State and I actually posted that I was willing to drive to the protest if I had someone who wanted to share the cost of the gas. From here to there would have been a 13 hour drive. Easy to do. Drive there join the protest and drive home. No problem. Only problem for me and a couple others up here was money. Is there a way we can start a separate fund to donate to help people attend these protest? The next one I will be there. I already set up a separate savings account for travel expenses to make it to the next one.
Now about reasons people may not attend besides money. The most notable reason I see is fear. Let’s be honest our situation is not one that the general public will sympathize with. The American media have played an essential role. For decades, newspaper editors and television programmers, have chased readers and ratings by spewing panic-inducing “journalism” and entertainment that helped foster support for anti-sex offender policies. Journalists have consistently highlighted the sensational. They’ve ignored statistical realities to hype anecdotal – and extremely rare – events of the repeat offender.
I was watching TV the other night and 48 hours was on. This whole hour long show was about a convicted RSO who killed a woman. Do you think the show had any info on the actual recidivism rate? NO. My point is we can’t change the public view of us without changing the Media or at least without getting the positive sides of us out there for them to see and talk about.
I pledge I will be at the next protest. Fear of being outed!!! I am already outed on the dam registry.
Oh, Thailand didn’t deny my entry because I was a RSO. They denied my entry because of article 12.6 of their immigration act. What is Article 12.6 you ask? Having been imprisoned by the judgment of the Thai Court; or by a lawful injunction; or by the judgment of the Court of foreign country, except when the penalty is foe petty offense or negligence or is provided for as an exception in the Ministerial Regulations.
The US Department of Homeland Security didn’t just tell them I am an RSO… no they told them I have been incarcerated and for how long. By design I am sure. They know Thailand and many other country’s don’t have the same laws that we do here but they know what will get you denied entrance into that country so they make sure to word the “Notice” appropriately.
we need to stand together and encourage anything that anyone does to further our cause and not berate and belittle anyone else for saying something you don’t like or not doing something that you feel they should be doing. all you do is create a toxic atmosphere that has no productive impact on this site. those personal attacks on me and my character and insinuating that I didn’t have a right to complain and voice my opinion is exactly what prompted me to counter attack and spit out vitriol at the people that attacked me…please people stay on topic and only engage in positive productive discourse and that means allowing people to voice their opinions on topics and avoiding personal insults because of those posts.. thank you….
I noticed that they had burned registration cards at this protest. I am curious, were these old cards? as I have been told that registration cards are no longer required or issued. I have not received a registration card for 2 years. They were not actually required to be carried. They were only a receipt that shows we registered. And since they now require a full copy of all our signed registration forms to be given to us, the registration card became redundant. Plus they now save the cost of not having to send us that card. (Labor, lamination, envelope, ink and postage…it all added to their non-reimbursed costs). Please state if anyone here still receives the card.