General Comments August 2016

Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of August 2016. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.

Related posts

249 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

i have a question;

If Bill Clinton and Monica was not regarded as a sex act then how can states and feds prosecute people and they become a RSO for Oral since according to capital hill Oral is not sex?

Janice, I was reading the amended version of AB 2569,

(IV) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), an exclusion application already granted prior to the effective date of the measure that adds this clause shall not be subject to recision pursuant to this clause.
can you explain? Thank You very much.

Clintons are above the law just as the privileged are just dumb kids who made a mistake give them a break but for the rest of us it’s let’s make an example out of them and throw the book at the deviants.

The U.S. commission on civil rights meets every month in Washington D.C. . Has anyone thought of attending this, Janice. They discuss and review a variety of civil right violations.

Wikipedia still hasn’t updated the CA RSOL site to make mention of the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws
Maybe some techies out there can change it. I wouldn’t know the first thing about changing a wiki entry

I have ask this a couple of times, already, with no response. I want to obtain a flyer/handout/brochure that is written and sanctioned by ACSOL/CA RSOL about ACSOL so I can hand out to interested parties.

The headline in this NY Times story is about the silly Pokemon law, but the content is broader and very in line with our general theme: “Though more than 90 percent of sexual assaults on children are committed by people known to the victims — about one in three of those by family members and the rest by others close to them such as friends, babysitters and child care providers, according to statistics from the Justice Department — many restrictions, like the Pokémon one, appear to be aimed at reducing the risk of assaults by strangers,”
Contains supportive quotes from Fortune Society, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and NY Civil Liberties Union, which stated the gaming restrictions “appear to have no meaningful public safety benefit and are so vague as to possibly sweep in wholly innocuous behavior.” These are organizations we could enlist in our fight. Here’s the link to the story (I think it will work ever if you’re not a subscriber to the NY Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/nyregion/civil-libertarians-skeptical-of-rule-banning-sex-offenders-from-pokemon-go.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=8&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F22%2Fnyregion%2Fcivil-libertarians-skeptical-of-rule-banning-sex-offenders-from-pokemon-go.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0

Just in case you thought DNA was always valid proof of identity, it’s not. If you haven’t heard of this, it’s interesting reading:

Strange but true: One person born with two sets of DNA

http://www.babycenter.com/0_strange-but-true-one-person-born-with-two-sets-of-dna-a-chim_10364937.bc

A mother almost lost custody of her children because DNA tests showed she was not the mother.

It is interesting to note that U.S. policy towards those entering the U.S. as visitors is beginning to parallel, in some modest ways, their treatment of Registrants. They are now asking them to provide “social media identifiers”.

It is said that this will be voluntary, for now, (although they have to start somewhere, don’t they?) but, taken in aggregate, with everything else we know about our government’s scrutiny of individuals as they cross borders, including collecting fingerprints and Interpol database alerts, plus the sheer scope of intelligence gathering by the U.S. at home and abroad, this should be taken as a worrying sign that the extreme scrutiny to which sex offenders are subjected is but the beginning of something much wider and more invasive. The government’s ability to keep us from associating with non-citizens, both by keeping them out and us in, is nearly complete. As this appetite for total control expands it will inevitably, and visibly, affect Americans as a whole. Will the frog notice before the water boils?

“Rights groups decry plan to inspect social media of US-bound tourists
It’s a “surveillance program clothed as a customs administration mechanism.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/rights-groups-decry-plan-to-inspect-social-media-of-us-bound-tourists/

NICE win out of the Sixth Circuit, concluding that Michigan’s SORA imposes punishment. This opinion says a lot of things everyone here has been waiting to read for a long time.

http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0207p-06.pdf

After the Michigan Sixth Circuit decision, the door seems have opened to the Supreme Court. It’s my understanding (from Prof David Post and the Packingham discussion) that the SC will take a case where the Appeals Courts in different states disagree. And, surely there are cases where SORA is decided to be NOT punishment and therefore not limited by Ex Post Facto. This new decision only applies to Ex Post Facto, and the judges say that they will not go beyond that (although it sounds like they would like to) —
“As we have explained, this case involves far more than an Ex Post Facto challenge. And
as the district court’s detailed opinions make evident, Plaintiffs’ arguments on these other issues
are far from frivolous and involve matters of great public importance. These questions, however,
will have to wait for another day because none of the contested provisions may now be applied
to the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, and anything we would say on those other matters would be dicta.”

I guess Michigan would have to appeal (to the Supreme Court), but I think this could be the beginning of the end of registration as it now exists.

Good discussion and comments here:
http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2016/08/sixth-circuit-panel-concludes-michigan-sex-offender-registration-amendments-are-punitive-and-thus-ar.html

I would like to add that this decision is potentially very good for our current IML lawsuit in Oakland Federal Court. This could help sway the Judge to look again at our position and even if not that, then the Michigan case would still be good for any appeal should the Trial Court rule against our request of an Injunction against the IML.

I have heard complaints against the ACLU voiced here….we should applaud them on this outstanding win and an actual advancement of our cause.

Best Wishes, James

No drone for you.

Add another thing we might not be able to do if this becomes law.

http://www.hoverlaw.com/category/state/

This is brought on not by pervs with drones over nude beaches and kiddie pools, but by the douche bags who get in the way of firefighting helicopters and first responders.

If only someone could pilot a Reaper over Sacramento…

Can someone tell me if going to the virgin islands or peurto rico is still considered flying domestic? Is it international? Do I need a Passport? Do I need to notify the government 21 days prior. I no longer register in my state but if we had awa I probably would have too. Not sure where that puts me.

New mandatory prison sentence bill inspired by Stanford sexual assault heads to governor’s desk.

Assembly Bill 2888

http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-new-mandatory-prison-sentence-bill-1472511625-htmlstory.html

Can anyone give me and idea as to how long I can vacation in puerto rico without having to register? Has anyone else gone on vacation there? Any Problems?