Today a lawsuit was filed in state court challenging a decision by the Fontana Unified School District to prohibit all registrants, including parents, from entering all 45schools in that district. The five members of the school district board voted unanimously in favor of the “zero tolerance” policy on September 14 after several angry parents threatened to oust any board member who opposed it.
According to the lawsuit, the school board policy is preempted by state law and is inconsistent with other state laws which require schools to allow parents and guardians of school children to participate in the education of their children. The lawsuit requests that the court issue a writ of mandate requiring the school district to stop enforcement of the policy.
“The Fontana Unified School District is violating state law each and every day it enforces the unlawful policy of prohibiting all registrants from entering all schools in that district,” stated civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci.
The lawsuit also alleges that the school board is exceeding its authority by creating and then enforcing a policy that excludes registrants from school campuses.
I would like to face them since I went to K-12 there. Show them something that their is a lifetime face with their actions.
Thanks Janice and Team to initiate Law Suit.
You will persevere!
This is some funny S*** I remember reading this about a month or so ago and now LAWSUIT, that is what it takes these people to STOP this BS Draconian stuff.
I recall a few days / week ago the Halloween sign settlement.. at the end I noticed the best words….
The one that was SUED that SETTLED will pay all ATTY Fee’s !(CDCR…HALLOWEEN)
When people have to PAY up they change their STANCE !
Same with all the cities doing residence restrictions, Once a LAWSUIT is threatened/filed they ALL CAVE in on their ILLEGAL LAWS/ORDINANCES/BS…. ALWAYS
Just gotta wait on the DRACONIAN Registry to GO AWAY same with IML… Time…
Wow, I had no idea sex had this kind of power, where people think they have the right to prevent parents or other loved ones from being in a school or any building with their children. So much for the right of association. But people who teach their children and others to live in fear are just fine. Honestly, what kind of people are they.
I thought we went through the dark ages long ago? Its starting to become clear to me, we need a separate america. Where those with toleration live away from those who do not. You see what happens when people watch too many TV shows like the walking dead, channel zero, law and order where pure hatred and fear guide their actions.
This nonsense has got to be stopped. Whoever wins this presidency better get rid of this garbage or shit is gonna start happening. We are not Jews, you will not get away with this crap much longer. Send these terrorized non humans back to wherever they come from. As far as I’m concerned they are leftovers from European religious sects who can’t cope with the real world where shit happens.
The parents that forced their views on the board members and those board members who helped them are criminals, nothing more. They think only they have the right to decide how people live. Seems to me it is civil disobedience and treason in support of the enemies of this country to destroy our constitution and our country. They should be declared enemies of the state, because if you can’t live by our constitution and the flaws of its people, then you are our enemy. Like I said, take your money, your possessions, and go back to Europe. You will fit right in with the Nazis and maybe you can create another third Reich we can nuke this time.
Good luck, Janice, and all. I hope this stupid policy is thrown out and that you are duly compensated by the tax payers of Fontana for your continued hard work.
Then, I hope the hard-working tax payers of Fontana step up and throw out of office the morons who implemented this ridiculous policy.
They’ll learn……
Janice, you and the other ACSOL volunteers are the very few who fight for us RCs. Thank you.
Thank you for challenging irrational laws.
I have the same issue here in slo county and it’s a burden on me and my family. I’m not allowed on school grounds unless I call and get permission from the principal I’m only allowed to pick up my kids but not to get out of my car . Maybe janice and staff should do the same here
Another WIN for RC!!
Wow. Some of the comments I’ve been reading really have me baffled. Like the ones from Rick about civil disobedience and treason….how is not wanting a registered sex offender no where near my kids or students civil disobedience? More like my civil duty. Offenders are on the offender list for a reason. They are the ones who broke a law! If they can’t handle the punishments dished out here in America then maybe they should consider leaving. Why do I need to put my child at risk? Offenders lost their rights to chose wither or not to go to schools and the option to interact with minors when they committed whatever act that got them on the list. They are offenders! Too bad! Participate in your child’s education by being involved with your child off campus. Volunteering on campus is NOT a vital part of participating in your child’s education. BUT keeping registered sex offenders away from my child is absolutely a vital part of keeping them safe.
I would like to take this opportunity to respond to individuals who continually try to make others think that all people on the registry are lurking in the bushes to steal a child. The media has caused the hysteria along with uneducated citizens who know nothing about the registry. The registry is PUNISHMENT-it is a death sentence without being put to death. You can never get off of the registry, regardless of what you have accomplished since being convicted. Our society looks at registrants as throw-aways who can never be rehabilitated and that is an incorrect assumption. Many of the people listed are not ever, ever going to re-offend and all the top psychologists say that. It is not the people on the registry-they are educators who have studied the information and have come up with the conclusions. Not all sex offenders are predators, not all sex offenders will re-offend. You have more possibility of being murdered by someone then sexually assaulted. The laws are written to make people fear ones who have been put on the registry. In many states, everyone convicted of a sex crime is defined as a “sexual predator” and the majority of them are not. It is time for the public to educate themselves and not listen to the media hysteria regarding a missing child, as these are very rare cases. Yet, the media cannot wait to put out an alert to drive the continuing hysteria. I do not believe and refuse to accept that all people convicted are bad. Many can be rehabilitated and return to a normal life but many are not allowed that luxury. It is a constant battle to try to return to normalcy, when every day there is another law added that stops that. I will never stop fighting this injustice and if it takes lawsuit, after lawsuit so be it. It is time for all registrants to stand up and say, enough of this, enough. While I agree there are bad people in our society, those are the ones who should be put on the list-not your son, who had relations with his 16 year old girlfriend! Think about that, as the next one, could be you or anyone in your family. This has got to stop and I will fight this until my last breath. Unless you walk in our shoes, you have no idea what the day in the life of someone on the registry is really like. Kudos-Janice.
cindy lets see how brave and intelligent your are…your brave enough to come on here spouting about who cares about our rights (which is completely un-American, ylu should care about all the people’s rights if you’re a true American) and that any and all of us pose some kind of danger to your precious little suzy or joey….try educating yourself with the following facts and the facts that have already been provided and come back and give one sound reasonable argument about why we shouldn’t be allowed on school property besides just spouting at the mouth that we’re sex offenders and we don’t deserve rights and Lil Joeys rights are more important than our rights…thats the same all song and dance and it is becoming a weaker and weaker argument everyday…..come back with some kind of proof or real empirical evidence that there is an actual danger if a sex offender is allowed to watch his kid’s school play or sit in the bleachers and watch his game or pick him up from school…..just one incident or real reason why this shouldnt be allowed….
I really wish you,the media, and any other organization would stop publishing, producing or relying on reports and opinions from law makers or any organizations about how great sex offender registration and notification laws work or how residency restrictions and presence restrictions are needed. They are using false statistics and pure myths to further their personal agendas under the guise of protecting children. None of these failed policies have achieved any positive results in the US and are in fact destroying the lives of thousands of innocent children and their families because one of their parents or family members are on such a registry. Individuals and organizations should have enough integrity to investigate their claims before they publish it or rely on it and be sure that there is some credibility to it and not just a platform to exploit children for a law makers personal gains or their own. Here are some facts from the leading authorities on this subject which indicate what a failure these registration and public notification laws are in the US. These laws are a waste of tax dollars and are a misplaced use of valuable law enforcement and government agency resources.
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB)
Sex offender recidivism rate for a new sex offense is 0.8% (page 30)
The full report is available online at
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Adult_Research_Branch/Research_Documents/2014_Outcome_Evaluation_Report_7-6-2015.pdf
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) End of Year Report 2014. (page 13)
Under the current system many local registering agencies are challenged just keeping up with registration paperwork. It takes an hour or more to process each registrant, the majority of whom are low risk offenders. As a result law enforcement cannot monitor higher risk offenders more intensively in the community due to the sheer numbers on the registry. Some of the consequences of lengthy and unnecessary registration requirements actually destabilize the life’s of registrants and those -such as families- whose lives are often substantially impacted. Such consequences are thought to raise levels of known risk factors while providing no discernible benefit in terms of community safety.
The full report is available online at. http://www.casomb.org/index.cfm?pid=231
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs United States of America.
The overall conclusion is that Megan’s law has had no demonstrated effect on sexual offenses in New Jersey, calling into question the justification for start-up and operational costs. Megan’s Law has had no effect on time to first rearrest for known sex offenders and has not reduced sexual reoffending. Neither has it had an impact on the type of sexual reoffense or first-time sexual offense. The study also found that the law had not reduced the number of victims of sexual offenses.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx? ID=247350
The University of Chicago Press for The Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOI: 10.1086/658483
Conclusion. The data in these three data sets do not strongly support the effectiveness of sex offender registries. The national panel data do not show a significant decrease in the rate of rape or the arrest rate for sexual abuse after implementation of a registry via the Internet. The BJS data that tracked individual sex offenders after their release in 1994 did not show that registration had a significantly negative effect on recidivism. And the D.C. crime data do not show that knowing the location of sex offenders by census block can help protect the locations of sexual abuse. This pattern of noneffectiveness across the data sets does not support the conclusion that sex offender registries are successful in meeting their objectives of increasing public safety and lowering recidivism rates.
The full report is available online at. http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/658483
These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of conclusions and reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community.
People, including the media and other organizations should not rely on and reiterate the statements and opinions of the legislators or other people as to the need for these laws because of the high recidivism rates and the high risk offenders pose to the public which simply is not true and is pure hyperbole and fiction. They should rely on facts and data collected and submitted in reports from the leading authorities and credible experts in the fields such as the following.
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) (page 38)
Sex offender recidivism rate for a new sex offense is 1.8%
The full report is available online at. http://www.google.com/url?sa= t&source=web&cd=1&ved= 0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F% 2Fwww.cdcr.ca.gov%2FAdult_ Research_Branch%2FResearch_ documents%2FOutcome_ evaluation_Report_2013.pdf&ei= C9dSVePNF8HfoATX-IBo&usg=AFQjCNE9I6ueHz-o2mZUnuxLPTyiRdjDsQ
Bureau of Justice Statistics 5 PERCENT OF SEX OFFENDERS REARRESTED FOR ANOTHER SEX CRIME WITHIN 3 YEARS OF PRISON RELEASE WASHINGTON, D.C.
Within 3 years following their 1994 state prison release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.
The full report is available online at. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/rsorp94pr.cfm
Document title; A Model of Static and Dynamic Sex Offender Risk Assessment Author: Robert J. McGrath, Michael P. Lasher, Georgia F. Cumming Document No.: 236217 Date Received: October 2011 Award Number: 2008-DD-BX-0013
Findings: Study of 759 adult male offenders under community supervision Re-arrest rate: 4.6% after 3-year follow-up The sexual re-offense rates for the 746 released in 2005 are much lower than what many in the public have been led to expect or believe. These low re-offense rates appear to contradict a conventional wisdom that sex offenders have very high sexual re-offense rates.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236217.pdf
Document Title: SEX OFFENDER SENTENCING IN WASHINGTON STATE: RECIDIVISM RATES BY: Washington State Institute For Public Policy.
A study of 4,091 sex offenders either released from prison or community supervision form 1994 to 1998 and examined for 5 years Findings: Sex Crime Recidivism Rate: 2.7%
Link to Report: http://www.oncefallen.com/files/Washington_SO_Recid_2005.pdf
Document Title: Indiana’s Recidivism Rates Decline for Third Consecutive Year BY: Indiana Department of Correction 2009.
The recidivism rate for sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%, one of the lowest in the nation. In a time when sex offenders continue to face additional post-release requirements that often result in their return to prison for violating technical rules such as registration and residency restrictions, the instances of sex offenders returning to prison due to the commitment of a new sex crime is extremely low. Findings: sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%
Link to Report: http://www.in.gov/idoc/files/RecidivismRelease.pdf
Once again, These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community. No one can doubt that child sexual abuse is traumatic and devastating. The question is not whether the state has an interest in preventing such harm, but whether current laws are effective in doing so. Megan’s law is a failure and is destroying families and their children’s lives and is costing tax payers millions upon millions of dollars. The following is just one example of the estimated cost just to implement SORNA which many states refused to do.
From Justice Policy Institute. Estimated cost to implement SORNA Here are some of the estimates made in 2009 expressed in 2014 current dollars: California, $66M; Florida, $34M; Illinois, $24M; New York, $35M; Pennsylvania, $22M; Texas, $44M. In 2014 dollars, Virginia’s estimate for implementation was $14M, and the annual operating cost after that would be $10M.
For the US, the total is $547M. That’s over half a billion dollars – every year – for something that doesn’t work.
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNACosts_JJ.pdf
The Supreme Court has fed the fear of frightening high sex offender recidivism rates that has proven to be universally untrue. It’s become the “go to” source that courts and politicians rely upon for “facts” about sex offender recidivism rates that aren’t true. Its endorsement has transformed random opinions by self-interested non-experts into definitive studies offered to justify law and policy, while real studies by real scientists go unnoticed. The Court’s casual approach to the facts of sex offender re-offense rates is far more frightening than the rates themselves, and it’s high time for correction.
The sources relied upon by the Supreme Court in Smith v. Doe, a heavily cited constitutional decision on sex offender registries, in fact provide no support at all for the facts about sex offender re-offense rates that the Court treats as central to its constitutional conclusions. This misreading of the social science was abetted in part by the Solicitor General’s misrepresentations in the amicus brief it filed in this case. The false “facts” stated in the opinion have since been relied upon repeatedly by other courts in their own constitutional decisions, thus infecting an entire field of law as well as policy making by legislative bodies. Recent decisions by the Pennsylvania and California supreme courts establish principles that would support major judicial reforms of sex offender registries, if they were applied to the actual facts.
I think the media or other organizations need to do a in depth investigation into the false assumptions and false data that has been used to further these laws and to research all the collateral damages being caused by these laws and the unconstitutional injustices that are occurring across the country. They should include these injustices in their report so the public can be better informed on what is truly happening in this country on this subject.
Thank you for your time.
Cindy and Irma,
I am glad you came here to post, and I hope that you will continue to post after learning more about the Sex Offender Registry, the people on it, and what society can do to make kids safer.
First, the Sex Offender Registry, and all of the laws written against registrants, actually does the opposite of making kids safer.
The government tried to make the harsh registry laws and punishments sound like a good thing, because they noted that reported sexual crimes dropped 13% across the board immediately after implementation of a public Sex Offender Registry. What they don’t mention, is that for fear of a family losing the income of a primary bread winner due to the lifetime registry, they are less likely to report the abuse until there are more victims. Once you also take into account the laws that push offenders too far from treatment, far from supportive family and friends, and the inability to get a job (since all other criminals can usually find work after 7 years but Sex Offenders can’t as long as they are on the registry), you’ll see how this system makes reform less likely and re-offence more probable.
Basically, any other criminal can reform because they have support, and can re-integrate into society with the incentive of a normal life in the future. Sex Offenders don’t have an end to the punishments, and that removes the incentive for some to re-rehabilitate.
I, for one, would feel my kids (2 and 4) would be much safer in a world where sex offenders have support systems, are protected by the US Constitution like other criminals, and can be rewarded with re-integration and privacy after successful therapy and supervision instead of being treated as lifetime lepers.
also explain how one of us sexually depraved cretins are going to do anything to your little precious with all you helicopter parents and hundreds of other people around….just senseless and hysteria over the boogeyman
@cindy,
Maybe you should have THOUGHT 1st before you decided to have kids since SO’s have been around WAY before you decided (or didnt) to conceive. !!
I have a feeling that cindy and Irma will not be back we’ll see if either of them have the courage to get into any real debate simply because there is no winning arguments for these laws except for the same old we dont deserve rights or little Joey’s rights are more important than ours….by the way how much money has lil joey paid in taxes? what about what kind of contributions has he contributed? how many times has he voted or gave to charities or spent money in our economy? I think most of us have actually paid for our rights in numerous ways just because we made a mistake twenty years ago doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have rights and the protection of the constitution and bill of rights that we’ve all earned…
Your filing this lawsuit should be commended. I really have no idea where we would be without Jsnice. I’m personally appalled at such a law would be passed. We have people with expunged/non child related and summary probation that are affected by this. Yet, we have drug dealers, wife beaters, DUI convictions, murderers and gang bangers who can still visit these schools. This law was passed due to anger/stupidity and the way law enforcement and government officials have portrayed those convicted of crimes related in sexual nature!
Stay and learn Cindy. I truly hope that nobody you love has to ever go through either side of this though.
ya they’re not coming back they just wanted to spout their hate they have in their hearts that was either distilled in them in their childhood or they have had such a miserable life that all they know is hate…i pity em but I will never feel sorry for them because of what they are doing to good people that just made a mistake in life…
Cindy , I don’t even know what say you , I understand what your saying and all that , but you never said if you was a victim or ? and really I have made it appoint in my live not to listen or care what anyone say in this matter in less they are a victim , because the victim and my self have many things in common , we both understand what it feels like to feel and live in fear all the way to our spirt , and people that live in fear because of something bad that happed to them deal with the choice to grow and become strong and sound , and then move on in their with an old shadow , that they can stand in that shadow OR choose to step out of it and in to the sun ,, my crime was over 30 years ago , and seen myself as a monster , watched family walk away that I was raised with and turn their backs on me rather than stand by my side as I would have for them with out even a waver of thought , but it was me that burned that bridge I found my self alone and broken and not knowing how to fix my self , setting in a prison cell for over 5 years , in that time I had to fight for my very life many times , prison guards making life hell , and no matter what I could not walk away from my fears because I still had to be the monster in order to survie , not because I wanted to be a monster , no choice for me , when I got out I went to work hard at it like I could somehow sweat the stench of the prison out of my skin some how wash all this fear away , but I moved on and found the most wonderful person in the world , and she became my wife and her little ones became mine , and she would soon give birth to our new son , soon we moved on down the road , new job new life with that shadow hanging behind me , and I stepped in to the light and was living , next thing I know I find out about a web site for sex offenders , and my blood went cold , the very next day when I got up to go to work and could feel something bugging me , it was fear! fear for my family because I knew how cold Humans could be when they were witch hunting , when I went out side the first thing I seen was paint on my porch steps just a few feet away my dog “SUNNY” lay in the dirt beaten to death ! at first my heat sunk and I had to hurry because the kids would be out the door in just a few min so I had to carry our family dog once full of life and love for everyone , I am sure he just walked right up the people wanting to be pet . I ran with him so I could hide him so the kids did not have to deal with the what happed , and when I started to walk back to my house and that’s when I seen what the paint was for , in bright red paint on the front of the house was big letters all over it said rapeo rapeo rapeo pedo pedo , I had to load the kids up in my truck that was trashed at my back door and act as if nothing was wrong even though I was heart broken and full of fear , I drop the kids off at a friends house to hag out for the day with their kids for the day , me and my buddy went back to my house and we repainted the house , buried our dog “SUNNY” and it turned worse , my kids were being pushed around in school , we watched their grades go down , my wife had her nose broken by some internet witch hunter at the gas mart she worked at , and I snapped !! the cop were short and did nothing , the monster was back and my back was against the wall , so I found the piece of dung that hit my wife over something I did years before , I had to ask myself was it my fault that my wife was harmed because something I did in my passed ? “maybe so” I am still out on that , but at what point is it people need to look at being responsible about well meaning laws that harm other people? , because of the many that will miss use those laws in the name of just being a hater , but any way I found the guy and broke his face , one hit one KO , I went home and the cops were their 5 min before I even got home , and I drove strait from broken face to home too, no stops ! they took me to jail , 50k bond , and in court 3k fine , yet broken face was never charged for braking my very kind wifes nose , 7k to fix it , we moved in that year 4 times , everything we owned got trashed by fools , 58 pan head Harley that my father helped me build years before he died , and I had to sell to pay my bills with the money because I could not keep a job , they would always find out I was on the witch hunters list , and to this day me and my family live in fear the victim of not just what I did many years ago , but a victim of laws passed by corrupt leaders that make a killing off of fear they keep selling to victims and keep them fear full , keep them prisoner to that shadow, keep them consumed , taking their freedom away by not showing them that the things that happed to them is not glow in the dark stamped on their for head and they are free to step out in the light ! but not many “EX” sex offenders you all seem to be so fond of those words , but its time that we as ex offenders stop having to live in fear , its unjust that we be sent to prison do our time do crazy prole , and strive to pick up the life we broke and become citizens with our rights restored in full , this is why its important that I only listen to victims , not a bunch of unfeeling haters , this is the most I have ever said to non victims ,
After a parent sucessfully completes parole or probation, they have the RIGHT to raise their own children and participate in providing their kids’ education. This just shows how unconstitutional the sex offender registry and Megan’s Law has become.
If litigation is the only avenue that sex offenders have to maintain their rights and to get back those that they seem to be losing everyday, then, litigation it is.
Janice is doing what needs to be done, taking it to court, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Keep hitting them in the wallet and sooner or later we will see change. Sex offenders are one of the last groups that society has turned a blind-eye to and that the government has ignored when it comes to discrimination.
I say, NO More. We need to take all justifiable actions to the courts. Enough is enough. We will no longer be treated or allow our loved ones to be treated as “less than”! If it takes hitting them in the wallet to force change, then that’s what we need to do.
Cindy and Irma;
Sometimes things are expressed through other people in better ways than we can create ourselves. I’d like to share with you some quote’s I’ve read through the years I’ve found interesting and were things that I struggled to say with conviction, only to find these held the same sentiments I felt. I don’t remember who said them but they remain with me and remind me everyday!
“Good parents don’t need sex offender registries.”
“If you enjoy your Rights, don’t violate the Rights of others! If you do then get in line behind those being violated; because yours are next!”
…And then one that reminds us that this IS punishment stated by one political lobbyist after the Three (3) Strikes Law was repealed:
“We now can use this law how it was intended; to PUNISH sex offenders.”
I hope you may both find peace from all of your anger and hatred. It would benefit you to study up on Constitutional Law. Until then, please stay away from me and my family and friends. I don’t trust you and your kind; your public views breed violence and you’re all too prepared to violate any person’s fundamental, God given Rights for your personal agenda; whether it be public safety or political gain.
You guys are great at arguing — no doubt about it, basically civil, well informed, rational, persuasive. Any who come on this site all teeth bared and snarling, expecting us to be vulnerable, tails between our legs, I notice they sheath their claws, turn their little cotton tails and run for threir lives. It’s great!
Bellingham parents withdraw kids from Catholic school over sex offender controversy.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article108369317.html