On the floor of the Senate yesterday, the Senate passed the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 421). It was a miracle! It was the first time, after three unsuccessful attempts, that a legislative body approved a tiered registry bill. The miracle maker is the bill’s author, Senator Scott Wiener, who assumed authorship of the bill after its original author withdrew.
It is Senator Wiener who saw and spoke the truth about the registry….how it is broken and bloated….so bloated that is has become useless. It is Senator Wiener who gathered the support of 27 senators, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, to stop 70 years of punishment…that everyone convicted of a sex offense in California must register for a lifetime.
During the debate of the bill on the Senate floor, Senator Wiener was praised for his courage by his colleagues, including Senator Nancy Skinner. Senator Skinner first bravely identified herself as a victim of sexual abuse. She then acknowledged that the registry has created many more victims in the form of registrants and family members who have suffered and continue to suffer from public humiliation, unemployment, homelessness and vigilante violence.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Senator Wiener and the 26 additional senators who voted in support of the tiered registry bill. They include Senator President Kevin De Leon who did not vote on many bills that day but who demonstrated leadership by voting in favor of SB 421.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to the many co-sponsors of the tiered registry bill, including Equality California, the CA Sex Offender Management Board and CalCASA, a victims’ rights organization. Without their support, this bill would not have passed.
There is another group of co-sponsors to whom we are also grateful, but who we continue to view with caution. That group includes district attorneys and law enforcement officials who have made certain that their interests are reflected in the original bill and its amendments. There is an uneasy truce between us as we each struggle to maximize the benefits of the bill for our constituencies.
Although we recognize that there is much yet to be done before the Tiered Registry Bill becomes law, we celebrate today its passage in the Senate. For we know without that vital step, the bill would have been stopped.
Today we celebrate knowing that our efforts during the past five years have paid off, that we have been heard. We therefore look forward to the next steps of the legislative process with renewed vigor and dedication as we prepare to Show Up – Stand Up – Speak Up.
Janice, Chance, and company, thank you for all your work. I hope you continue to amend the tiered bill to tailor around scientific research than arbitrary numbers and procedures.
good for those who this bill passing will help.
Sadly it will not help my husband.
Im just wondering how much harder it will be for him and me to try to live a somewhat normal life.
Just want him off parole.
Has any one here had to fight California Family Code 3030? This was just brought to my attention that this law exists when I filed for divorce. I need to know if anyone has successfully challenged this because it seems unfair that after raising my children I’m given supervised visits because of something that I was convicted of 20 years ago. Please left me know if you have info on how to defend against this.
As with others I’m grateful for the hard work by Janice and others that helped get this bill to this point. I am also curious because there is a lot of confusion and “what if’s” that we’ll all have to deal with. This may benefit some, it may not help some at all, and few will be left without any hope at all. I am not hopeful, but I am cautiously optimistic Either way, my life will not change much. Maybe this is the tip of the iceberg and there is more to follow.
Many questions about the applicability in specific cases. Keep in mind that the bill can be amended in the Assembly and that, even if not amended and if passed, there will be some interpretation by the DOJ and DAs, along with, likely, some litigation. It is impossible to say, exactly how this will all work out until the final version is (hopefully) passed and reviewed.
I have faith that one day society will look back at the Megan Law Website and Passport identifiers with regret. The public registry is certainly cruel and it is the totally wrong approach to mitigate sex related crime. This SB 421 will give many of us and our loved ones relief and for this I am grateful.
My father told me about growing up in Arkansas with separate drinking fountains and entrances for “Colored” folks. Today this is unimaginable. Have faith my friends, justice will eventually prevail. Love you all.
Ayes: Allen, Anderson, Atkins, Beall, Bradford, De León, Dodd, Galgiani, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Pan, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk
Noes: Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Glazer, Morrell, Newman, Nguyen, Nielsen, Stone
No Votes Recorded: Lara, Portantino
Let me add my heartfelt “Thank You Janice” to the mix. This represents a huge step for people on the registry.
However, it is only one small step for those convicted of a sex offense. There are still hurdles of employment to overcome. With most companies doing background checks now, even though you are not on the registry, a background check showing even a dismissed case is enough to keep you from being hired.
Not being able to find employment will prevent many from seeking relief because they will not have the money to pay for the attorney’s fees to be removed. It would be nice if registrants had a simple process to insure they were promptly removed from the registry.
I would like to see that expungement of a case means that it is erased from all records everywhere, except those used by law enforcement.
To the person who stated “access to case files and records just aren’t there anymore”. In this day an age of technology it is nothing to pull up records from 25, 30, or even 40 years ago. Sadly, those false convictions, or arrests made because in the day there was a focus on finding people guilty because of a DA wanting a feather in their cap, a vote for election, won’t ever go away. While state employment laws prohibt potential employers from using criminal records beyond 7 years from being used to discriminate against you in hiring, it is still done. I have had two offers on the table, worked with my lawyers to make sure I was not misleading or misrepresenting my misdemeanor conviction (of 25 years ago ) and had both offers pulled from the table without a reason except, ” We have decided to go another direction.”
Regardless, I am very appreciative of the work of Janice and the team, and all the people on this site who band together to make our voices heard so that our rights are not continually eroded.
Now that the bill has passed the Senate, what is the next step?
I don’t really know how things become law. The Senate passed it, so now what? Does the Assembly have to pass it? Then the governor signs?
The post mentions “the next steps in the legislative process” but doesn’t explain what those steps are.
so there is a mention to petition before ones birthday (after 2019) *if passed* so is it a 30 day? 2 week? 1 week before that particular persons birthday to begin that petition? or on the birthdate? and after the person petitions for relief will he/she need to appear/go to police station/court /take one final picture? or simply go to public defenders office-fill out form and wait for a call or receive a letter saying everything is done & over?
I have not seen any discussion here about the website exclusion provision
for tier two registrants. If I am citing correctly it is in Sec. 4 Section 290.46 (d)(1).
The way I read it – if a tier two registrant does not commit another sex offense during ten years of registration, then the registrant can petition to be excluded from the website.
The way I read this bill sb 421,it includes the same as ab 558 and 647.5 will be included on web
Seems the majority of registrants will be put into tier two based on the conviction and static 99 score and will only be able to petition for tier one if they meet all of the very specific criteria, right? Kind of blows considering the criteria is very specific.
Can anyone confirm this? Another question does the static 99 risk level trump the conviction type, because my conviction (288a) will put me into tier two, however my static 99 risk level is a 1 – contradictive information leaving me confused as to where I would land?
We need clarification on how 647.6 applies to the Tiered Registry as amended.
Will Tier 1 647.6 misdemeanor registrants be published on the public site as possibly written in the Tiered Registry bill?
Please, this question has been asked for weeks without a real answer. We need clarification.
The way I read this bill 647.6 will be on the website. The senates analysis of this bill says tier one will be excluded except specified offences. 647.6 is specified in with tier two.
where would one conviction for a 288[a] LEWD N LASCIVIOUS CHILD UNDER 14.. A 13 YEAR OLD VICTIM 18 YEAR OLD PERPETRATOR 1988 IN RIV COUNTY . PLACE ME ON THE REGISTRY???