Today we sit on top of a mountain. We take a short rest after an arduous journey up a steep path. We gather strength. We gather numbers. We prepare for what we believe will be the final legs of a journey for many who will reach freedom…..freedom from the tyranny of the sex offender registry.
Our journey began six years ago when a brave elected official, Tom Ammiano, introduced the first tiered registry bill. He saw the truth, that the requirement to register is not a mere administrative requirement, but instead is punishment.
Despite the efforts of that brave leader and our lobbying, the state legislature refused to see the truth and defeated the first tiered registry bill in 2012. The members of the state legislature continued to refuse to see the truth and did not allow a vote on the second tiered registry bill in 2013.
Not only did members of the state legislature defeat the first two tiered registry bills, they also introduced legislation during a six-year period that significantly harmed registrants and their families. Those bills were based upon the myth that registrants have a high rate of re-offense which has been discredited by empirical evidence.
The state legislature has an opportunity this year to correct its mistakes of the past by passing a new tiered registry bill (SB 421). This tiered registry bill is similar to past tiered registry bills because it would end the requirement for many registrants to register for a lifetime.
This tiered registry bill is different than past tiered registry bills because it has bipartisan authors (Democratic Senator Scott Wiener and Republican Senator Joel Anderson) and is supported by law enforcement and district attorneys. The bill is also supported by victims’ rights groups, the ACLU, Equality California and ACSOL.
Together, our coalition of supporters has succeeded in passage of the tiered registry bill in the Senate. However, our coalition of supporters now faces a great challenge in the Assembly where the bill will be considered by two committees and then face a floor vote.
The first of those hearings will be before the Public Safety Committee on July 11 at 9 a.m. in Room 126 of the State Capitol. It is the final opportunity we will have to publicly state our support for the tiered registry bill.
Therefore, it is time for us to move from the top of the mountain to the State Capitol for one of the final legs of the journey. It is time for your voice to be heard! For when you speak, you will help yourself and/or others to reach freedom…..freedom from the tyranny of the sex offender registry.
— by Janice Bellucci
Read all Janice’s Journals
Let;s not sit on the top of a mountain too long. We still have another mountain to climb which is getting rid of the registry
God I love that woman.
We’ll be there! Thank you Janice, Chance, Frank and team for your tireless efforts!
I sent my letters to the Assembly Public Safety Committee this morning.
I’ll be there too! 👍
Very well said, Janice. Thanks to everyone who is putting their efforts and energy to reverse all the wrongs of the past and maybe in the near future undo the “PUBLIC” registry, which is the real destroyer of lives!
Thank you again for your hard work, everyone.
Janice,
If the Tiered Registry bill passes the Assembly floor vote will Governor Brown sign the bill into law?
WE made Front page of the San Luis Obispo Tribrune today !
” The court of public Opinion ” is in session !
Should lifetime registry for low-risk sex offenders end? Some California officials think so
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/state/california/article159294299.html
I have asked Judge Manly of the Superior Court who I have delt with before and met him again at the U.S. Veteran Administration stand down to read SB 421 and asked him to support the bill and to voice his opinions to other Judges in the state.
One must remember that The U.S. Government, 47 Other states, the CSOMB
I have asked Judge Manly of the Superior Court who I have delt with before and met him again at the U.S. Veteran Administration stand down to read SB 421 and asked him to support the bill and to voice his opinions to other Judges in the state.
One must remember that The U.S. Government, 47 Other states, the CSOMB , The American Police Chief Association along with the majority of law enforcement officers , some DA(s) and Senators throughout the state also support a Tier system.
Once all the true facts as per all the myths and propaganda is brought to light I do hope that the fact that not all these major influences can not be all wrong. And it must be brought to the surface that the individual must go before the court and petition the court and if the court does not feel the individual deserves to be relieved of their requirements to register it won’t allow the individual this releaf.
It also must be remembered that a persons Finger prints and DNA and their history will always be there.
And once the majority of low threat, low level and low to non dangerous offenders are removed from the same basket so to speak what’s left? The high threat, high level and highly dangerous offenders that’s who , the ones who need to be watched and monitored bringing down the number to that where that can be accomplished with releasing law enforcement 60 percent of its resourcess and saving the California Tax payer millions. To put it simply not only does Tier system work it works good and makes the registration at last work and o what it was ment to do in the first place and until a better system is put in place it is the very best system and All those in favour can not all be wrong
Thank you and everyone have a great and wonderful day.
Neil B Fisher
As I have said, this piece of crap bill does not do the wonders you say, Janice, since no one gets out simply by doing the minimum time, they instead must apply and potentially have a fight the same as for a COR — and many are going to have that fight, and lose, just not in the first year because of the flood.
But here even you say this is the “FINAL leg” of the fight for tiers. It seems this group is NOT going to do what it has said all along it would, take incremental steps. This tier proposal was presented here as a mere incremental step to a better plan that would be acceptable, unlike this one.
But it is now pronounced to be final.
As I said. It is not a step, it is the end game. And it is crap, and as unacceptable as can be. Loads of people aren’t even allowed under this bill to apply, even for misdemeanors, to stop registering — no one now out of state can do so. Many other i-state are in any number of circumstances that also will block them from even applying, much less getting the relief. Gee, the people who now cold stop registering after 7 years by getting a COR will have a mini mum of 10 years before they can seek relief. And those who got the relief vis a COR at 7 years will now have to register for three more years and then apply for the tier relic, as having a COR will no longer allow you not to register, just as those who lost their relic from registration previously when the law was changed so that 1203.4 PC did not receive you of registration.
And this is FINAL, end of game, we are done — so we now pronounce.
Yes, in the first year, because of the flood, many will get out of registration. But after that, registrants are going to very often face the same losing fight as for a COR, as the COR standards were written into this law.
I note, the Los Angele Times two weeks ago wrote an editorial about registration generally and talked about this tier proposal. They said it was good to finally do something, but even they expressed real dissatisfaction with this bill, saying it should have gone a lot further, and a lot of offenses that are required to register should have been dropped from 290 altogether. Gee, I wish I had thought of saying such things all these years. I wish I had thought of suggesting that eliminating all misdemeanors and plenty of lower level felonies from 290 would be a very sellable thing to do, as the public has no idea those even are caught upon in it and wouldn’t support it for those offenses, as the Times has now editorialized it does not. In fact, it is so smooth to eliminate all offenses that the feds do not require to register, the public could see sense in that. But here you’ve got the biggest newspaper in the state expressing disappointment in this bill, calling for a lot more on this, do not think what WE are touting as great is very great at all.
But we won’t push for that, instead we tout the devious plan of the enemy, the prosecutors, as our plan and say how wonderful it is tone undermined. That is loaded with the details of the dvil, to undermine us at every turn.
But we now call this FINAL, fight is over. Never mind that stuff about incremental steps, never mind that even the biggest newspaper is the state is disappointed about how little this bill provides. We’re done, this is CONSTITUTIONAL.
Hello,
I wrote and mailed all the letters to your supplied list a week ago. Does it help to also call? or is it “one person, one vote”?
Not being a CA resident, I don’t have a skin in the game as far as the law goes. But, I do still have perspective on how we must attempt to proceed to make change. Absent the courts (read: SCOTUS) deciding things, nothing will ever be a fast or complete change for us. NOTHING. There is too much fear, animus, and political risk for anyone to make sweeping changes. Whatever bill going the the CA legislature may indeed be less than desired, but, as I’ve said before, the old adage of “perfect is the enemy of good” applies here. To sit and wait and wait for a perfect law, instead of one that shows improvement and “teaches” the public and legislators that everything is still fine, is lunacy. Getting out of the “lifetime for everybody” posture is a HUGE step ahead, though not the final step. The further steps will come once tiers are considered normal. Is that right or the best? Heck no. But it’s the best achievable right now. Given a CA resident is holding a lifetime registration, any improvement is…improvement. What’s wrong with that? And after improvement comes…improvement. So life maybe becomes 25, maybe becomes only felonies, maybe becomes only risk-based. But to think it will go from “life” to “risk-based felonies only” (or the like) is beyond rational thought.
Just my $0.02 about how human nature and culture change work. That is, after all, what’s really going on here: easing fearful humans (public and legislators) into a new cultural state of being. That is NEVER achieved quickly, regardless the topic.
Why do people who have successfully met all the requirements of the justice department, who have paid their debt to society, who have fulfilled all obligations for the error they made in the past have to register at all? This is all unconstitutional. Gang members, drug dealers, people who sell illegal guns, killers, embezzlers, extortionsts, arsonists, and other people much more dangerous to society do not have to register on a public registry. How is an arsonist less dangerous that someone who looked at images on the computer?
Great story on SB421 on front page of the San Francisco Chronicle today. The word is out!
Wow picked up a lot more support!
Support
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (Co-sponsor)
California Sex Offender Management Board (Co-sponsor)
Equality California (Co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office (Co-sponsor)
A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County District Attorney
Alliance for Community Transformations
Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Civil Liberties Advocacy
California Coalition on Sexual Offending
California Coalition Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc.
California District Attorneys Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Public Defenders Association
California State Association of Counties
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
Courage Campaign
Criminal Justice Clinic of UC Irvine School of Law
East Bay Community Law Center
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
League of California Cities
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Legal Services of Northern California
Life Support Alliance
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
National Employment Law Project
National Housing Law Project
R Street Institute
Reentry Council of the City and County of San Francisco
Returning Home Foundation
Root and Rebound
Rubicon Programs
Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office
Sure Helpline Crisis Center
Transgender, Gender-Variant, Intersex Justice Project
Voices for Progress Education Fund
YWCA Greater Los Angeles
7 Private Individuals
7 Law Professors
1 Professor, School of Social Work
Opposition
10 Private Individuals
Watching live: new amendment: Tier 3 will not be able to petition to Tier 2
Also DA from Alameda says only way you will be denied is if you aren’t following the rules or haven’t followed them. That’s excellent!
Thank you
SB421 ??? I couldn’t hear the final vote. Did it pass & go forward to Appropriations?? (I watched in livestream. More than 100 people spoke in favor of the Bill; only about four people spoke against it.)
Not sure what happened. Did they have enough votes?
about vote again… already have an additional aye. they stopped for another bill.
Pins and needles
Thank you, Steve and Matthew. I will tune back in and await the reconvene and vote. So they pushed the actual vote back while they address other Bills on the agenda?? 👍
As I understood the bill, a tier 3 registrant could have petitioned down to tier 2 only if their static 99 ( or other fake scoring tool) resulted in bumping them up to a higher tier but would have otherwise been placed in tier 1 or 2 based solely on conviction alone. If they amend that, then gay men will be disproportionally punished. I haven’t watched the hearing, but I wonder if the opponents of this bill know anything about static 99 and how it will result in more people being placed in tier 3 which equals same bloat and irrelevance as the current registry.