In the most recent step of the legislative process, the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee approved the newest version of the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 384) yesterday. The bill is now moving forward to the full Assembly for a floor vote in a few days where it may pass and if so, then on to the Senate the same day for a concurrence vote.
The newest version of the Tiered Registry Bill was created behind closed doors and was made public only a few days ago. The new bill resembles a monster of Frankenstein its jumbled and sometimes contradictory provisions. The new bill helps some and hurts many others.
The new bill differs dramatically from previous versions of the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 421) in several ways. The most dramatic difference is the assignment of all individuals convicted of felony child pornography (CP) to Tier 3. Due to that difference, there has been a loud hue and cry from registrants and family members who would be affected both directly and indirectly.
Their cry is understandable for many reasons. First, empirical evidence clearly states that those convicted of a CP offense are very unlikely to re-offend. Second, empirical evidence shows that those convicted of a CP offense have not and will not commit a violent or contact offense.
Third, there is a fundamental lack of fairness, logic and rational thinking in requiring an individual convicted once of a non-contact, non-violent offense to register for the same period of time as an individual convicted of multiple violent offenses. For example, a 16-year-old girl who sent nude selfies to her fellow high school students will be required to register for the same period of time as Phil Garrido who sexually assaulted his victim for 18 years. Finally, the expectations of those convicted of CP offenses and their loved ones were not dashed, but were annihilated by the new tier assignment.
During the short time available between the public release and the committee’s consideration of the bill, ACSOL lobbied strongly to revise downward (from Tier 3 to Tier 1) felony CP offenses. Our lobbying efforts failed because the skids of that bill were greased before it became public. That is, it was learned that an agreement had already been reached between members of the legislature and law enforcement, with prompting from the Governor, to move forward the current version of the bill.
The question now is what can we do? What is the path forward?
As difficult as it is, we need to wait. We need to wait to see if the legislature passes SB 384 and if the Governor signs the bill into law. We will know that outcome no later than October 15.
If the bill does become law, there are at least two ways to challenge it – future legislation and litigation. Future legislation is possible because the law would not take effect until January 2021. During the 4-year period between its passage and its effective date, new legislation could be passed that moves felony CP offenses from Tier 3 to Tier 1.
Future litigation is possible only after the law takes effect and could be challenged on many grounds including the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There may be additional ways to challenge SB 384 and perhaps the entire registry in the future if courts continue to issue favorable decisions, such as Does v. Snyder, Commonwealth v. Muniz and Millard v. Rankin.
In order to succeed on any level, we must Show Up, Stand Up and Speak Up in increasing numbers. Larger numbers of volunteers will be needed to attend legislative hearings, to serve as plaintiffs and to make financial contributions. With that support, we can and will succeed!
— by Janice Bellucci
Read all Janice’s Journals
The lawmakers are NOT combating or thwarting anything by making people register for possession charges.
I’m willing to wager that 20% of the registry is compromised of those with a first time possession offense.
Let me get this right. They are so concerned about these “predators” that they need to add them to the public site, BUT it can wait four more years. How many children will be harmed in that time frame? And who will take the blame because they waited so long to implement this law? And all these “scary”people have been living in the community for decades, unknown to the public, yet NOTHING happened. How ridiculous is that? This bill is a joke, and I am with all those on this site who think we need to fight the registry as a whole and not just the Tiered Registry that will do absolutely nothing for anyone. It is a lose lose situation for all involved, and I can’t imagine LE being thrilled about the extra workload. Once and for all, the evidence needs to outweigh the unnecessary fear that has been instilled in vulnerable people for way too long. If people need to know if a registrant is living next door, then I want to know who ALL my neighbors are, too. What if there is a murderer, drug dealer, or DUI convict living next to me. I deserve equal rights if that is what needs to happen.
This bill was not going to pass without someone getting something out of it and CP was the scapegoat. Maybe they know this is an equal protection claim and they figure they will let the courts decide it, and loose, while they still look tough on crime.
As a “Tier 3 No Matter What”, I’d like to tell you my humble opinion on the big picture of what is happening with these crazy tiered registry bill events. Maybe it will help you guys to not panic and to trust ACSOL even when chaos seems to reign.
Consider this amazing sequence of events:
1) For almost 70 years, CA legislators insisted only a lifetime registry would keep the public safe.
2) In just the past few years, a couple of attempts at tiered registry were made. They failed, but they were attempted for the first time.
3) The tiered registry bill started this year with one legislator who got cold feet, so it died. So sad. Wait a couple of years?
4) No, it’s back! A short time later, Sen. Wiener resurrected it as SB 421!
5) SB 421 got further than any other attempt, but was killed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which has tremendous power. Somebody there didn’t want it to pass. It was dead. Politically, that was the end. Play taps. Maybe wait a couple of years?
6) But no! Mere days later, the zombie tiered registry awakes! It is now SB 384. And who presented it? The most unlikely person on this planet: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, the Chair of the Public Safety Committee, who killed it as SB 421! She said she changed her mind–she likes it now! It sails through the committee, and it doesn’t have to go through appropriations! Wow, how about that! It’s like a bad 1950’s sci-fi movie or like being trapped in the Twilight Zone! It would have been more likely that Elvis came down in a flying saucer and presented it!
Here is the question you should be asking yourself: What kind of political power was required to resurrect an extra-dead bill that had no chance?
Answer: I don’t know. BUT it must have been MASSIVE!
A possible clue: who was sitting next to the Chair? The deputy district attorney from Los Angeles.
There must have been some GIGANTIC power plays by DA’s and who knows who else to make the biggest enemy of the bill support a zombie bill that came back to life!
MY PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS:
1) We know that the tiered registry is moving amazing rapidly ONLY because law enforcement and the courts want it, not to make life fair for registrants. We have no control over that.
2) We ordinary mortals are not part of this lightning-throwing going on between massive political power deities in the sky. We see the clouds light up and dead bills float down from the sky resurrected, presented by someone who hated it but now smiles and says she “felt much better” about it, and just say the Serenity Prayer and not stress out.
3) There is nothing wrong with complaining about the terrible details of this bill, BUT we should not pretend that we have any power to fly up into the clouds and start throwing lightning bolts and make this bill friendly to us. This is a HUGE political football, so the political power game is way above our pay grade.
4) Yes, this “rescue boat” tiered registry is very choosy about who they let on board. I was never one of them, and now it looks like a lot of my fellow registrants who got their hopes up will be left behind too—for a while at least. BUT at least some will get off.
5) MY MOST IMPORTANT POINT: once the massive power play is over and the bill is either passed or killed, things will calm down to where they normally are. Then WE WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO DOING WHAT WE DO BEST, which is to work hard for incremental change.
Specifically, this bill would not take affect for YEARS! Let’s calm down! We have plenty of time—especially in 2019, the next non-election year–to work at multiple levels to convince legislators to let a whole lot more people off the registry than the bill currently allows. And over time, as politicians and the public see that letting people off the registry DOESN’T cause a big sex crime wave, they will feel comfortable enough to incrementally make it easier for more and more people to get off the registry. My HOPE as a tier 3 is that someday they will let me and other tier 3’s drop to level 2 and earn my way off the registry. In the meantime I will be working with ACSOL to get you tier 1 and 2 guys off.
SUMMARY: We can’t control much of what is going on now with the tiered registry bill, but I KNOW that–no matter what happens–ACSOL will work tirelessly at multiple levels to bring justice and fairness to the lives of registrants.
Let’s stay UNITED toward that future, even as we argue and disagree on the details.
Thank you Roger for all you done to help all of us with this your comments are so awesome and helpful thank you very much
Cheers Roger!
Thank you Janice and chance and team for all your hard work and dedication on this issue thank you so much for fighting and trying to make this right you are a great example of what happens when you don’t give up
Just for the fun of it, and to measure progress, compare these two rankings.
redwood_baby Rank 243
dongip Rank 50640
Ten or 15 years ago, no one would have posted the comment dongip did. They all would have been more like redword_baby’s comment.
Look at that. The vast, very vast, majority of people agree there is more to fear from the laws than from sex offenders. There is a 20739% increase in votes supporting dongip.
Can you believe it?
http://www.sfgate.com/news/articleComments/Sex-offender-registry-bill-revived-after-stalling-12185483.php
It’s completely illogical to me that non contact 288.2 will be in tier 3. I will have no choice but to separate from my husband to protect the privacy of my children if this actually takes place. What is wrong with these law makers?
Chris, AJ, I haven’t heard to much from you guys about this new revelation. What’s up? Any comments on how we should proceed? Also all that case law that I through out there doesn’t say we have to incur actual harm before we have standing in court. It in fact states that we do have standing based on the “inevitable harm” that is “demonstrable and real”, and that it will create chaos in the courts which is another element that bears weight when deciding whether to issue the injunction. I agree we don’t have standing until the law is “enacted”, and actually is signed by governor Brown. As soon as that happens, it is fair game…That was exactly what happened in the IML case, it wasn’t even a law yet…That was the mistake….
Hello where would that put me then. Pc 288a c in 1989
Tne people will call them activist judges and have them replaced with registrant hating judges when they retire. The people will call for harsher penalties on the sentencing end and mandatory minimums, maybe life sentences for most offenders. We have to challenge the religious zeal against sex crime offenders. This needs to happen also in the homes and churches as well as the courts. Everyone has a will to power, but it doesn’t have to destroy lives. It can be creative and altruistic. We have to take the wind out of the sails of these legislators, by replacing them with those who exercise power through empirical knowlege.
This is what I see.
There is a lifetime of pain and dispair for over 100,000 people in Ca. Currently. Since they don’t want to change, they make a tier system , but move 90% to a tier 3, which keeps them on a lifetime of pain and dispair! Then 90% of future offenders will more than likely get tier 3 status, with 10% getting 1 or 2. So essentially NO change at all. BUT….they feel good because they feel they addressed a situation.
The registry is such a huge one size fits all net and yes it does need to be tiered… at least. One group of registrants I have not seen at all in this comment section is the huge number of juveniles who were tried as adults for rape. For those that don’t know a juvenile can NOT give consent… therefore any sexual act between two 16 year olds etc is by law rape, even though the act was consensual. And juveniles do not get charged with lesser penal codes like “statutory” etc. There is only one charge for all… rape. What categories do these juveniles who were tried as adults fall into? In the SB 384 regarding this I only see it referring to juveniles who were fortunate enough to keep their case in juvenile court. But most juveniles who are 16 or 17 years old get referred to adult court for serious felony charges.
It absolutely tears my heart apart to see how this will end up tearing families apart. How wrong is that?
Not punishment?? What are they thinking? We absolutely must challenge this, and pray on behalf of all of those whose lives and families will be torn apart, that ultimately we will prevail. They don’t seem to want to pay attention to our letters. Somehow, lawmakers need to understand the enormous fall-out this will have on thousands upon thousands of innocent people, and most significantly, on the children of registrants many of who weren’t even born when these incidents occurred. My wife is also talking about leaving when this takes effect, as it will destroy her life as much as it will mine. Shame on them.
As I think about it I believe we were all foolish to get so hopeful at first. The reality is this is how it logically had to proceed. Even with this punitive, categorizing, harsh, illegal, unconstitutional bill that will leave the bulk as lifetime registrants, still the republicans would not support it, and the dems only supported it in this form. So anything less would never make it. So this is how it has to start. It is the only chink in the armor. But this will actually allow for more lawsuits, and a chance for the public and politicians to see that no harm will come of a tiny lax in the law that releases a handful. This is a tiny step forward no matter how bad it looks, but it is the only way it could proceed. It is going to take time, and I believe something will happen at the federal level. This is no different than the hate fomented persecution of women, blacks, gays, and so many other groups that had to fight for their constitutional rights.
Keep in mind that the original bill, with the liberal, 3 tiers and the exemption for most pre-1987 offenders, sailed through the Senate with 27-11 votes! Many anticipated a rough ride through the Assembly.
Many here have commented – without any evidence – that this new bill was “all part of the plan.” I find it hard to believe that California Sex Offender Management Board did several studies urging a tiered registry for the sole purpose of tricking us into supporting this bill to, somehow, add registrants. Guess what? They don’t need our support to pass a bill. I suspect it had to do with Marc Klass and that other parent testifying against this bill. Maybe a slower implementation might be more palatable.
So here is what you registrants are telling me.
We shall defend our human rights, whatever the cost will be, we shall fight on the world wide web, we shall fight on the airways, we shall fight in the court room and in the streets, we shall fight in the city hall, state and federal buildings; we shall never surrender.
That is Good.
And that is exactly why I’m adamantly opposing this bill.
How can the look upon CP possession more egregiously than physical rape, assault, and criminal sexual contact? I’m sorry, but this bill is barking up the wrong tree. This so-called “bargaining chip” to placate and appease the lawmakers is doing me, and countless others a disservice.
Suppose your argument prevails at this moment and amendments are passed due to your logic. Which would happen?
A. All 311s are moved out of Tier 3.
B. The unnamed offenses you mention would be moved into Tier 3 next to the 311s, thereby nullifying your argument.
So which would happen? A or B?
LOOK HERE
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB384#
“15) Deletes current provisions allowing people required to register under the Act for
misdemeanor annoying or molesting a child, felony sexual battery by restraint, or specified
child pornography offenses to petition for exclusion from the Web site.
”
It looks like there are no more exceptions from the public website. So even misdemeanors are going to be be made public. Well then…
https://hotair.com/archives/2017/09/02/sex-offender-registries-unconstitutional/ is a really good article. I did not know the last registry taken up by the supreme court was from alaska and ended in a 5-4 vote. That was done in 2003! Imagine if it gets that far with data over the past 15 years or so. I bet we could win this thing and take down the public registry forever.
It has passed assembly barely, fletcher came to defense of this bill. This bill never would of made it out of commission without the amendments. Fletcher never would of allowed it. We need to take this to the supreme court and change that vote
This turd just passed. Guess we wait and see if Moonbeam signs it. Congrats to the hundreds of people this helps.
IT JUST PASSED! I cannot believe it! SB 384 has PASSED the State Assembly as of 5:33 PM today (09/15/2017)! The bill now goes to the Senate for Enrollment, and on to the governor! Downside:
The damned thing does NOT GO INTO EFFECT UNTIL 2021! So, there are 3 MORE SOLID YEARS of “the way it is” now!