Coalinga City Council is suing Fresno County to overturn an election decided partly by the sex offenders in a state hospital.
Voters rejected a penny sales tax increase by just 37 votes in November. 127 of those ‘no’ votes came from inside the walls of Coalinga State Hospital, where some of the state’s sex offenders are actually legal voters. Full Article
Related
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/political-notebook/article184847643.html
Coalinga State Hospital Report
I spoke with Mike St. Martin, a CSH “Hosprisoner” locked-in California’s sex offender treatment program, and for more than a decade AFTER serving his prison term, this evening. He told me that the City of Coalinga is suing Fresno County for allowing Detainees to register to vote as Coalinga residents. It seems that Coalinga had a measure on the November election ballot to raise sales taxes by one percent to help pay for police, etc. but that the measure lost by thirty-seven votes. The problem? There were well over one hundred votes cast against the measure by voters warehoused in CSH. Now, they’re hopping mad and trying to get them struck from the voter rolls. Mike is, understandably, concerned that they will prevail in the Fresno County Superior Court and has asked for the support of any attorneys or fine legal minds to help ensure that this doesn’t happen. Keeping in mind that civilly committed Detainees retain their voting rights, then this is a fundamental Constitutional issue. In the past, when Mike tried to register to vote in the county he was convicted in, San Diego, he was told that he would have to register in the county where he currently resides which is, of course, Fresno. Clearly, if Coalinga is successful in barring them from voting in Fresno County then they will be effectively disenfranchised. I have provided a link to the story and a video clip as reported by one of the local t.v. stations. The Mayor is angry but I found his indignation good for my soul. Mike would like to get some feedback on the legal issues involved and is hoping that some organization, such as the ACLU, will back this cause. He can be called at 541-292-5898 Mike St. Martin ______ http://abc30.com/business/city-sues-over-election-partly-decided-by-sex-offenders-at-state-hospital/2832015/
I am curious if these so-called sex offenders are required to register as sex offenders because they are locked up inside a facility. Officials do not want to call this a prison but that is exactly what it is. And the sad thing about it is whether they are registered as sex offenders or not there are not any prison so why are they being blocked or having their votes not counted? So here’s the deal: if State officials keep calling a hospital but they treat it like a prison eventually it will become legally declared a prison because of how they treat their inmates. That’s exactly what they are they are inmates. As one of the person stated officials are hanging themselves because Society has given officials too much rope.
Our Constitution does say, “Only the pure, undefiled, and self-righteous shall be allowed to vote,” Right?
I’ve never been in one of these so called “hospitals” (and never plan to be). But I’m going to guess that Coalinga is as much a “hospital” as Sharper Future is “treatment.” The amount of doublespeak in the “sex offender” industry is troubling, but at the same time also somewhat amusing.
I’ve always said these laws need to be fought for Campaigning and Election reasons.
Hey Tim, do you happen to have a link to the following?
BTW I saw Justice Souter on a PBS broadcasts state he made the wrong choice in Kansas v Hendricks. He now recognized civil commitment as punishment.
Yeah I can’t seem to find it….
This should be simple. Go to the Megan’s website and see if the residents there use that as a (Temporarily or Permanent) address. I’m sure you’ll find it to be Permanent. Case settled!
This story made my day! Too, too funny.
The city chose to annex the facility, but only wants the benefits of doing so. Given SCOTUS has decided civil commitment is still freedom (riiight…ok, Mr. Justice, you give a go for a week and let me know if you still feel that way!), and given they are not on parole, and further given they have but one residence in the State of California (validated by IDs and/or bills, I’m sure), where exactly will the City argue they should vote other than “not here”? I see the City losing on this, maybe even by summary judgment.
But, let’s step beyond the argument about whether or not Coalinga prison…er…residents should be allowed to vote and dig into the details of the vote itself. According to available data (http://votersedge.org/ca/en/ballot/election/area/63/section/measures?election_authority_id=10), only 1,127 eligible voters (23.1% turnout) bothered to cast ballots regarding this initiative. Can someone please explain to me how it’s the fault of the engaged voters inside Coalinga that the measure failed? What about the 3,751 apathetic voters who didn’t bother? That over 3/4 of the City’s voters just didn’t give enough of a sh!t to cast a vote is the fault of the Coalinga voters (who represent only 7.3% of eligible voters)? Umm, no. Heck, even the turnout inside Coalinga was paltry (127 of 360, or 35.2%).
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“Initially we didn’t know how many votes came from where and so I was like ‘Hey, this is the vote of the people,'” said Coalinga mayor Nathan Vosburg.
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I guess RCs, “freely” living at Coalinga aren’t people.
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The City reaped the benefits of the annexation for 12 years, but now cry foul? Ha! They made their bed, now they’re having to sleep in it. And from how it reads, it’s gonna hurt a lot: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/political-notebook/article183558536.html. Ahh, I’m warmed by schadenfreude.
Can we say “Another WIN for RC?”
I get that if the inmates (patients) voted for the tax, there would be no issue.
Hahahahahaha!!!! , of course they will snivel over there stupid ass LE , hahaha ! well all I can say about this is Vote your ass’s off , everything against LE and anything they are trying to do , good pay back for all their lying , and hell yes I would love to see Janice and team get in the middle of this as well , if any of these people are getting mail , and have no home , Guess what ? IT IS THERE HOME ! hahaha ! but vote ! vote ! vote ! stupid ass one cent tax to help an already over blown police budget , and who is it that these cops work for anyway ? it sure as hell is not for RC’s , nope! , they work for witch hunters , leaving RC’s to fend for them selfs , and when we do protect our self’s they are right there to arrest the RC , I know because I have been there , and it cost me more than just a bunch of bucks , it left my wife alone at night in fear that those thugs would come back while I was locked up , cops come from their hood sniffing around lookin at you like the trash they forgot to carry out the week before , hell yes people vote against anything LE wants , Rock The Boat ! , This story is great because it shows that even on a small scale it can have a positive out come ,
If they can vote they should start a law suit to be able to run for office.
Listen to this talk radio segment on CSH and their voting rights and get mad all over again. Mike St. Martin is one of the callers into the show.
http://www.kmjnow.com/podcasts/
Here’s the link to Coalinga Zoning Map.
http://www.coalinga.com/uploads/1480463159_Official_Zoning_Map.pdf
I would also point out that legislators who keep writing more and more SO laws for the sake of getting votes will eventually be bitten by the very voters they covet as their proposals get more and more draconian and more and more friends and family members of registrants are affected by them. Perhaps if the friends and family members gather in opposition to those proposals and protest them at city hall or the state capital, maybe some of those idiots will rethink their positions. Probably not, but worth a try.
If nothing else, those legislators will learn the extent of their efforts when they or their family are accused of a sex offense, given the accusation=guilt sentiment that is prevalent nowadays.