Three organizations have joined ACSOL in its opposition to Assembly Bill 884 by sending formal letters of opposition to the Public Safety Committee. The organizations are Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, East Bay Community Law Center and Root & Rebound. In their letters, the organizations emphasized that Assembly Bill 884 would harm the original Tiered Registry Law which they supported in the past. They also noted the fact that a lifetime registry for all registrants does not increase public safety. “We appreciate the support of these organizations and look forward…
Read MoreMonth: March 2019
CT: Press Release from One Standard of Justice, Inc. re: Windsor Locks federal suit re: “Child Safety Zones”
[onestandardofjustice.org – 2/7/19] On March 27, 2018, Stamford attorney Audrey Felsen of Koffsky & Felsen filed suit in federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the town of Windsor Locks. The suit, on behalf of plaintiffs One Standard of Justice, Inc. and a Windsor Locks resident identified as John Doe, challenges the constitutionality of Windsor Locks’ “Child Safety Zones” ordinance. “This suit is for declaratory and injunctive relief from an overly broad ordinance that clearly violates the first and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution,” said Felsen. “The…
Read MoreThe Dobbs Wire: Banishment! Patty Wetterling, Jill Levenson and more
[twitter.com/TheDobbsWire – 3/18/19] The Dobbs Wire: Banishment! In the 21st century many localities in the United States use an ancient means to get rid of people who have been stigmatized and are despised, banishment. More formally and politely known as “residency restrictions,” the desired result of such laws is to drive individuals who are blacklisted — required to sign the sex offense registry — out of their houses and even out of town altogether. The most infamous example of these awful laws is the encampment of homeless registered persons that…
Read MoreIN: Sex offender ban includes grandparents
A grandparent who has been convicted as a sexually violent predator would not be able to care for his or her grandchildren under the current version of a bill barring predators from serving as child care providers. That possible scenario is perhaps the last remaining concern among legislators who have so far been unanimous in passing Senate Bill 258, resulting from a loophole found when an Anderson sexual offender advertised as a babysitter. Full Article
Read MoreNigeria: Ekiti state moves to publicly shame sex offenders by displaying their photographs in prominent places
[alternativeafrica.com – 3/18/19] Ekiti State Government in the western zone of Nigeria Monday announced new measures aimed at curbing sexual violence, especially child defilement and rape in the state. The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Wale Fapounda at a press conference to announce the new measures disclosed that persons currently standing trial for offence of child defilement and those whom the Director of Public Prosecution had issued a ‘case to answer’ legal advice for the same offense will henceforth undergo compulsory psychiatry test. Other measures according to…
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting Alert in L.A. on Sat, March 23
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones on Saturday, March 23, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free parking is available under the building and there is no charge to attend the meeting. There is also a second Emotional Support Group meeting on the phone most months. If you want to attend this conference call, the group leader wants to talk with you first to ensure we don’t get inappropriate callers. He will tell you the date…
Read MoreNJ: Huge increase in released sex offenders is draining resources from other inmates
Across the United States, a growing number of incarcerated individuals are being released to face the barriers to reintegration with no support. From 1990 to 2012, the number of max-outs – those who serve their entire sentences incarcerated and are released entirely unsupervised – increased by 119 percent, so that according to the latest numbers from Pew Charitable Trusts, the current max out rate across the country is 22 percent. … Nevertheless, the number of individuals released to supervision in New Jersey continues to decline. In 2003, nearly 7,777 individuals…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Vigilantism Against Registrants: What More Proof Do They Need?
I hate writing blog pieces like this, they’re depressing, scary and hit too close to home. But pieces like this are important for all of us to read. Pieces like this serve as “slap in the face, wake you up” reminders of what we’re all fighting for and why we need to seriously amp up the fight. Looking back at statistics, vigilante crimes against registrants have been occurring for over a decade if not longer. Murdered registrants don’t receive a lot of press and their deaths aren’t counted among those…
Read MoreMI: ACLU lawsuits look to reform Michigan Sex Offender Registry
[wsbt.com – 3/15/19] KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A federal court ruled three years ago that parts of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry laws were unconstitutional, but since then, nothing in the law has changed. The ACLU is looking to reform, or even do away with the registry as part of an ongoing lawsuit. “The law that we have now is broken, it’s bloated, its ineffective and it actually makes us less safe,” said Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. Aukerman said the state’s sex offender registry law is unconstitutional…
Read MoreCT: Windsor Locks to vote on repealing sex offender proximity ordinance
[journalinquirer.com – 3/15/19] Nearly a year after an advocacy group and an anonymous resident filed a lawsuit against the town over an ordinance barring sex offenders from designated public places, voters will have the option Tuesday to repeal that ordinance at a town meeting. The town meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The ordinance, enacted over 10 years ago, prohibits those on the sex offender registry from “child safety zones,” which include local parks, public schools, the library, the Town Hall gymnasium, and the senior center. There…
Read MoreFL: Bill to ban child sex dolls advances in Florida legislature
A Florida bill to ban childlike sex dolls passed its third Senate committee on Wednesday and is headed to the Senate floor. Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, sponsored SB 160 amid an international conversation surrounding child sex dolls and their link to increased sexual preying on children. Full Article
Read MoreALERT! AB 884 will be heard April 9!! Show up, and keep calling and writing. Here is how…
AB 884 will be heard April 9!! Click here to find out how to show up! We need at least 100 people for maximum impact! Please continue calling and writing. Please do so if you haven’t already. Here is the committee’s report: AB 884 – Assy Pub Safe – Analysis – April 2019_00001 Comments regarding the proposed bill start at the bottom of page 4 and a list of supporters and opponents is on page 10 (final page). Please note that there are only 3 supporters, 2 of which are…
Read MoreThe Effectiveness of Sex Offender Treatment Programs
[sosen.org – 3/11/19] An article posted in the Daily Mail on June 24 2016 caught my eye, why?, because it’s something that I have been saying for years and nobody has been listening to. So here is the link to the article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4635876/Scandal-100million-sex-crime-cure-hubs.html and some of the basic information that is in the article, “The scandal of the sex crime ‘cure’ hubs: How minister buried report into £100million prison programme to treat paedophiles and rapists that INCREASED reoffending rates”. Sex Offender Treatment Programme is psychological group-therapy course Believed to have…
Read MoreSeattle Police “Rescue” 26 Sex Workers. But Did They Want to Be Rescued?
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/13/19] The Seattle Police Department, along with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, say they arrested five people and “rescued 26 victims of sex trafficking” earlier this month during raids of nearly a dozen businesses in the Chinatown-International and Beacon Hill districts. The Seattle Times broke the story last Friday, reporting that the owners of these so-called “massage parlors” were illegally selling sex acts and are suspected of recruiting women, mostly Chinese nationals, to come to the U.S. to work in them. Nearly 200 law enforcement officers…
Read More36 Years In An Illinois Prison Without a Conviction or Sentence
[wbez.org – 3/7/19] In 1982, Terry Allen was charged with sexual assault, but prosecutors offered him what seemed like a way out. No time in prison. No criminal conviction. So Allen went along with it. “At the time, I thought, well that’s a good deal, and I’ll get right on out,” Allen said. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.” Allen never faced criminal trial on the sexual assault charges. He was never convicted or sentenced for the alleged crime, but has nonetheless spent almost four decades behind…
Read MoreAssembly’s Public Safety Committee Approves Bill Excluding Registrants
The CA Assembly’s Public Safety Committee today approved Assembly Bill 277 (AB 277) that would provide benefits to all parolees except for those convicted of a sex offense. The committee members voted 6 to 1 in favor of the bill after ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci and nine ACSOL members stated their opposition. “Our main objection to the bill is that it would exclude anyone who has ever been convicted of a sex offense, regardless of whether the offense involved violence or occurred decades ago,” stated Bellucci. “There is no…
Read MoreCA: Many Californians can clear criminal records, but don’t. This bill would make it automatic
[sfchronicle.com – 3/7/19] People arrested or convicted of crimes in California could have their criminal records automatically cleared under a proposed law announced Thursday by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and Assemblyman Phil Ting. AB1076 would wipe out eligible convictions for people who have completed local sentences and eliminate many arrest records that have not resulted in convictions. Offenders already are eligible to petition the courts for the relief, but less then 20 percent take advantage of the program, said Ting, D-San Francisco. Under the law, people convicted of…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Reframing the Message Begins With You
In a recent chat with a registrant he referred to himself as a “S.O.” /”sex offender”. I was sort of stunned. After all the previous discussions we’d had about not giving in to anyone’s labels, about standing up for who you know yourself to be, how, I asked, can you refer to yourself as an S.O.? It seems I had caught this person on a bad day, he had just exited a weekly sex offender treatment group where everyone was referred to as a “sex offender” or simply “S.O.” by…
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