CA: Sex Offender Law – Fight or Punt? City Choices Limited

Rock. Santa Clarita. Hard Place. That about sums up the situation the Santa Clarita City Council was in this past week, when council members faced a staff recommendation to repeal a city ordinance restricting the residency of registered sex offenders. Full Editorial

Also see

Sex Offender Case Posed Dilemma for City Council by Santa Clarita Mayer Pro Tem

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Santa Clarita City Council Repeals Residency Restrictions

CA: Santa Clarita City Council To Consider Repeal Of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions

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It was mentioned keep children safe … residency restrictions and 60,000 criminals and they re-commit crimes !!
Some how we must face people who use information the wrong way and counter by stating other pertinent, true facts …let them know a narrow destructive uneducated stance or point of view will not be TOLERATED and the Voters $$ are miss spent on foolish endeavours that only waist time and money and portrait ex felons as the problems of Society !!
No longer will these type of pursuits be allowed to encroach on the people who served their time and are free according to the Constitution not there, thoughts, feeling or Opinions !!!

Sometimes a “good fight” is worth fighting. And sometimes, you punt.

You’re not fighting the “good fight” you THINK you are!

Punt? This isn’t, and never will be, a football game. There are NO winners on this playing field. If anything, it’s a ZERO SUM game.

I continue to scratch me head. We had been banned from beaches and parks? What was next? Public restrooms? Yet, we allow transgenders here in Ca to go into the bathrooms with little girls. Movie theaters? Bike paths? Train stations? Hotels? Sidewalks? Cars? Register your bicycle? Skateboard? Shoes??????? Can I own a camera? Fly? Should I be allowed at night? Why can’t we have special bathrooms? The laws are nuts. You would be better off being a gang banger or drug dealer! I’m an expunged battery guy who received summary probation 20 plus years ago.

Wow, whoever wrote this is a jackass!!!

Look at this shit,
“Sounds reasonable, right? However, Prop. 83, known as Jessica’s Law, almost immediately faced legal challenges from attorneys who stood up for the rights of sex offenders versus the safety and security of families like yours.”

Yep, using the old us against them attitude on top of the BS demagoguery. These people are going to keep pushing to get this in CA, probably after they tier us. All they have to do is say it applies only to level three and its a done deal, at least until it gets to CA SC again, and even they might uphold something like that. The question has never been answered specifically concerning non-parole offenders. Seems like a no brainer, but a decision has to have definitiveness I should say I guess. I think the attorney general and the court was pretty clear in my case that the law does not apply to non-parolees, as far as the CA Attorney general was concerned. If it comes to it where one of these cities decides to take it the distance Janice should be citing the AG in my case probably, I would think it has persuasiveness if not definitive. And CA lower courts have been stating that the state law trumps local ordinances in the cases Janice has brought, so they run scared in those cases, and I do not believe that any of those cases has made it to the CA SC yet.

This kind of crap really gets me too,

“That’s the California we live in: Sacrificing the will of the voters, local control and the safety of our children, while protecting the rights of sex offenders.”

Really? “local control and the safety of our children” How about editorial should state some kind of authority. Idiots….

Man, can someone post this for me on that site? I do not know what is up with Disqus but I just cannot ever use it anymore for some reason.

What a quack editor. How about take some facts from the real experts that we/you pay, so I would hope they are trained to study this crap or why the hell are we/you paying them for then. Here are general facts for those that have a rational mind. Try the real experts.
1. California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB); “After about eight to nine years offense‐free in the community, people who have committed sexual offenses and are assessed as average or above‐average risk to reoffend pose no greater risk of committing a new sex offense than any other type of offender.” [p. 9]. http://casomb.org/pdf/2017_CASOMB_Annual_Report_uploaded_7_16.pdf [visited December 11, 2018].
2. CASOMB Educational Pamphlet WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW About CALIFORNIA’s SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY Other Hard Facts, Data, and Visuals; “Criminal offenders with no prior sex offense history are rearrested for a subsequent sex crime more often than low risk convicted sex offenders. Expenditures of registry programs include: [] local law enforcement efforts to register offenders including paperwork and computer entry of records [] compliance efforts to verify residence addresses of registrants [] prosecution for registration violations [] technological improvements to build and maintain online registries [] updating and connecting registry systems with other databases[] When quantifiable costs are summed, they are estimated to range from $10 billion to $40 billion nationally per year. These costs could be reduced if the registry did not try to track everyone for life.” [p. 12]. http://casomb.org/pdf/CASOMB_Education_Pamphlet.pdf [visited December 8, 2018].
3. California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) – Statement on Assembly Bill 201 1-6-16 “Research recently conducted in California by one of the most highly respected researchers in the world [Dr. Karl Hanson] has found that the recidivism rates for sex offenders who have been identified by SARATSO risk assessment instruments (cf. http://www.SARATSO.org ) as “Low to Medium risk” fall in the range of 1 to 2 percent.” [p. 2]. “It is worth noting that none of the statements and arguments made by proponents and supporters of this Bill and none of the Analysis provided by the Assembly Committee on Local Government have made any reference to these highly credible authorities.” http://www.casomb.org/docs/CASOMB_LetterRegarding%20AB201_1-7-16.pdf [p.4] [visited December 15, 2018].
4. California Sex Offender Management Board 2016 Video presentation; with several of the leading California expert’s testimony of facts along with the fallacies of the California registration scheme, see http://www.casomb.org/ [visited April 13, 2018]. Complaint pp 4 ¶ 12.
5. From Justice Policy Institute: “Registries and notification have not been proven to protect communities from sexual offenses and may even distract from more effective approaches. Given the enormous fiscal costs of implementing SORNA, coupled with the lack of evidence that registries and notification make communities safer, states should think carefully before committing to comply with SORNA.” [p 1]. http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNACosts_JJ.pdf [visited November 15, 2018].
6. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs United States of America: Abstract: “The overall conclusion is that Megan’s law has had no demonstrated effect on sexual offenses in New Jersey, Megan’s Law has had no effect on time to first rearrest for known sex offenders and has not reduced sexual reoffending. Neither has it had an impact on the type of sexual reoffense or first-time sexual offense. The study also found that the law had not reduced the number of victims of sexual offenses.” https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=247350 [visited November 15, 2018].
7. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Office of Justice Programs: Are Sex Offenders Dangerous? Abstract: “The results of the research indicate that the overwhelming majority of sex offenders were not rearrested for another sex crime. This finding is surprising given the way in which DNA collection, registration, and notification policies have come about. Research would indicate that robbers may be better candidates for DNA collection, registration, and community notification than sex offenders.” “The extension of sex offender policies to nonsexual offenders appears unjustified and would have little effect on preventing future sex crimes. The results indicate that policies can be founded on misconceptions, and these misconceptions not only have financial consequences, but also can affect the likelihood that the policies enacted will achieve their goals. Policy makers need to become better informed on the issues they subject to far-reaching and costly legislation.https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=203427 [visited November 15, 2018].

I have a question? Regarding sex offenders.. if someone is on the web and happens to be looking at porn ( we all have done it at some point in our lives so lets not be judgemental).. These websites that are suppose to verify the ages and identities of the people they have performing sexual acts are not being held accountable for showing/allowing minors.. If i went on the web and looked for a specific fetish for example anything with the words “young” or “teen” i might be wanting something within the 18-19 yr range which is considered legal status correct.. So then some options are obviously given.. when ur on the web you would hope that what pops up from these sites is legal and has already been reviewed verified by site administrators so that later it wont come back and become a crime done on your behalf.. because im pretty sure the last thing someone is trying to do is first verify documents for each actress and actor before watching.. well this is why im asking. Someone i know just spent 18 months in prison and is now on 3 yrs parole w gps and has to be on registry for 10 years.. how is that fair? That he gets charged w a crime he unknowingly committed and is targeted for life as a child sex offender when all he did was look up something online he figured was legal.. because u would think the owners of the website would do their jobs and make sure all actors and actress were of legal age to be performing sexual acts on their websites. They should be held accountable maybe by that being done they will avoid ruining an individuals life that due to all the turmoil that followed after one search caused not just that individual but the people close to him to put their lives on hold because they are now prevented from getting married, from buying a house from starting a family due to his conditions of parole.
I just feel robbed of my life with someone til this day i will fight for his right to have his life given back to him. Its unfair that now due to the lack of website administrators doing their job correctly innocent people both men and women are being punished for a crime they unknowingly committed.. Yes the person I am speaking of is my fiancée which i have to be 166 miles apart because he cannot leave the county he resides in.. when we had our future planned out.. the could haves and would haves are without a doubt devastating for both of us… we would have been married by now , he could have started his business he was working so hard for i could have gone back to school and finished my nursing. We would have already finished our house he so wanted to.build for me on the property we would have bought if it wasnt for him getting arrested and serving a 18 month term for this all the money used for an attorney could have been used on the property we both desired to have our first home built to my liking because he just wanted to make sure our life together would be perfect and special.

So what could have been a beautiful and wonderful beginning to our lives together has now turned into a stressful expensive struggle since hes in San Diego and Im in Los Angeles he cant leave due to parole and I cant move due to my kids another struggle because parole wont allow him around my kids..So because I love this man and know he has been wrongly accussed and convicted ive been traveling every weekend for the past month to be with him we already lost 18 months of our lives i dont think its fair whats happening to him and others.. there needs to be a way to change the law based on the actual actions. Of each individual affected by similar situation. Its unfair and its robbing someone from having a future someone that is a hard working person. One mistake or one search has ruined his life and the people around him .

Just wanting to express my situation any comments or advice i would gladly accept if you are going to be rude and nasty please do not respond.. again thank you for.reading

Stop pretending the SOR electronic broadcasts were not always going to be(actual intent?) used to impose affirmative restraint ad hoc. PLEAS OF IGNORANCE by Mr. Kennedy will not overcome the unnatural effects of such a regime upon The liberties of Free men.
The making human personal data a commodity while men are mandated upkeep it. The demand for information is insatiable as is the nature of the machine. Bad human policy.

Claudia,

The advice givin so far is solid, I share a similar situation and I found that a change of perspective helped me alot. The personal nature in which these limitations encompass often lead to a belief that the POs restrictions and how he goes about enforcing them are of a personal quest by the po to make life as difficult as possible. They take on a sometimes parental authority figure that many deal with growing up in which you live In there house and it’s there rules and hell hath no fury like a patriarch scorned. This may not be everyone’s expirance but it was mine and it fermented hate and frustration at this unreasonable person telling me I have to live a life that I literally could not imagine living.

What helped me the most was when I got a new po…
(this can be a hit or miss they are all differnt in there expectations and when your husband to be dose get a new one it will be the best thing for him to put that question to the new po just like that, “sir/mam I know you all have expectations that you find most valuable in the course of you job, and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to hear them”)

…He told me the first time I made a comment to the liking of “why me” that it would be alot easier if I looked at the relationship as a business one that had nothing to do with me but had everything to do with 2 elements
1. Your failures are there failures and the degree in which most officers hold job security, it’s about covering their asses so if you do fuck up, it can’t be said that it was their fault. Many mentioned gaining their trust, this is an explanation of why, if you have a history of compliance, slip ups are soly on you and they can report what ever leanancy they allowed thay may have contributed to your slip was justified.
2. Parole agents ideal parole is one that never crosse not his desk but his supervisors. Certain things like being late to treatment will trigger emails that go to their boss in which they are required to submit a course of action document, they hate paper work. The more you make them work the harder they work you.

Basically, you need to employ a type of tactical empathy. I know it sounds so backwards but once you realize they are another state worker with a job description a boss and a pension to protect, I have found it to to be a much easier expirance to cope with than a mean aggressive asshole determined to ruin your life, when in fact they are doing everything they can so you dont ruin theirs…

Hope it helps

Please note:This is of course not just in anyway but when tossed in a barrel of shit one should aim at least to keep your head above the sudge