Thanks to those who showed up on the 2/11 ACSOL Lobby Day, which focused on needed changes to the Tiered Registry Law that will take effect in 2021. Changes included new tier assignments for those convicted of felony offenses involving illegal images and sexual battery as well as creation of an off-ramp for those assigned to the highest tier.
We ask that you make phone calls or send letters supporting these changes to the office where we will meet,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The messages to be delivered can be found on the point paper developed for this day.”
Points to put in your letters:
Tiered Registry Law – Point Paper – 2020 v2 [UPDATED 2/6/20]
Legislators we will visit that you can write to:
Lobby Day 2020 – Legislators to call and write [UPDATED area codes 1/30/20]
Please join us in calling and writing! We are all in this together, no matter what our specific situation is.
Yes! Let’s get this done!
Sometime, would ACSOL consider pushing for changing 290.5 so that a COR and 1203.4 would if not get one off, but would reduce tier. Or better yet, 1203.4 would just take you off.
“For those who cannot join us on Lobby Day, we ask that they make phone calls or send letters to the office where we will meet,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The messages to be delivered can be found on the point paper developed for this day.”
What do you need write ? and how to write it ?
Thank
Is it possible to also address the matter about persons with a California conviction who no longer live in California? As the law is written, the only way we would be able to petition for removal from the registry would be for us to move back to California and re-register in California.
Can there be a clause written for those who no longer live in CA to be able to petition in the county of conviction? (not just in the county of current registration)?
Please, I’m sure this affects quite a few people.
It would also be great if, at some point, the issue of having to petition to be removed from the registry will be addressed. If the time determined by the Tiers has been reached, and there are no new offenses, the removal should not be up for debate. It needs to be automatic, end of story. No judge should have the power to deny a petition for any reason, or because he/she does not like the registrant’s history. I think this is an important topic. It’s just like serving a sentence. You get released when your time is up, unless you violated any rules while incarcerated. We don’t want to be at the mercy of a judge who might have a bad day that day, or has other personal reasons to deny your request. Thoughts?
@ Janice…for those of us willing to write a letter, what would you recommend stating in it? Should we just say we support the modifications to the tiered registry presented by ACSOL?
…and thank you for all you do. This is a huge step.
I will be there. This is the chance we all have to make a difference (whether you show up, or write letters) in our lives. I believe the tide is changing. It took 70 years to get to this point, and we need to take advantage and get our message out. The more they hear it, the more likely they are to do something. Really, we have only been getting our message out for about 10 years, and only with significant numbers for the past 5 years. Last year we had a Senate staffer ask for our help in passing a bill. That is significant. We are a recognized force in the state house. It is through Janice’s and EVERYONE’s help that this occurred. We may not get it done this session, but the more they hear from us in a positive manner, the better our chances are that it will get changed. And it also creates an environment where making more stupid laws that impact our lives is not tolerated. Don’t forget this organization’s motto: Show Up, Stand Up, and Speak Out!
Janice, will you also lobby to restore the 647.6 loss of internet exclusion that’s currently mandated in the Tiered Registry?
Things need to change for the better
Can anyone offer recidivism rate data for Registrants charged with CP and the source/s it came from?
I’m currently drafting a letter to Sacramento to urge lawmakers to revise their decision of placing Tier 1 CP Registrants to Tier 3 back to Tier 1. After that I will post my letter here for anyone to copy or use as a template to write his/her own letter.
I would like to bolster my argument with some data to back up my claim that Registrants with CP charges should not be placed on Tier 3 because of among other truths have really low recidivism rates and not worth wasting public resources policing them like that and keeping them on the Registry forever.
The only acceptable change is a complete repeal of the registry.
I was at ACSOL Lobby Day last year (2019), and it was quite an eye-opening, informative, and educational experience. I highly recommend that anyone who can possibly attend, do so!
Unfortunately (or fortunately for me, I guess), we should be vacationing in Porto, Portugal that day.
Of course, if the world goes totally “Coronavirus crazy” before then, and our trip gets cancelled, you will see me in Sacramento.
This will be my letter to Sacramento in regards to Registrants with CP offenses.
You can copy and use it for your own. Or you could use it as a template for your own letter. Modify it however you want. Make it your own voice.
Here it is:
To Members of the Assembly and Senate,
As we all know our Democratic Process in the American Justice System is a work in progress, a living, breathing apparatus that is made by people in the pursuit of a just and fair society. Policies are shaped by the times we live in to better service our future.
In theory.
In practice however the application of lawmaking is occasionally muddled in media sensationalism and sometimes the loudest of the few will dictate the fates of the many. And as history has bore out that loud does not necessarily mean clarity or rational.
It is only by looking backwards do we see the irrational short-sightedness these policies are and the consequences that ripple outward throughout the years. And no matter how much these policies are worked on there is still room for correction.
The one that I speak in particular is our Registry’s Tier system. Yes, the very California Sex Offender Registry our government calls which I find offensive like an African American finds the N-word offensive.
Sex Offender is describing the Registrant( a preferred nomenclature) in the present tense of the individual’s nature and not a past offense that the Registrant has already paid back to society and is living lawfully now.
The Tiered Registry Law currently assigns all individuals convicted of a felony Child Pornography (CP) offense to Tier 3. It is way beyond the federal guidelines for a non-violent and non-contact offense. By allowing this to go through you condemn them to the harshest registration requirements and brand them as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. This is unreasonable because there is no empirical data to justify this placement.
In fact, a 2011 study from Briggs and colleagues indicate that CP offenders are not interested or likely to commit contact offenses against children. Also in another 2011 study by Seto and colleagues find in a 3 year period that 4.6% of CP offenders committed a new sex offense, with 2% commiting a contact sexual offense and 3.4% committed a new CP offense.
This information can be found:
https://www.smart.gov/pdfs/InternetFacilitatedSexualOffending.pdf.
I strongly urge you to correct this unnecessary placement of Registrants with CP possession and distribution by returning them to Tier 1. And I also strongly urge you to move Registrants with CP production back to Tier 2.
Let’s not fill Tier 3 unnecessarily with CP Registrants because it is
disproportionate to the severity of the charges and a waste of tax dollars to register them for life.
Be on the right side of history!
@Janice why isn’t 288.2 in the talking points? It’s a non contact, no violent offense. Is it possible to reword it to generalize for all non-contact, non-violent offenses, and list the offenses under it?
Does anyone know anything about how the new Tiered Registry will work for those who were convicted in California and eventually reloctated to another state? Will we need to move back and established residence for 5 years before we can petition, similar to how the COR now works?? Wondering how that would happen. That would not be an easy proposition for those who have planted their roots, and lived law abiding lives, in other locations. Many of us had absolutely no choice but to move.
Does the new law address specifically address this?
How awesome, what a nice problem to have, too many concerned people 🙂
I signed up for lobby day by by respondingn to the email notification and now I don’t know where we are meeting, because the location is no longer on this web site. My wife and I are in sacramento tonight Monday Feb 10 and don’t know where we are going to meet tomorrow.
I wish you all going to Sacramento best of luck! Thank you guys for standing up for all of us!
I know I can’t be there with you guys but the 140 letters I sent out to Sacramento will be! You can do it!
Tiered Registry Law – Point Paper – 2020 v2
Those make sense but of course I prefer total removal of the Registry.
@ Bill, Manny, et al: Thank you for all the letters and phone calls!! Keep it up!! “Lobby Day” was busy and successful in our attempts to make inroads regarding the Tiered Registry.