ACSOL argued in support of Prop. 57 yesterday before the Third Court Court of Appeals in Sacramento. At issue in the case are regulations issued by the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that exclude everyone convicted of a sex offense from receiving the benefits of that ballot proposition. A trial court decided in favor of ACSOL’s position in March 2018 and declared that CDCR’s regulations were invalid because they impermissibly alter and amend the terms of Prop. 57. CDCR appealed that decision and the trial court’s decision was…
Read MoreMonth: January 2020
CA: 2nd California child molester dies after beating with cane
[sfgate.com – 1/22/20] [Note: This information is important because it demonstrates the dangers of CDCR placing registrants in the general population. ] CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) — A second convicted child molester has died after he was beaten with a walking cane by another inmate last week at a central California prison, officials said Wednesday. Graham De Luis-Conti, 62, was pronounced dead on Sunday at a hospital, three days after authorities said he was attacked at California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in the small central city of…
Read MoreCA: Oakland votes to bar landlords from conducting background checks
Oakland on Tuesday moved to become the first city in the state to ban landlords from investigating the criminal history of renters applying for both public and private housing. … Landlords will be allowed to look up a prospective tenant on the state’s sex offender registry, but only after providing a conditional offer to the potential renter. Full Article https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-could-be-first-in-state-to-ban-criminal-14992798.php https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oakland-could-be-first-in-state-to-ban-criminal-background-checks-for-rental-housing/ar-BBZbUXh?ocid=hplocalnews
Read MoreCA: Sex offenders can’t live near Fresno schools. This lawsuit says that’s unconstitutional UPDATED
UPDATE:Janice Bellucci was asked this morning to participate today (Wednesday, 1/22) in a live radio interview on a radio station in Fresno, the Broeske & Musson Show, on KMJ. which can be found online or at 580 AM. The show will begin right after the 10 a.m. news and could continue until 11 a.m. Please call in if you can. (See comment below) Fresno County’s policy that keeps sex offenders from living within 3,000 feet of places like parks and schools is unconstitutional, according to an attorney suing the county…
Read MoreCA: For civil rights leader shunned for being gay, a chance at pardon and a new legacy
A day after the federal government observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day, two California representatives are asking the state to posthumously pardon one of King’s close confidantes, Bayard Rustin. On Jan. 21, 1953, Rustin was arrested for having sex with two men in a parked car in Pasadena, Calif., where he was visiting as part of a lecture tour on anti-colonial struggles in West Africa. He was cited for vagrancy, which the representatives say in a letter was a common charge against gay men engaging in consensual sexual behavior at the time.…
Read MoreDistinguished Speakers, Informative Panels Added to ACSOL Conference
Social justice leader Alissa Ackerman and civil rights attorney Aaron Marcus have been added to the 4th Annual ACSOL Conference to be held on May 29 and May 30 in Los Angeles. Ackerman and Marcus will join keynote speaker Justin Brooks of the CA Innocence Project as well as Chance Oberstein, ACSOL President, and Janice Bellucci, ACSOL Executive Director at the conference. In addition to presentations from these civil rights leaders, the conference will offer panels on issues such as how to survive parole and probation, employment, the Tiered Registry…
Read MoreGA: New Legislation Would Allow Lifelong GPS Monitoring of Sex Offenders
When the Georgia Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law allowing convicted sex offenders to be ordered to wear GPS ankle monitors for the rest of their lives after release from prison, several justices offered a concurring opinion saying the Legislature could write a law requiring such monitoring that would pass constitutional muster. Full Article
Read MoreSex Offender Laws Are Broken. These Women Are Working To Fix Them.
Sandy Rozek is the polar opposite of what comes to mind when you hear the word activist. A 78-year-old great-grandmother and retired high school English teacher who lives in Houston, Rozek is not woke, doesn’t post on Twitter, and spearheads a movement you’ve probably never heard of. Rozek works with the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL). She is one of several women who lead an effort to oppose the unjust, irrational, and ineffective laws that continue to punish sex offenders long after they have served their time. Full…
Read MoreEmotional Support Group Meeting January 25 in LA
Emotional Support Group meetings will be held for those convicted of a sex offense and their loved ones. This meeting, which is based upon the format of 12 Step meetings, provides registrants and their loved ones with an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and share their experiences, strengths and hopes, with each other. Attendance is limited to individuals required to register, family members, and friends. Media, law enforcement, parole, etc. are not allowed to attend meetings. There is no cost to attend. No reservations are required. Face-to-face and phone emotional…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: People Will Try Anything to Get Off the Registry
In Jefferson County, Tennessee this week, 2 people were charged with forging the signature of a mental health counselor in order to get one of them removed from the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. In December 2018, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began investigating allegations that a woman, 37 years old, had attempted to assist a man, 36 years old, in getting himself removed from the North Carolina Registry. The woman apparently forged a mental health consultant’s signature on an evaluation document in order to facilitate the man’s removal from the…
Read MoreCASOMB Reports “Biggest Jump” in Number of Registrants
The number of people required to register as sex offenders in the state of California continues to grow at a rapid case, according to the CA Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). That total number peaked at 109,379 as of January 8, 2020, which represents an increase of about 1,600 in only two months. “This is the biggest jump in several years,” stated CASOMB Vice Chair Brenda Crowding of the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Of that total number, CASOMB reported that there are 78,981 registrants not in custody of…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: 20/20: The Year of Perfect Vision
We have now begun the year 2020. When I first used the year on a personal check, the digits of that number popped out at me. 2020. Where have I seen that before? The answer was easy. On a prescription for eyeglasses. No, my vision without glasses is not 20/20. However, the eyeglasses I have been prescribed and wear help me perfect my vision to 20/20 which helps me to see more clearly. What if the year 20/20 is meant to provide us all with opportunities to see more clearly?…
Read MoreFL: NPR Station to discuss sex offender issues at 1:00PM today.
Today at 1:00PM on South Florida’s NPR affiliate 91.3, they will be running a story on sex offenders. For those in the South Florida area, you can listen live on your radio. For those out of the area, you can stream it live online from https://www.npr.org/ or search for WLRN 91.3 HD1 https://www.wlrn.org/topic/radio. FAC Announcement
Read MoreCommittee Permanently Stops Assembly Bill 884
The Assembly’s Public Safety Committee today permanently stopped Assembly Bill (AB) 884. The Committee, in a vote of 3 to 4, defeated AB 884 a second time. The bill was originally denied passage in April 2019, however, the same Committee granted the bill reconsideration in order to allow the bill to be modified. The author of the bill did not to modify the bill, however, and did not attend today’s hearing. If AB 884 had become law, more than 40,000 people convicted of PC 288(a) would have been moved from…
Read MoreNY: Why Keeping People With Sex Offense Convictions Off Social Media Sites Does Little To Make Those Sites Safe
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal purports to take sexual violence seriously, but it aggressively ignores reality in favor of lazy solutions. Full Opinion Piece By Guy Hamilton-Smith, ACSOL Board Member
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Side Effects of Law
Less than 2 weeks into the New Year and already 2020 is turning out to be a year that will be fraught with court battles. And the side effects, if we lose these battles, will be increasingly harsh and even barbaric for registrants and their families. In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers is blocking a bill that would have made positive changes in residency restrictions for registrants. The side effect of not passing the bill is hundreds of registrants may be left homeless and may freeze to death during Wisconsin’s harsh…
Read MoreCA: Prison guards opened cells for inmate attacks. Why some kept their jobs
A California prison warden was going to fire six correctional officers after an investigation found they had helped a group of inmates assault convicted sex offenders. The warden managed to get rid of four of the officers, but then California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation attorneys stepped in and prevented firing two of them, according to an Office of the Inspector General report published Friday. The report doesn’t identify the prison. Full Article
Read MoreCT: Sex offender registry should be based on risk
What is the point of a sex offender registry? As a woman and mother of two, I view Connecticut’s sex offender registry as a tool to increase public awareness about offenders living among us and to weigh my safety and the safety of those around me. Full Op-Ed piece Democrat Jillian Gilchrest represents the 18th House District in West Hartford.
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