[ACSOL] The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has stopped all in-person registration of individuals required to register as a sex offender in that city. In place of in -person registration, LAPD is allowing individuals to register by telephone. “LAPD is to be commended for its decision to protect registrants and their loved ones by allowing registrants to register by phone,” stated ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. “Unfortunately, there are many other law enforcement agencies that still require registrants to register in person.” According to LAPD, signs will be posted at every…
Read MoreMonth: March 2020
ACSOL Challenges Murrieta In-Person Registration During COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed a lawsuit today challenging the City of Murrieta’s requirement that all registrants, including those with COVID-19 high risk factors, register in person. The lawsuit is expected to be the first of many such lawsuits to be filed in California this week. “The City of Murrieta is requiring registrants to make one of two deadly decisions, that is, to register in person and risk exposing themselves to COVID-19 or to fail to register and be sent to jail where the risk…
Read MoreCA: CDCR Asks CA Supreme Court to Review Prop. 57 Decision
[ACSOL] The CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) filed today with the CA Supreme Court a petition requesting review of ACSOL’s successful challenge of CDCR’s regulations that prohibit all registrants from early parole consideration. The prohibition in CDCR’s regulations has been found to be unlawful by several appellate courts. In its petition, CDCR acknowledges that the Court has already granted review of a similar case, In re Gadlin, S254599. CDCR therefore requests that the Court defer action in the ACSOL case until the Gadlin case is decided. All documents in…
Read MoreSex Registration and the COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] A word or two concerning sex registration and the COVID-19 pandemic. As the landscape continues to change, and additional containment measures go into effect, I want to assure you that ACSOL is committed to protecting the health and safety of our community as well as that of the general public. Therefore, all those who are required to register should continue to comply with state law. However, since the pandemic will affect jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies in different ways, registrants should call the agency they register with first before…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Things That Make You Go, Hmmm
Not wanting to fill jails during the coronavirus, LA police have decreased the amount of arrests they make from 300 per day to 60. A sort of “catch and release program”, if you will. If they can do that now, doesn’t that mean they’re usually arresting and putting far too many people in jail? Hmmm. Prisons and jails have begun releasing low-risk inmates early, (with the exception of those with a sex offense), putting them on community supervision, parole and GPS ankle monitoring in an attempt to free up space…
Read MoreNJ: Sex Offenders Lose in Attempt to Remove Names From Registry
[usnews.com – 3/18/20] TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Supreme Court this week rejected an attempt by two sex offenders to have their names removed from a public registry. Two offenders identified only as H.D. and J.M. pleaded guilty to sexual offenses in the 1990s and guilty in 2001 to other offenses, one for computer-related theft and one for failure to register as a sex offender, and were sentenced to probation. State law imposes lifetime registration requirements on offenders but allows those on the registry to apply for removal…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: High Risk COVID-19 Registrants Required to Register in Person
As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the nation and the world, local law enforcement agencies continue to require all registrants – even those with multiple high-risk factors – to register in person. This requirement places in extreme danger “high risk” registrants as well as everyone who comes into contact with them. This requirement must be stopped immediately! According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), high risk factors include older than 65 and/or suffering from one or more chronic health problems including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD, hypertension and cancer. …
Read MoreNJ: Bill seeks to restrict school bus stops and child care facilities from opening too close to registrants
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/18/20] In a fascinating twist to Sex Offender Residency Restrictions, a bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature (S2066) also seeks to restrict the placement of a school bus stop or child care facility within a certain distance from persons required to register. The bill reads, “The Legislature finds and declares that public safety will be enhanced by providing municipalities with the authority to enact ordinances to prevent convicted sex offenders who have committed crimes against minors from residing within 500 feet of a school, playground, or child…
Read MoreRead the Joint Statement from Elected Prosecutors on Covid-19 and Addressing The Rights and Needs of Those In Custody
[fairandjustprosecution.org – 3/2020] COVID-19 has the world on high alert. In recognition that the coronavirus is spreading quickly among high concentrations of people in close proximity, schools are being shut down, conferences rescheduled, international travel is being restricted, and cruise ships –the early incubators of the virus–are being quarantined. Those measures are all sensible, but they also drive home how little attention is being paid to the millions of people in the most overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of this contagious and deadly virus: the people behind…
Read MoreMexico: Local Congress approves the creation of a Sex Offender Registry in Mexico City
[eluniversal.com.mx – 3/15/20] Mexico City’s Congress recently approved the creation of the Sex Offender Registry as part of a strategy to prevent Sexual abuse. Eduardo Santillán Pérez, the head of the Justice Commission, presented the bill and explained that in order to create the Sex Offender Registry, lawmakers agreed to reform the criminal code and at least 2 laws. According to the bill, criminals will appear in the registry 10 and 30 years, depending on the crimes perpetrated. Read the full article
Read MoreACSOL Conference ticket sales halted
The ACSOL board of directors has decided to halt the sale of tickets for ACSOL’s annual conference which is scheduled to take place on May 29 and May 30 at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. This decision is based, in part, upon the fact the law school closed its campus to the public on March 11 for an indefinite period of time. ACSOL has not yet decided whether to postpone or to cancel the annual conference which could be held at a different location. Refunds for past ticket sales…
Read MoreMO: The man who has to register as a sex offender based on lies
[womenagainstregistry.org – 2/20/20] ST. LOUIS – He’s the sex offender who’s innocent. According to the reported victims, _____ didn’t do it. Tuesday’s interview with _____ is part of Fox 2’s ongoing investigation into why the Missouri justice system isn’t listening. “I’ve been fighting this for 31 years of my life and it has caused me something new, every time I turn around,” _____ said. “The neighbors looking at me wrong, not being able to go to a state park. Just recently I found my passports got pulled because of a…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Hypocrisy of Society
By now we are all on coronavirus overload. It’s a serious pandemic. We hear about it all day long, watch newscasts of cruise ships that are forbidden from docking, parked out in the ocean, passengers awaiting clearance or confinement. Citizens around the world are wearing face masks and hand sanitizer is selling for $200 a bottle on eBay. There’s a new danger in our communities and society is in panic mode. Daily we are bombarded with scary words that put fear in all of us, infection, isolation, segregation, self-quarantine, containment…
Read MorePlease participate in SORS (Sex Offense Registry Study)
[sorstudy.org] [Note from Janice: I can attest that this is a legitimate study] We are looking for research participants who can help us learn about important issues related to sex offense registries. We are collecting anonymous information from people required to register. WHO? You are eligible to participate in this study If you are 18 or older, and are required to register on a sex offender registry in the United States. Please complete the survey using this link: http://bit.ly/sors2020 HOW? The survey is conducted online and will take 20-30 minutes to complete.…
Read MoreFresno Co., CA, striking residency restrictions due to ACSOL suit
[narsol.org – 3/11/20] Fresno County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted this week to repeal an ordinance that restricts how close convicted sex offenders can live near schools and parks — a policy California’s Supreme Court found unconstitutional. The move by Fresno County also includes a settlement with a Sacramento-based attorney who sued over the law. The county has joined other localities across the state who have lifted the 2,000-foot or greater buffer many municipalities required of sex offenders for more than a decade. About 40 localities, like Santa Clarita, Lompoc and…
Read MoreFive lessons pandemics can teach us about criminal justice reform
[prisonpolicy.org – 2/6/20] No need to wait for pandemics: The public health case for criminal justice reform We offer five examples of policies that could slow the spread of a viral pandemic in prisons and jails – and would mitigate the everyday impact of incarceration on public health. by Peter Wagner and Emily Widra The United States incarcerates a greater share of its population than any other nation in the world, so it is urgent that policymakers think about how a viral pandemic would impact people in prisons, in jails,…
Read MoreShould the United States Use Chemical Castration For Sex Offenders?
[thelibertarianrepublic.com – 3/7/20] The term “castration” brings a chill to every man. The idea of having your ‘junk’ cut off is horrifying. It’s barbaric. Castration is like the archaic practice of locking someone in stocks or something that would be seen in a third world country, but not the United States But it’s not. It is used in our modern world, including America. Not only do many other countries have castration laws, but several of our states do as well. Even as recent as last year, states have been approving…
Read MoreScotland: Policing humour is no joke
[spiked-online.com – 2/27/20] Police Scotland are up to their old tricks again. It was revealed last week that they are logging jokes made on the internet because someone, somewhere, might have had their feelings hurt. A freedom-of-information request by The Times showed that more than 3,300 ‘non-crime hate incidents’ – that is, offensive remarks, including jokes on social media – have been stored on a police database somewhere north of Hadrian’s Wall over the past five years. Hundreds of Scots were placed on the insidious database last year alone. When…
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