Federal Government Publishes Proposed Changes to SORNA

[ACSOL] The federal government yesterday published in the Federal Register proposed changes to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  The changes encompass a total of 93 pages and include a wide range of topics, including retroactivity, tier levels, professional licenses and travel (both domestic and international).  Replies to the proposed regulations are due no later than October 13, 2020. According to the proposed regulations, SORNA will apply to all individuals convicted of a sex offense, including those convicted before it was enacted.  The federal government claims to have…

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ACSOL Board Member Catherine Carpenter Exposes Laws That Exclude Registrants

ACSOL Board Member Catherine Carpenter has published an academic paper that identifies many laws throughout the country that are characterized as criminal justice reform laws, but exclude anyone convicted of a sex offense from their benefits. “ACSOL has vanquished residency restrictions thanks to the tireless efforts of our Executive Director, Janice Bellucci,” stated ACSOL Board Member Carpenter. “The next frontier for us? Tackling the myriad of laws that exclude registrants from the same criminal justice reform benefits available to others who have committed crimes.” The title of the scholarly article…

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CA: Legislature Passes Bill that Delays Submission of Some Tiered Registry Petitions

The California legislature has passed a bill, Senate Bill 118, that modifies some provisions of the Tiered Registry Law set to take effect next year. The Governor signed the bill into law on August 6, 2020. “The provision within Senate Bill 118 that will affect the greatest number of people can be found in Section 11 which requires that registrants must wait to file their petition after their next birthday following July 1, 2021,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “As a result, anyone whose birthday is January 1 through…

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CA: Sex offender registration reform effort prompts death threats to Sen. Scott Wiener

[sfexaminer.com – 8/13/20] An effort by state Sen. Scott Wiener to reform sex offender registration laws and ensure equality for the LGBTQ community has drawn harassment from conspiracy theorists. Wiener, who represents San Francisco, said at a news conference Thursday that the QAnon community has claimed the bill, Senate Bill 145, would protect pedophiles, and even accused him of being a pedophile himself. The bill was introduced by Wiener last year to end what he and other advocates said was a blatant discrimination against LGBTQ youth regarding California’s sex offender…

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CO: New law closes loophole regarding sex offender treatment

[koaa.com –  8/12/20] SOUTHERN COLORADO — Colorado legislators have closed a loophole in state law that allowed certain sex offenders to get out of prison early and transfer to community corrections before completing required treatment. To fully understand what exactly changed in the law, it’s important to take a step back and learn more about the Colorado Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act (LSA). This allows people convicted of high-level sex offenses to stay in prison or under supervision until they have progressed in their treatment and are no longer considered…

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