MARIN COUNTY, CA — Authorities this week checked to see if sex offenders in Marin County were in compliance with the terms of their probation.
Marin County sheriff’s detectives, county probation officers and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation K9 units conducted unannounced searches Tuesday across the county, contacting 19 registered and non-registrant sex offenders.
One offender admitted using illegal substances and was arrested, according to the Marin County Probation Department. After searching his home, officers seized his electronic devices for further investigation. A court date to address his violation is pending.
California..Ridiculous …..”promote community safety”
Wow! HUGE bust! Out of 19 guys they spent $$$$$$ checking up on, the flood of violators endangering public safety was…ONE?????
This is why we all need to support ACSOL in helping to change both the laws AND the attitudes of the government and public.
They checked on “registered and non-registrant sex offenders”? Who is a non-registered sex offender? I thought everyone with the label had to register?
But did they have a warrant to “seize” his electronic devices?
What a huge waste of taxpayer money.
Doing “compliance checks” of sex offenders no longer on the registry is a major Fourth Amendment violation.
I have found that sex offenders taken off the registry no longer care about the issue. They need to care. They can always be placed back on the registry due to a change in the law, or like here, the local police don’t believe they have rights because they were once on the registry.
I hope ACSOL picks up a lawsuit out of these violations of their constitutional rights.
Let’s go bust some non sex offenders I wonder how much Federal funding went into these compliance checks wouldn’t it save time and money if they just contacted their probation officers.
When your on probation or parole your subject to these compliance checks it’s just part of the game when I was on probation I just made it a fact to never be home when I lived in Orange County they would come by so much I just stopped answering the door.
I always knew it wasn’t my probation officer because he actually had enough respect to let me know couple days ahead when he was coming.
Good luck
I don’t understand this article, tbh. Compliance checks are often done during probation or parole. So why advertise something that’s common to ALL on probation or parole, but only share about sex offenders (regardless if you’re on the registry or not)? What will we find if Marin County reported how many non-sex offenders were compliant in their check?
Hopefully, some legal personnel is collecting all of these reporting as a way to identify those who committed sex crimes are second class citizens that need scrutiny compared to any other criminal. The recidivism rates prove it is very low for those convicted of sex crimes.
I worked in the military police and military police investigations in the army and for a civilian police force afterwards. I was trying to make a brief point but will clarify.
Police are taught the lines that they cannot cross. If they cross those lines, evidence can get tossed out and cases lost though most prosecutors will save a case with a very favorable plea.
A police officer can knock on anyone’s door and talk to them as long as they take the most direct route to the door, the yard is not fenced in (I have a fenced in front yard to keep out the Jehovah’s Witnesses not the police), the property is not posted “no trespassing” or something similar and the police have not received a previous no trespassing notice from someone who has an interest in the property. A police officer can ask general investigatory questions, however, once a resident of the house becomes the target of an investigation, it is best to obtain a warrant before questioning someone you may arrest for the matter you are investigating.
When you approach someone’s house, they have a privacy interest in the curtilage of the home for Fourth Amendment purposes. You cannot approach the house with a drug sniffing dog without a warrant. It’s important to keep the rights involved in the curtilage in mind when you are making a search. If someone puts their trash out on the street and off of the yard, the police can seize the trash without a warrant. If someone sets their trash in their yard next to the street, the police must obtain a warrant to seize the trash. The grass between the sidewalk and street is called the “parkway”. The city can mow the grass and remove trees from the parkway without the owner’s permission. The police can seize trash on the parkway without a warrant.
There are two things that you are looking at when the police go to your door for “compliance checks”. If the police are going to the door for investigatory purposes and a resident is the target of the investigation, it is a good idea to get a warrant (even though the police usually don’t). The second thing is the seriousness of the offense. FTR is a usually non-criminal conduct and is at most a status offense so the police are on thin ice when they go to your door for “compliance checks”. Dustin is probably right that compliance checks are unconstitutional even for registrants. The problem is that the registry is so new (except for California) that there is a paucity of law on the subject. And there needs to be significant case law to make it into police manuals and training.
The point of my previous post being that police are on the curtilage of the house for investigatory purposes investigating possible criminal conduct of a resident which the constitutionality of is seriously questionable even if the person is on the registry. With this in mind, you realize that going to someone’s house who is not required to register to investigate for potential criminal conduct of a resident without any suspicion, you can grasp the serious constitutional gravity of the Fourth Amendment violation and hence a good lawsuit.
If you want to know the future of registration, keep an eye on Michigan. Michigan has the most developed case law on the subject. Don’t be surprised to see the constitutionality of “compliance checks” being challenged in a Michigan court in the near future.
Not sure how things work in California, but when I was on parole and probation the P & P agents were pretty much free to do a search whenever they felt it necessary. Sure, there were rules about time and manner, but those could easily be over ridden if the agent felt it necessary with a simply phone call to the supervisor. If the agent felt it necessary for his/her safety, they would bring along LEO when they did the search. Once a LEO is involved in the search, all bets are off as far as I’m concerned regarding what’s found.
I was able to make it through 14 years of supervision without a single formal search of my home, although I had lots of home visits with the usual wondering eyes and questions.
Now that I’m off supervision, the only way a LEO is going to enter my home to search is through the normal procedures for searching anyone else. Get a warrant or move on. They do come by for compliance checks, so far twice in the 5 years since I completed supervision. I wasn’t home for either.
What I find most surprising is that this story was worthy of an article at all. They only checked on 19 homes, and the only single thing they found was not sex offense related. Where’s the newsworthy bits?
Worried in Wisconsin:
Through a series of state and federal court decisions most sex offenders whose offense date predates 2012 are no longer required to register in Michigan and the remainder will receive a date certain for removal after 10, 15 or 25 years of registration depending on what the person was convicted of, i.e., penetration of a child under 13 was 25 years compared to attempt or non-penetration of a child under 13 was 10 or 15 years. No matter where you live in Wisconsin, you are no more than a 3 or 4 hour drive from Michigan. The law firm enforcing Does II is the Oliver Law Group. You can contact them at 1-800-771-6689 to see if you are even required to register in Michigan or you can write them at 1647 W. Big Beaver, Troy, MI 48084.
My former neighbor who was on the registry in Battle Creek from 1994 until he died in 2017 said the police never came to his door. My current neighbor who has been on the registry for over 20 years says the police never came to his door. I know most of the police in Detroit flat out refuse to do compliance checks and the Detroit police who do, usually only do them on occasion when the state police or U.S. Marshall’s request assistance during a sweep. Compare Detroit’s non-compliance rate of more than 30% with Cincinnati’s perhaps 1%. The Detroit police have better things to do than harass someone with a decade’s old sex conviction.
When I lived in Floriduh the city police visited me every month even though I wasn’t on supervision. Twice I wasn’t home while they did the monthly visit, so the first time they called me from an unlisted number and the second time I got a flyer on my door to call. I had no idea I was supposed to wait by the door for our chat 24/7; while bending over for them to violate my rights.
I’ve only had this one during probation and I was not home. I am not discounting that it won’t happen again, but it really did leave me fearful of unmarked white vans for a bit.
What many here are failing to realize is that the U.S. Constitution protects you against state action. Girl scouts and Jehovah’s Witnesses’ don’t have to worry about the Fourth Amendment when they step on your property. The police do.
If you are off paper there are 3 things you can do to keep the police off your property uninvited. You don’t have to do all 3, only 1 will suffice. 1. post “no trespassing” signs prominently on your property, 2. send the police a no trespassing notice (by certified mail is best), or, 3. fence in your property. And when the police do step on your property uninvited, sue them for trespassing.
What makes compliance checks unconstitutional is that the police are entering the curtilage of your property to investigate you for criminal conduct without the least suspicion that a crime was committed let alone that you committed a crime. A police officer knocking on your door to investigate you for criminal conduct stands on different grounds than the girl scout or Jehovah’s Witnesses’.
The police get away with violating your rights because you allow them to. The problem is sex offenders aren’t suing the police when they trespass on their property.
I’m deeply offended by this whole sex offender registration mess and am to the point of getting involved myself. I do have a fair idea of what is developing in Michigan in relation to sex offenders asserting their rights in court. This is why I have confidence that Michigan will be the first state to find the registry unconstitutional in it’s entirety. It’s helpful that Michigan’s AG wants to remove most sex offenders from the registry.
Even though I have never had to go through the registry drama myself, it amazes me that the police are getting away with so much and courts are so slow to respond. When this whole registry thing started in the 90’s, I didn’t think the registry scheme would last 5 years. I thought every court would throw the whole thing out and here we are 25 years later and registrants have barely made it to first base in fighting for their rights. What people don’t realize is that what the government can do to sex offenders, they can do to anyone. Today the police are knocking on the door of sex offenders. Who’s door will they be knocking on tomorrow?
I’ve been on here trying to keep up with things, like everyone else. I watched the world of politics, I’ve seen what’s happened. I urge people to get smart and get involved. I urge you all to find your strength and see yourself for the soul that no one will ever defeat.
Unfortunately the system is in protection mode now and I’ve been identified as a threat. So they’re coming after me and my family, I’ve already seen the moves they’ve made. They don’t want the faults of the system to be exposed. I tried to make that happen but was blocked by my own family who just wasn’t smart enough to follow along and connect the dots.
If you’re smart you must also be careful. Play defense like never before. Learn anything and everything that can help. If I never make it back here because they finally got me that’s ok. I can still try to fight even from wherever they try to put me.
I sacrificed everything that was my old life in order to pursue solving this puzzle. The tide was always against me, and the days were rough. I was a warrior for the cause, and that meant always knowing that it could all fall hard on me at anytime. I gave up an easier life for a difficult one. I could’ve forgotten what I learned, what I heard, and what I saw. That’s what they want. Convict and then move along.
So for now, good-bye and keep the faith. There’s people out there doing same as me so I’m not alone.
⭐Do Not Allow Them In!!!⭐ Please, fellow Registrants, learn this:. If LEO’s knock on your door to conduct an residence verification or “compliance check”, DO NOT ALLOW THEM INSIDE!! Compliance Checks are THEIR problem, not yours. If you are not on parole or probation, you are not even required to answer the door! Nothing in 290 requires you to assist them or to answer their questions. Nothing. So stay safe & give them the same: Nothing!!
May 2021:
https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/2021/05/08/u-s-marshals-sheriffs-office-execute-sex-offender-compliance-operation/5011907001/
(These LEOs obviously made these arrests because people allowed them inside or answered their questions. DON’T DO IT!!)