Please post comments here regarding the path you or your loved one took that you hope is leading to, or has already led to, freedom from the registry. Comments could include information regarding the petitioning process in California or any other process in any other state. Sharing this information with others could help them achieve freedom, too.
For anyone who has been removed from the CA registry, you can expedite your removal from the CA Megan’s Law website as well as receipt of a letter from the CA Dept. of Justice confirming your removal by sending a copy of the court’s order to the CA Dept. of Justice using the following email: SB384@doj.ca.gov. Be specific in your request, that is, tell the agency you want to be removed from the website and/or you want a letter from the agency confirming that you are no longer required to register.
For those who have been removed from their state registry, it is recommended that you notify the federal Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) that you are no longer required to register in that state. Send an email to dhsintermeganslaw@ice.dhs.gov. According to communications from DHS, a person who is no longer required to register in any state is no longer required to have a “unique identifier” added to their passport and is no longer required to provide notice of at least 21 days for overseas travel.
If you have attended a hearing for removal from the registry – yours or someone else’s – what questions have been asked by the judge?
What information has been sought to confirm that you reasonably qualify for removal from the registry?
For example, do they ask if you have completed a mandated counseling program?
Do they ask about any law enforcement interactions?
Do they ask about your employment or your housing (seeking evidence of stability)?
Do they ask about family or friends’ support?
Community involvement?
I’m just curious what, if anything, is being asked at Registry removal petition hearings?
Hello! Can someone tell me where do I get a petition paper in my county? Thank you!
Sorry if this is a redundant post. Has anyone been granted a petition in Orange County? Did they go as nutty as they do for COR? I have been on the registry for 22 years for a misdemeanor and am considering filing a petition, but concerned about the cavity search potential as life is quiet otherwise.
Just filed my petition yesterday, online court case portal already shows the Law Enforcement Hearing set for 60 days out. It does not require my attendance (at this point), my guess is they can use this to object and/or admit they have no reason to object. From what I can gather, the DA will have 60 days from there probably marked with another “hearing” to make it formal. Same issue; what have they reasoned as an issue to object with or an admission there is nothing. That basically puts it at Halloween (2 weeks after my next registration, go figure). FYI, if you are in OC they make you “file” at the court tied to registration address. My original case was at central court so I went there, it is the main court. But, they turned me away, you would have though the court clerk met a lepper for the first time. I wonder if I was just jerked around. Also, I register with the Sheriff and they want service to be done at their HQ in Santa Ana. Needless to say I was a ping pong up and down the freeway to file, then service two locations, then to file the proof of service.
Two positives:
OC courts has an email address for filing documents hjcpc290petitions@occourts.org. Don’t think it works for the initial filing but it does work for the addendum items like the CR-416 form. Also, if you know your case number http://www.occourts.org has a portal under traffic & criminal that will give highlights on the case details and hearings.
Court clerk at the Harbor court who seemed to be focused on the petitions, stated he is seeing upwards of 60% going through to release. Seemed really high but he also seemed like he was giving a real answer.
Figures crossed, wish me luck.
OC registrant for 22 years, tier 1 misdemeanor
Today I received more good news from the office of the Ventura District Attorney. The office has decided once again not to object to a petition I filed and they did it in record time…..about 6 weeks after I filed the petition. Because the DA did not object to this petition, I expect the court to grant it within the next 30 days.
Today I received notice from the office of the Riverside District Attorney (DA) that they do not object to a petition I filed. I received this notice only 3 months after I filed the petition. Given that the DA does not object, I expect the court to grant the petition within the next 30 days.
There is more good news to report. Los Angeles county granted a petition on July 6 filed by me on behalf of a registrant assigned to Tier 1.
So…
“The CA DOJ also reported today (late June) that courts have granted a total of 1,183 petitions for removal from the registry. The courts have denied or dismissed 108 petitions and 1,418 petitions are pending”.
So for the petitions adjudicated (1,291 = 1,183+108), 8.4% denied and/or 91.6% granted. This run rate probably won’t hold as the slam dunk petitions (30 years for a misdemeanor) have probably been front loaded. But it does speak to a worthwhile effort if you are eligible. To those thinking about it, go for it, you can follow the path laid out it isn’t to complex just a little tedious.
Best of luck to any of you in the pending bucket (1,418 petitions), mine is now in that category.
In OC it appears that they are setting a hearing on the court calendar to signal the two 60 deadlines on the PD and the DA. This appears to be setting up both for the maximum timeframe. Let’s hope the PD side (for me the OC Sheriff) satisfies the requests sooner, but my guess is this is the system passive aggressiveness, coming to the surface.
I have more good news to report. In the month of July, three more of my clients were relieved of their duty to register — 2 in Los Angeles county and 1 in Contra Costa county. So far, a total of 22 of my clients have been relieved of their duty to register and many more of my clients’ petitions are pending. If you are a registrant, please consider filing a petition for removal from the registry. It is indeed a path to freedom that includes no more registrations, no more advance notices before you travel overseas and a passport with no unique identifier.
Looking for an attorney in Houston Texas to help to get off the registry
A friend just notified me he was granted dismissal from the registry in Sonoma County. His original conviction was 311.11a as a felony. He self-filed for the 17b and 1203.4 a couple of years ago. And now self filed for the dismissal. He had no issues in court with either.
So lets all be realistic about this registry. Sure one thought raciest was bad, segregation, abortion, the Nam crisis even attempted murder or playing honkie at school. What else could be worse self committing oneself too a mental institution. Has jurisprudence gone a bit to far today or is civil Justice still the threshold of true justice.
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Was glancing over these Certifications of Rehabilitation that was posted on here back about 7 yrs ago and many were woman wanting to get that certification so they could go about there life and not waver back to the past. I can’t single out one person that is not upset about this registry yet the fight for freedom still goes on.
There is more good news to share about registrants in CA being removed from that state’s registry. So far, 27 of the petitions I have filed have been granted in a variety of counties (LA, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Placer, Orange, San Diego, Alameda, Ventura, San Mateo, Yolo, San Lis Obispo, Stanislaus and Riverside). I am sure that other attorneys including Chance Oberstein are experiencing similar successes. If you have been assigned to Tier 1 or Tier 2 and are not on parole, probation or supervised release, please contact an attorney to discuss the petitioning process. We attorneys are here to help you escape from the registry if you are eligible to do so.
[Pull Out of Text Only For Better Reading]
PREFACE:
Registration in California was a life sentence for all for most of the past 20 years I’ve had to register. And while SB 384 provided me an offramp, I lament that it did not for many others who are surely deserving of one. As I write this passage today, it is not a celebratory exercise, rather a solemn one that I hope might help others seeking answers and observations for their own situation. I intend to stay in this fight to change what is one of the most unjust corners of the American justice system.
BACKGROUND:
In the crushing grip of a drug/alcohol problem brought on by the suicide of my sibling, I made bad decisions and used poor judgment in most aspects of my life. My registrable offense was a misdemeanor 311.11a charge that was part of a larger drug possession arrest. Given the origin of the images was Yahoo Groups, it was unclear the persons depicted were under 18. Pursuit of that defense however was met with a promise from the DA. Fight us in court and DEJ for the drug felonies is off the table, we’ll convict you of multiple felony drug possession charges, and you will be sent to state prison. So I pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor 311 charge, received DEJ for the drug charges which later were dropped, but I had now landed myself on the registry. I put myself in a terrible position where I had to choose between registration or being a felon sent into a very dangerous prison system. Two terrible outcomes, but there is nobody but myself to blame.
THE PATH:
I stayed up late into the night on September 15, 2017 watching the fate of SB 384 get decided. It was an insane rollercoaster, and I was taken aback when it passed. Based on its final language, I knew that I may have an offramp to what was up to then a life sentence. The next few years I remained hopeful but uneasy about the path ahead.
Last December, Janice agreed to represent me in the petitioning process. And after my early 2022 annual, she filed my petition. Because my conviction was in the Bay Area and I resided in Southern California, the petition had to be served to four different parties. I found that unsettling since it increases your exposure to objection but I tried to remain positive.
My late February conformed petition was stamped by the clerk in an unusual manner with handwriting where the official stamp typically resides. But it came from the clerk and there was no reason to question its veracity. That is, until an LAPD detective contacted us, indicating she would not accept the petition unless its stamp was the “normal” one. We were forced to get a new conformed petition which took weeks, and when the detective did accept it, she refused to honor our original timeline for her 60-day clock. This unfortunate situation delayed my petition by about 2 months.
I am going to be honest here. The period between the LAPD investigation and the DA’s decision was really difficult. The LAPD detective used her entire 60-day time allotment for her “investigation” of my eligibility. Janice wisely had me pull my Live Scan months before, so my logical brain would tell me that things will be fine as my LS substantiated my eligibility. But the reality remained that I had a senior LAPD detective “investigating” me for 2 full months. Was there something I missed? Is there some old warrant from my insobriety years that the LS missed? Are they going to come get me for this? If my rap sheet is short and my LS clearly shows my eligibility, why is this step taking 60+ days?
Most nights I would lay in bed with these questions swirling in my head. Janice mercifully reminded me that we just have to follow the process. But this was a time of great stress. Compounding the fear, the police do not have to notify you of anything and did not in my case. After multiple hearing continuances, we knew that the DA should get the LAPD report in early July. Which then sets off a new 60-day clock.
If the idea of a senior detective investigating me was stressful, so too was the idea that the DA will be making an extremely consequential judgment about me over the summer. Janice did what excellent attorneys do. She soberly explained the potentialities. The DA may attempt to use my 19-year old drug and DUI charges as fodder to support the public safety argument. Or they may not object at all. She couldn’t and didn’t make a prediction even if deep down I wished she would. The summer pressed on and knowing a DA was out there making a judgment about me was just as unnerving as the 2-month LAPD investigation. All you can do is manage your emotions as best you can and keep your mind busy. I did that through pouring myself into my work and reading some books about the life of gold miners in the 1880s. At least I wasn’t living in a tent at a mineshaft next to a bear den I told myself. 🙂
And then while I was driving one afternoon, Janice delivered the news that the DA was NOT objecting to my petition. And that our upcoming hearing may be the one where my registration terminates. That is exactly what happened and I am free of life on the registry now.
WRONG ASSUMPTIONS:
I made some wrong assumptions both recently and in the past. The first was that since my offense was a misdemeanor, I would be treated less aggressively as a registrant by the police. I didn’t find that at all. I recently wrote about my 2012 experience with LAPD and US Marshals compliance checking me with combat gear on. And every 1-2 years, I was consistently compliance checked replete with all the nightmares that entails (i.e. the ridiculous spectacles they put on at your door in potential earshot of neighbors). I will never forgive the LAPD for this as their clear motivation was to embarrass, intimidate, and create public spectacles that frequently attempted to make what’s private, public.
I also assumed that the petition process was more procedural and less subjective. According to an LAPD memo I found online, they ask the assigned investigator to make their own judgment about public safety and include it in their “checklist” for the DA. So the reality is that you have both the police and the DA making these judgments on you. This is one area where the tiered registry law needs to change. We must assume that some non-trivial percentage of detectives and DAs are predisposed to abhor us, yet we count on their purported objectivity to make fair-minded judgments about us during petitioning.
LEGAL COUNSEL:
Everyone has different means to attain counsel, but even those with little to none can use the public defenders office. This is only my opinion, but I think those planning to petition off the registry should secure legal counsel to assist you. I think this is true in most legal matters, but is especially true in ours. If the detectives or DA dislike registrants, putting an intermediary between you and them seems sensible.
Purely my assumption, but I envisioned a DA with several petitions on their desk contemplating potential objections. If they see you’re represented by a talented attorney, would they not think twice about pursuing a dubious objection knowing that the opposing counsel will be there to fight vigorously against it? As opposed to a standalone registrant who does not have the same legal prowess or gravitas.
JANICE BELLUCCI:
I’m neither being compensated for nor receiving any other benefit for this callout. This is simply straight reporting from my own experience that just concluded. I was elated when Janice agreed to take on my petition. She is one of the preeminent scholars on the tiered registry law, and I would venture to guess that she knows it better than most of her opponents. Who better an attorney than Janice to help you navigate through the labyrinthine petitioning process? Janice never ventured into rose colored predictions about my case. Keeping me informed throughout the 6-month process, she covered the potentialities from all sides, including those I winced at such as, “The DA might object because…” Great attorneys prepare their clients for the possibilities. Janice is surely that, and she did exactly that. I’m eternally grateful for her help and expertise throughout my petitioning process this year. I’ll never forget her text message when the hearing ended that started, “Congratulations…”
FINAL THOUGHTS:
While my path to freedom off the California registry is completed, it is a freedom with caveats. Even though obligations to SORNA have concluded and my registrable conviction was vacated via 1203.4, it still appears that I’m ensnared by IML’s covered offender definition of “If you were ever convicted…” It is totally unclear what if any effect my dismissal has on this definition. This same language is also found in many state statutes, hence the caveats.
The fight against this unjust insanity must and will continue. I plan to stay in this fight and support ACSOL. For those still waiting for their offramp, stay hopeful and be reassured that additional progress will be made. I’ll be fighting alongside you and rooting for your emancipation from these unjust laws. Five years ago, I was serving a life sentence on the registry, and this month I exited it on an offramp that was inexistent then. More progress will be made if we support one another and support ACSOL to make it happen.
Time for a weekly report with good news. As of today, 31 of my clients are now free of the requirement to register. Of that total, 3 clients escaped to freedom in August and 1 client escaped to freedom this week. The fastest counties so far to process petitions is Alameda followed by Ventura. Two of the worst counties so far are Fresno and Los Angeles. I am not surprised by Fresno county but I am surprised by Los Angeles county which is slow because the petitions are being considered in different courts throughout the county. Some of the LA courts know what they are doing and some do not which has led to significant delays. The bottom line is that petitions are being granted in every county and that is good news!
It’s time for more good news. As of today, I have helped 35 people escape the bondage of the registry using the Tiered Registry Law. That includes 4 people who have escaped in the last two weeks and lived in Los Angeles, Solano, Placer and Butte counties. If you haven’t already submitted your petition for removal, please contact a legal professional soon. Many public defender offices are helping with petitions as well as many private attorneys including myself and Chance Oberstein
I thought I would pass along an interesting exchange I had with CA DOJ this morning. It has been 5 weeks since my petition was granted and 26 days since I emailed my court order to CA DOJ at the address posted above by Janice.
My email was never acknowledged so I replied again to the original email asking for an acknowledgment to and/or update on my request. A few hours later, one of the deputy AGs responded back and told me that they processed my termination soon after receiving my email. He did sound mildly annoyed that I had been expecting a letter in a timely manner, however, writing:
The letters sent from CA DOJ are a courtesy we provide to offenders who’s petitions were granted, and are not a statutorily mandated responsibility under the Penal Code or any other law.
I interpreted this to mean that CA DOJ was saying 1) they’re not required to send these letters and 2) it is a merely courtesy that they do so and 3) that I should have had no expectation that they’d send me this letter. When I repeated this back to him, he then said that he asserted no such thing. As I read the statement above, it seems like that’s the veiled message there but whatever.
He went on to say the letter should arrive in 30-60 days. So no acknowledgment of the email yet they acted on it pretty quickly. Thank you Janice for the sage advice and I encourage those petitioning off in the future to follow it.
Two more individuals previously required to register have succeeded on the path to freedom. A judge in San Francisco Superior Court granted one man’s petition yesterday (Tuesday) while a judge in Sacramento granted one woman’s petition last week. Congratulations to both of my clients who are no longer required to register in California! They are #36 and #37.
There is more good news to report. Two additional individuals required to register are no longer required to register in CA! Both petitions were granted in Los Angeles county. Congratulations to clients #38 and #39!
Time for my weekly report. As of today, 42 people whose petitions I filed are no longer required to register. That total includes two people whose petitions were objected to by the District Attorney in their county (Los Angeles and Placer). There are many more petitions being granted throughout the state, more than 2,000 of them according to the CA DOJ. If you’re reading this and haven’t submitted your petition yet, please contact an attorney to see if you are eligible to petition for removal. There are a lot of eligible people out there who haven’t filed a petition yet. Spread the word.
Today, as I was walking by the police station, I was marveling that my birthday was more than ten days back and I hadn’t done my annual registration. I was wondering if they were going to come get me for FTR. This granted petition for removal is a new thing to me. I could get used to it!
With help from Janice, my path to freedom is complete (original charge was federal, poss of CP, 2003, tier 1 [don’t ask me how/why, IDK]). We filed in late May 2022 and received the signed order from the judge early this month (November), 5 months total. I will continue to support the fight against the registry, which has criminally strayed from its original purpose.
It’s time for me weekly report regarding people I have helped reach freedom. As of today, I have helped a total of 48 people over the finish line. That is, 48 of my clients have had their petitions granted including 2 people whose petitions were objected to by a District Attorney. The list of counties where those petitions were granted include Los Angeles, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Monterey, Placer, Orange, San Diego, Alameda, Ventura, Yolo, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Solano, Butte, San Bernardino and Sacramento. If you are eligible, please petition for removal from the registry. According to my calculations, only 10 percent of those who are eligible have petitioned from removal. Many people can submit their own petitions using the ACSOL training webinar on this website. Others may feel more comfortable contacting an attorney experienced in this area of the law. Most petitions are decided within 6 months although some petitions are granted in only 2 months. Freedom may be only a petition away.
I have petitioned the court in Santa Barbara County for relief from registration. My case was heard earlier this week, although I was not present. I did not even know the hearing happened. I did not get a call from my attorney. I am hoping this is all good news. The last I heard from my lawyer is that the DA did not oppose my petition. Now, the court website reads, “Petition Disposed Before Hearing.” I don’t know what this means. Does anyone know? Nothing has come in the mail yet, and I haven’t received a call.
Just for the record here, I retained a lawyer in March. My lawyer filed the petition in late June. The DA seems to have taken longer than allowed to file a response, but no matter, as that response apparently was no objection, according to my attorney. My case was heard or resolved without me knowing, early November. So the time between filing with the court and getting a result was a little more than five months, for me.
I am hoping for good news. I hope this information is helpful to someone.
Has anybody heard of “recordgone”? I spoke to them today after being recommended to check out their website and they told me I was eligible for expungement. Can somebody verify this please before I spend a ton of money on their services?
My charge is 311.11(a). Charged as a felony, sentenced to 5 years probation, 90 days community service, 52 weeks of therapy and passing a polygraph.
Finished everything, went back to court for charge drop and early termination of probation, just under 4 years were finished. Conviction was 2017, got off probation in late 2021.
Charge was dropped to a misdemeanor, granted early termination of probation, removed from Megan’s as the DA said I was now a Tier 1 offender. This is in 2021.
2022 comes along, I register like normal, a couple of days later, I’m back on Megan’s. The lawyer at RecordGone said the expungement will ONLY remove my criminal record and not the registration.
Can anybody confirm that I am in fact eligible for expungement BEFORE my registration time is up?
Thanks in advance!