Janice’s Journal: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals: Don’t Bother Us With the Facts

The requirement to wear a GPS device is often levied upon individuals required to register.  That requirement, however, is usually temporary and lasts no longer than the time in which a registrant is supervised under parole. The duration of that requirement was dramatically changed, however, in a recent decision issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a Wisconsin law that requires individuals convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions to wear a GPS for life.  In that decision, the Court approved this Draconian requirement. …

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FL: Florida teen creates fake online persona to catch child predator

Source: www.wesh.com 6/29/22 FORT PIERCE, Fla. —A Florida teen is being credited with putting a child predator behind bars. According to WPBF, back in January, 38-year-old Zachary ___ of Jensen Beach started talking to who he believed was a 14-year-old girl named “Shayla” on the internet. “Shayla” was actually a 16-year-old boy who was trying to find predators in his area. “Here you have a 16-year-old boy wanting to take the matter into his own hands and find these child predators in his area, and he found one,” Callahan Walsh,…

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CA: California just showed why a national gun registry must never happen

Source: msn.com 6/29/22 While liberals hold up California as their blueprint for the country, the Golden State often proves why no one should consider it as an example. Now, the state has shown why gun registries must never be allowed. California’s Attorney General’s Office leaked the personal information of Californians who have a concealed carry permit while launching the state’s 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal. According to the Reload, the leaked information includes “the person’s full name, race, home address, date of birth, and date their permit was issued,” as well as “the type…

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UK: A man arrested for stealing a meat pastry took his own life after police incorrectly labelled him a pedophile

Source: businessinsider.in 6/25/22 A man arrested for stealing sausage rolls is alleged to have killed himself after police release papers incorrectly stated he’d been accused of a child sex offense, an inquest heard. Brian Temple, 34, was arrested for the alleged theft from British bakery chain Greggs in Teesside, England in 2017, according to Teesside Live. When discharged, his custody release papers wrongly stated that he had been detained for “engaging 13-15 year old in sexual activity,” a court heard, per the outlet. Temple showed his release papers with a…

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ND: North Dakota’s sex offender registry gets update to provide residents more information

Source: kfyrtv.com 6/25/22 BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – In 1947, California became the first state in the US to have a sex offender registry program and, over the years, other states followed suit. North Dakota’s law was passed in 1991. The registries are meant to give residents the tools to protect themselves from victimization. Now, North Dakota’s registry is getting an upgrade to provide residents more information. The website, sexoffender.nd.gov, will now display photos of all offenders regardless of risk level and offer additional search functions to determine offender location and…

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ACSOL July 23, 2022 Meeting

Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting.  The meeting will be held on Saturday, July 23, on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to show…

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WI: Winnebago County approves $1 million housing project for released violent sex offenders

Source: news.yahoo.com 6/22/22 OSHKOSH – The Winnebago County Board passed a resolution Tuesday night to spend just over $1 million to build a housing facility for certain violent sex offenders that state law requires the county to house. Multiple single-resident housing units would be built on county property near County Y to house recently released offenders. In 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a law shifting the responsibility to counties to provide housing or suitable housing to purchase for certain sex offenders who committed a sexually violent offense. Previously, it was…

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CA: Two More Registrants Gain Freedom When Petitions Granted

Source: ACSOL Two registrants are no longer required to register today due to petitions granted in two different counties — San Luis Obispo and Stanislaus.  In the San Luis Obispo county case, the registrant was convicted of PC 288(a) and assigned to Tier 2.  Prior to petitioning for removal, he registered for more than 30 years.  In the Stanislaus county case, the registrant was convicted of PC 647.6 and assigned to Tier 1.  Prior to petitioning for removal, he registered for more than 10 years. “California courts are continuing to…

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NY: Under public pressure, Pleasant Night Inn owners bar sex offenders from West Carthage hotel

Source: news.yahoo.com 6/20/22 Jun. 20—WEST CARTHAGE — The owners of the Pleasant Night Inn have said they no longer wish to house registered sex offenders. In a letter to the Jefferson County Department of Social Services, for which the Inn provides rooms to house people in emergency housing programs, owner Pratesh R. Patel requested that no registered sex offenders be placed in the hotel. “As of July 18, 2022, we have amended our hotel policy to no longer accept registered sex offenders at our location,” Mr. Patel said in the…

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AZ: Elderly Child Molesters Pose Dilemma For Courts And Community

Source: arizonadailyindependent.com 6/18/22 Richard ___ was placed on intensive supervised probation last summer after pleading guilty in a Cochise County courtroom to felony sexual abuse of a teenaged boy who lived in Richard’s neighborhood. It was the latest in a string of sexual misconduct with children the now 85-year-old has engaged in dating back to the 1950s, according to court records.  But Richard has been in the county jail since June 9 on a no-bail order at the request of his probation officer who alleges Richard recently committed three violations…

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New CA Tiered Registry Lawsuit Filed in L.A. Superior Court

Source: ACSOL A lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 16 challenging a provision of the California Tiered Registry Law.   Specifically, a registrant is challenging his assignment to Tier 3 based upon his conviction for violating Penal Code Section 288(c)(1).  According to the lawsuit, the registrant’s tier assignment violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution.  The lawsuit requests that the court prohibit the California Department of Justice from assigning individuals convicted of Section 288(c)(1) to Tier 3. After his original conviction of a felony violation…

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UK: Do Sex Offender Registers Actually Reduce Reoffending Rates?

Source: digitaljournal.com/ 6/16/22 This article covers what it means to be on a sex offender list and assesses whether or not they help reduce reoffending… In the year ending December 2021, the UK reported a staggering 183,587 sexual offences, a 22% increase from the figures reported for 2020. Despite increased awareness campaigns and measures, such as the sex offenders register, figures continue to climb. In this article, we’ll examine what this means and shine a spotlight on the question, ‘do sex offender registers actually reduce reoffending rates?’. … Ineffective Against Reoffending…

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Number of CA Registrants Continues to Decrease Slowly

Source: ACSOL The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decrease slowly, in large part due to implementation of the Tiered Registry Law.  According to a report from the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) made during today’s meeting of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB), the total number of California registrants is 107,925 which is a reduction of 615 individuals as compared to three months earlier.  Of that total, CA DOJ reported that there are 19,176 individuals who are currently in violation for failure to…

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Vandenberg SFB commander sued for denying retired veteran access over molestation conviction

(Tribune News Service) — A retired Air Force veteran in Santa Barbara County has filed a lawsuit against Vandenberg Space Force Base, accusing its commander of denying him access to the installation last year over a 30-year-old child molestation conviction, according to federal court documents. In a lawsuit filed May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 75-year-old plaintiff Joseph Simonson accused Col. Robert A. Long, commanding officer of Vandenberg SFB, for denying access over the 1992 conviction. Additionally, Simonson said Long denied access to “constitutionally” protected retirement benefits by preventing physical access to the…

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FL: A Florida appeals court approves ‘gain time’ for a man convicted of an attempted sex crime on a child

Source: news.wfsu.org 6/12/22 Rejecting longstanding legal precedent, a state appeals court said Friday that a man convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child is eligible to be considered for early release from prison. The ruling by the full 1st District Court of Appeal turned down arguments by the Florida Department of Corrections and drew two dissents. It involved whether inmate McMillan Gould should be eligible for what is known as prison “gain time” after pleading no contest to attempted sexual battery on a child under age 12. Judge Adam…

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TN: Phone scam with a new twist: Pay or be placed on the sex offender registry

Source: wkrn.com 6/9/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A new phone scam is making its way around the Nashville area. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Fraud and Sex Crimes detectives, the scam sees Nashvillians called by someone claiming to be from the department warning them they’ll be placed on the sex offender registry unless they pay the caller money. The caller uses an actual Metro officer’s name, according to police. The calls use spoofing technology to appear as if they come from a legitimate Metro Police phone number. Metro…

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FL: As sex offenders around Tampa Bay age, where will they go for nursing care?

Source: tampabay.com 6/9/22 John ___ spends his hours in a shed-sized room in St. Petersburg. Wipes, hospital dressing gowns and diapers are stocked haphazardly along narrow wooden shelves. John ’s feet, propped up on a large camel-colored reclining chair where he lies, are cracked and yellow. The recliner engulfs the cramped room, its edges almost touching the walls. A fly flits greedily about his motionless body. “I’m probably going to die here in my house,” he said. John, 75, had a stroke in 2013 that left him partially paralyzed. But…

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Federal Lawsuit Claims Former Public Defender Committed Legal Malpractice

A lawsuit was filed today in federal district court that claims an attorney formerly employed by the Contra Costa county public defender’s office committed legal malpractice when he recommended that an 18-year-old high school student plead no contest to an allegation of forcible rape that was not supported by physical evidence.  That attorney is a current judge in Contra Costa Superior Court. After the student entered that plea, he was released from jail but was required to register as a sex offender for more than 22 years.  During that time,…

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