Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Aug 2023. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Related posts
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Changes to be Made in Treatment for CA Registrants on Parole
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed in writing to stop... -
RI: Cranston YMCA employee fired for letting sex offender on grounds
Source: wpri.com 5/16/24 The YMCA of Greater Providence (GPYMCA) fired an employee earlier this month after... -
TN: Tennessee will remove HIV-positive people convicted of sex work from violent sex offender list
Source: abcnews.go.com 7/19/24 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — HIV-positive people who were convicted in Tennessee of sex work...
I spoke to a lawyer the other day (Im in a state that allows one to petition to get off the registry). They looked over my charges and they think when I first registered (I was convicted in the military but first registered in the state im in) that I was registered wrongly due to changes in state law and they made me a lifetime registerant, but I was supposed to be a 10 year one due to my conviction date and should have been off 6 years ago. As of now I’ve registered for 16 years and she thinks I have a good chance of getting off, its just I have to pay 10k. It seems so criminal it costs so much money to try to get off this stuff. She also recommended instead of arguing Ive been a good boy and should be released from the registry, that instead we should argue the perceived clerical error, request it be corrected, and thus also request to be released since I should have been off 6 years ago. Any thoughts?
I just read an interesting story the other day. A man in Pennsylvania filed out a form food stamps for his family some time ago. He was then charged and convicted as a felon for the mistake. Years later he tried to buy a gun and was denied, because he has a felon on his record. He challenged this in fedreal court and lost. He then appealed to the 8th district appeals court and they over turned the lower court. The 8th appeals court said that even though he has a felon conviction, it was not a violent felon and that should not have his 2nd amendment rights taken away. The judge that wrote why the 8th district appeals court ruled the why they did, was once on a very short list for the Unite State Supreme Court. The story said that if this was appealed, by the prosecution, to the US Supreme Court, that they might side with him. They said that this ruling only effects those in the 8th appeals district, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington DC, and the Virgin Islands.
I am a PFR and have a felony on my record but from what I see, and I am not a lawyer, my felony convition is not considered a violent felony and I do not live in the 8th district appeals area. But it gives me hope that some day I will be off of the registry and be able to walk into a gun shop and buy a gun.
Regarding federal SORNA regulations, we are presumed guilty until proven innocent. Special Counsel Jack Smith said Trump is innocent until proven guilty. Many media commentators say Trump is innocent until proven guilty. Why is there a two tier justice system, one for people forced to register and one for Trump?
Has anyone ever heard of blackout dates when you want to travel? I’m in Southern California and wanted to go to Las Vegas for less then 72 hours. Should not have to register when I get there. But one day before I’m ready to leave my PO says they are having a special event called Hot August Nights and because of that it is listed as a blackout date. But all I can find is Hot August Night in Reno not Vegas. And, I’ve never heard of blackout dates. Frankly, I think she made it up.
🤷🏻♂️ So it’s not only Registrants who are persona no grata:
New San Jose law would ban homeless encampments and RVs near schools
A 74-year-old female teacher is facing 600 years in prison after conviction for sexual acts with a 14-year-old student (link). The killers of RFK and Sharon Tate didn’t face sentences like this. WTF happened to this country? When did “statch” become the worst crime an American can commit? If anyone knows any journalists, I’d love to trace how America went from “Hot for Teacher” to “600 years for statch” in 40 years. (Yes, I realize America never actually embraced student-teacher relations, but Jimmy Carter pardoned that guy from the Mamas and the Papas for statch in like 1980. Things could be illegal without being persecuted.)
So here is a crazy twist. I petitioned to end registration after 22 years registered for a misdemeanor. Through the new tiered rules, I am off… But due to the age of my conviction and an expungement 15+ years ago all background checks formal and informal never found anything. So I just had a background check done on me through Truthfinder, and you know what came up? Record of my petition!!!! So I am off the registry but NOW my background check exposes me!!!!!
When I’m finally off the registry, it’s never gonna be over, You can’t take away 24 years of someone’s life and think their just gonna walk away from it like nothing happened, I’m sorry life doesn’t work like that.
They took my youth from me, so now they gotta deal with me in my golden ages of wisdom.
My Family moved to Denver Colorado and they keep asking me “what are you still doing out there” and my only responses is, I have unfinished business here they took something from me and I want it back
Interesting article from 2018. https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/376668-the-sex-offender-registry-vengeful-unconstitutional-and-due-for-full/
Good evening,
Since some of you folks are discussing visiting Nevada, I have the opposite problem. I plan to visit California for the first since I’ve been on the registry in another state. How long can I visit there before I also have to register?
And can I “reset” the clock by stepping out, and stepping back into California which would be easy for me since my hometown (Barstow) is the last pit stop before Vegas. What’s the best way to maximize my time in California?
I thought about flying into Ontario, visiting Barstow until registration time, then driving to State Line (Primm, NV) and staying in one of their hotels… maybe Whiskey Pete’s. The part I don’t know is how long do I have to stay out of CA before I can return and reset the grace period clock? Or is it best to fly to Vegas, then visit CA and return to NV and reset their clock….if they allow it. Maybe some of you SoCal people familiar with I-15 can help me out.
Will be relocating to Ga in a few months. Does anyone have any advice, resources or an experienced attorney in the area?
Conviction was April 2002. It would be comforting to speak with someone knowledgeable.
Thank you,
Good grief. Change of plea hearing is 36 hours from now roughly, and I just stumbled into a concerning conversation on a subreddit.
Quick backstory, I’m pleading to a low level felony that doesn’t require registering in my state. However, SORNA, and several states as a result, do list it as a registrable offense. So that would limit where and how long I travel to certain states, but fine, it’s better than the alternative of registering here. I’ll just be careful of where I travel or move to.
But, got into a discussion on Reddit today and someone who seems fairly well informed mentioned the following that I was totally unaware of:
The California litigation is over a new proposed rule of the department of Justice implementing the Adam Walsh act that effectively makes federal criminals out of anyone in a state that is not compliant with the Adam Walsh act (ie, state does not require registration). The rule does specify that it is an affirmative defense if the state doesn’t allow registration, but affirmative defenses mean you still get arrested and you still have to go to trial to present them to the jury.
Under that implementation, what I mean is that it’s possible that someone with a state charge who stays in the state could nevertheless be “guilty” of federal failure to register solely because the state doesn’t require registration. But they couldn’t actually prosecute federally unless there was travel across state borders (ie, interstate commerce). There’s no federal jurisdiction otherwise.
Coming here for a second or third opinion. Cancelling the plea at the last second seems risky, but this info is concerning if it’s as bad as it sounds. Not registering is the only reason I was taking this deal. My attorney seems to be a good attorney, but not all that well versed about registry issues so I’m not sure she would be able to help much so that’s why I’m here haha
Question… is ‘sealing criminal records’ the same as 1203.4 expungement in California?
Please make the documents .pdf files and then post them here in a comment so that more of us can review them. Redact any personally identifiable information in them before posting them here as .pdf files.
Has anyone in CA who has gotten off the REGISTRY had any luck in getting their record SEALED under the new law? I am dealing with the county now but wonder if anyone has succeeded
I’m doing some research of state laws in states other than where I reside for possible travel purposes. I read the statutes as well as the website of the state agency responsible for registration.
I noticed a trend on the website of the state agencies, which are mostly law enforcement. These law enforcement websites use terms such as “sex maniacs”, “sex deviants”, etc…
History shows that those in power who use derogatory terms towards a group of people are actually grooming the citizens that it is acceptable to use violence even up to the point of murder against the group of people.
Law enforcement and other government agencies should use more neutral terms so as to not further inflame hatred. They are suppose to serve and protect, that means protect everyone, not just the people they do not hate.
I requested my info removed from Truth Finder. Days later received an email to click into their suppression center. The initial explanation seems like a lot of hoops to jump thru. And perhaps supply them with more info, that they promise not to sell or provide to anyone else. Seems like they’re still mining info while walking me thru the process. I don’t trust businesses or LEO’s.
Wow. A major political donor just got sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in Minnesota.
We often post about violent and threatening comments written in response to newspaper articles but here’s an example of the sort of thing that is allowed on Twitter since Elon bought it. To be fair, there were also a lot of such threats before he bought it, too. This is the sort of content that they’ve never much cared about and rarely remove. Warning: This is particularly visually disturbing: https://twitter.com/GarandThumb1/status/1685673160627372032
Hello Everyone,
Is anyone aware of the new ETIAS program that is supposed to go into effect Jan 2024? Does this mean we can no longer travel to Europe? I do know this has been on pause for many years however, it looks like they might be serious this time.
For those of you who have not been following the Torsilieri case out of PA, this summary recently posted on PARSOL is informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9scawcs900&t=473s
After listening, I am now thinking if the entire registry scheme cannot be defeated (as it should be) then maybe each individual registrant should sue the state for removal based on all the points in the Torsilieri case – unconstitutional, pfr is not high risk based on completing sentencing / program, data from studies indicate low risk, registry is cruel and unusual punishment, damaging reputation if state has that clause, etc etc.
I am actually thinking about and preparing for this suit in a couple years when off paper if Mark Weisberg will take it. The PARSOL case provides much good info to be used in other states.
CA PARDON… I am off the registry in CA and am working on getting my record sealed. In talking to a Para Legal in the county of my conviction she is saying that the DOJ in CA is resubmitting for Pardons for those with a Cert of Rehab and Removal from Registry. Had anyone had any experience with this? She is saying with my offense being a 664/288(a) that getting my record sealed is real good possibility then brought up the PARDON issue
Anyone know or experienced this?
THANKS
Another website that you want to opt out of: GladIknow.com
search your name
click access report
go all the way to the bottom and click opt out.
Hello to everyone I am currently on the registry for a misdemeanor child annoyance charge that was for a no contact internet 17 yr old minor that was on a adult dating site I was on.With that said I am required to reg.for 10 years as a teir one.My probation officer had me do a evaluation that I pay for that the court did not require if me and also almost had me do a polygrah as well that the court did not require.Do I need to have therepy sessions if the court did not state when sentenced and is my p.o.overreaching by doing this.Can someone please give me some insight. Thank you.
In the discussion about what to call ourselves, how about
“Law Abiding Citizens”?
by Bruce a.k.a. Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler
In the time I’ve been active in the struggle against America’s registries, there has been a lot of discussion about the harm done by being stigmatized as “Sex Offenders” and what we who are on the registry should call ourselves. Registered Citizens? People Forced to Register? Allow me to suggest: “Law Abiding Citizens.”
Why? Because the term Law Abiding Citizens most accurately describes who we really are, and because describing ourselves (accurately) this way turns on its head everything most Americans mistakenly believe about us. Furthermore, the average American has no idea what a “Registered Citizen” or “Person Forced to Register” even means, but they do know what a Law Abiding Citizen is.
To justify this description of ourselves we need only turn to what I like to call The 95 Percents. …[Over] 95% of all persons convicted of sexually based offenses are first time offenders. Therefore they are not on any state registry. It has always been my contention that any law enforcement officer who turns to the registry to investigate a sexually based offense should be fired for incompetence.
We also know that about 95% of all persons on registries never re-offend, one of the lowest re-offense rates of any type crime category. And we know that of the small number of re-offenders, the great majority do so within the first few years after leaving prison, usually while still on probation. In fact, we know that anyone who’s been on the registry for ten or more years has no greater chance of re-offending than any other citizen.
In most states …[people] are not placed on the registry until they are released from prison. Most federal and state cases also include probation, you can’t get off probation until you have “completed therapy,” and no therapist is going to certify that you have completed therapy unless they can also certify you as “low risk to re-offend.” That was certainly my experience.
So if we remove from consideration any …[person] still in prison plus anyone still on probation who has not completed therapy and therefore not certified as low risk, who are we left with on America’s registries? Answer: a population who has completed probation and therapy, has been certified as low risk, and has no greater chance of re-offending than any other citizen.
In other words, America’s registries consist almost entirely of Law Abiding Citizens. I know that if you are reading this, that’s certainly how you would describe yourself – whether you’re on the registry or not. It’s time for us to start calling the registry what it really is: The Law Abiding Citizens Registry.
[Moderator edits inside square brackets are done to increase accuracy and to better comply with person-first principles, as I am sure Bruce intended.]