Attorney Chance Oberstein Resigns from ACSOL Board

Criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein has resigned from the ACSOL Board of Directors.  According to an email from Mr. Oberstein dated December 24, 2023, his resignation was effective on that date. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for the experiences and growth I have gained while serving on the board,” Mr. Oberstein wrote.  “I am grateful for the trust and support that the board and ACSOL have given me during my tenure.”   Mr. Oberstein served on the board of directors for about 10 years. …

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Janice’s Journal: It’s the End…It’s the Beginning

Today is the last day of 2023.  It has been a year full of progress.  And it has been a year full of challenges. One form of progress in 2023 was a growing number of people whose petitions have been granted and are therefore no longer required to register in the state of California.  This progress was due in large part to an appellate court decision, that shifted the burden of proof from the person required to register to the district attorney.  Specifically, the decision stated that a district attorney…

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‘Keep our honor clean,’ Sexual assault will now be tried outside military chain of command

Source: kktv.com 12/28/23 ASHINGTON (KKTV) – Starting Thursday, The U.S. Military has a new “Offices of Special Trial Counsel” (OSTC) to prosecute sexual assault and other serious crimes. The counsel will have general or flag officer leaders who report directly to the secretaries of the military departments. The authority was previously held by commanders. “This military justice reform is an important step in restoring faith that the system is fair, just and equitable, said senior Defense Department and military officials, who emphasized that the offices will be staffed by specially…

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LA: Louisiana woman challenges Sorna using ADA angle

Source: courthousenews.com 12/21/23 NEW ORLEANS — A federal court in Louisiana denied the state police’s request to stay a convicted sex offender’s lawsuit alleging that Louisiana’s onerous sex offender notification requirements have resulted in an unfair cycle of arrest, imprisonment and release for noncompliance in violation of her due process rights. The state authorities did not offer any argument on the four factors required to obtain a stay pending appeal, including where the public interest lies in the litigation. Read the full article and download the decision  

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CA: Danny Masterson mugshot released: Disgraced actor seen for first time since rape convictio

Source: foxnews.com 12/27/23 Danny Masterson was transferred from the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles to the North Kern State Prison on Wednesday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Masterson, 47, was pictured wearing an orange jumpsuit in a mugshot provided by the CDCR to Fox News Digital. In September, the “That ’70s Show” actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison after being found guilty in May on two counts of forcible rape. A jury was hung on a third charge. Read the…

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CA: California sues Ralphs supermarket, alleging it broke the law by asking job-seekers about their criminal records

Source: fortune.com 12/22/23 California sued the Ralphs supermarket chain on Thursday, alleging that it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hundreds of applicants.   The California Civil Rights Department contends that Ralphs Grocery Co. “has ignored and continues to ignore” the Fair Chance Act “by screening out otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of criminal histories that do not have any adverse relationship with the duties of the job for which they were applying,” according to a departmental press statement. The law, which…

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IN: Anderson arsonist told police he targeted child molesters’ homes, court docs reveal

Source: fox59.com 12/21/23 ANDERSON, Ind. — Court documents reveal that an Anderson man didn’t understand why he was being arrested for arson after setting fire to porches, sheds and even an RV. The man reportedly admitted to setting the fires but told police he’d been targeting the homes of child molesters who were “out on the street.” Adam Kinnard, 33, was arrested on Tuesday morning after an RV was found engulfed in flames behind a home on Fletcher Street. Police said Kinnard was spotted by officers — who had been…

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MS: 10-Year-Old Kid Offered Probation for Peeing Behind His Mom’s Car

Source: reason.com 12/20/23 His mom is rejecting the prosecutors’ absurdly strict probation rules. A Mississippi 10-year-old has been sentenced to three months’ probation for urinating behind his mother’s car. But the boy’s mother is refusing to sign his probation agreement, citing the stringency of the agreement’s terms. “It’s just a regular probation. I thought it was something informed for a juvenile. But it’s the same terms an adult criminal would have,” Carlos Moore, the family’s attorney, told the Associated Press on Tuesday. “We cannot in good conscience accept a probation…

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TX: Repeat offender in Burnet county gets 99 years for not registering as a sex offender

Source: cbsaustin.com 12/20/23 Earlier this month, a Burnet County jury found 63-year-old Aubrey ____ guilty after he failed to register as a sex offender. Due to prior felony convictions, he was sentenced to 99 years in prison. On Feb. 13, officers responded to ____ ’s residence in Burnet to investigate an allegation. During the investigation, they arrested him. Rather than reporting to his sex offender registration officer, ____ fled to St. Louis, Missouri. He was using an alias and did not inform authorities of his status as a sex offender.…

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NY: Convicted sex offender suing SLC, state over registry

Source: wwnytv.com 12/19/23 CANTON, New York (WWNY) – New York state’s sex offender registry is being challenged in court by a former Boy Scout leader. Because that man was convicted in St. Lawrence County, the county finds itself a defendant in a case that could have serious ramifications. Former Boy Scout assistant scoutmaster Michael Kelsey is suing New York state and St. Lawrence County, saying the state’s sex offender registry violates his rights. “He’s challenging the constitutionality of the Sex Offenders Registry Act itself, indicating that the act as constructed…

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SD: South Dakota Attorney General wants lawmakers to address Xylazine, AI-child porn, sex offender registry

Source: thedakotascout.com 12/18/23 South Dakota’s top prosecutor will push lawmakers to regulate a livestock tranquilizer being abused by drug dealers, make it a felony to create child pornography using Artificial Intelligence, and to clear up a conflict in the state’s sex offender laws. Attorney General Marty Jackley Monday released his top five legislative priorities ahead of South Dakota’s 99th Legislative Session, while announcing he will seek legislative changes that address not only xylazine, AI-generated child porn and sex offender laws, but also membership requirements on the South Dakota Open Meetings…

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Save the Date: Lobby Day in Sacramento on March 6, 2024

It’s time to save the date for the next Lobby Day in Sacramento.  The date is Wednesday, March 6, starting at 9 a.m.  Lobby Day training will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1209 L Street, and after training, lobbying will take place in the legislative offices nearby. The primary focus for Lobby Day 2024 will be improvements to the Tiered Registry Law.   “ACSOL lobbied for about seven years for a Tiered Registry Law, however, the final law reflects political compromises that harm registrants and are not supported by…

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MS: Attorney To File Federal Lawsuit Over Black Child Arrested For Urinating In Mississippi

Source: huffpost.com 12/14/23 An attorney in Mississippi is preparing to file a federal lawsuit after a 10-year-old Black child was arrested and sentenced to a three-month probation for urinating in public. Police in Senatobia, Mississippi, arrested a third grader who urinated outside his mother’s car in August. The child’s mother, Latonya Eason, was in a meeting in a nearby building when an officer came inside and told her that he’d seen her son relieving himself. Eason told HuffPost she then went outside to ask her son why he’d done that,…

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ACSOL Online Meeting January 20, 2024

You are invited to join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci and an ACSOL board member for our next meeting.  The meeting will be held on Saturday January 20, online 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 you can call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. No government officials are allowed to attend the meetings. This meeting will be recorded.  Within a…

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UT: Audit confirms hundreds of convicted sex offenders missing from Utah’s registr

Source: ksl.com 12/16/23 SALT LAKE CITY — An internal audit of Utah’s Sex Offender Registry confirmed what a recent KSL investigation uncovered: More than 100 convicted sex offenders were missing from the registry. For over a year, the KSL Investigators reviewed Utah’s registry, cross-referencing it with public records from Utah’s parole board, online court records, inmate databases, and information gathered by knocking on doors in several neighborhoods. While people with criminal convictions that require them to be on the registry do sometimes attempt to skirt the law, the KSL Investigators…

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“I’m Not Unemployed, I’m Unemployable”: Challenges Finding and Sustaining Work for People Required to Register as Sex Offenders

Source: qualitativecriminology.com April 2023 Many individuals convicted of a sexual offense (ICSOs) experience various collateral consequences due to registration requirements, including income loss, unemployment, harassment, social isolation, homelessness, and more. Finding employment post-conviction is a difficult endeavor for many reentering citizens with criminal records, but for ICSOs, the difficulty increases due to their label as sex offenders. When these individuals are unsuccessful in obtaining steady, living-wage employment, it can result in mental health impacts such as depression, hopelessness, and other reactions. This paper seeks to analyze participants’ emotional and mental…

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FL: Florida prosecutor announces first death penalty case under new child rape law

Source: tallahassee.com 12/15/23 During a May 1 bill signing event, DeSantis said the measure is “for the protection of children.” In a first for Florida, a Central Florida prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for a man charged with raping a child.  The pursuit of capital punishment comes after lawmakers passed and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure allowing the death penalty for those convicted of sexually battering children under the age of 12.   Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson this week announced that a Lake County grand jury had indicted Joseph…

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