Source: ACSOL
Beware of attorneys offering to submit applications for gubernatorial pardons in California based upon the promise that a pardon will remove you from the registry. The California Department of Justice recently announced that it “will not terminate the requirement to register on the basis of a gubernatorial pardon unless it includes a finding of innocence.” The announcement is reflected on the Governor’s website
Any attorney promising that a pardon without a finding of innocence will terminate the requirement to register is incorrect and should not be taking your money for that purpose.
Has any person forced to register ever been awarded a gubernatorial pardon? I know plenty have earned the CoR prior to SB-384 and some sex crimes were permitted to get off the registry, but you didn’t need a gubernatorial pardon to do that.
Since the implementation of SB-384, one can only be relieved of the duty to register through SB-384.
Although, I do wonder if there’s a possibility for all those people who were convicted prior to the implementation of SB-384 to contest the negation of that particular pathway to get off the registry – provided the person’s sex crime qualifies to be de-registerable? SB-384 made it more difficult for some people who needed only 10 years to apply for the CoR, but under SB-384 are waiting 20 or 30 years. Adding an additional 10 or 20 years (possibly more) after the implementation of SB-384 sounds like added punishment.