A state bill that would have allowed counties and cities to pass ordinances prohibiting where a registrant can be present (such as parks, beaches and libraries) has been stopped! The bill, S.B. 386, was introduced by Senator Correa of Orange County on February 21. The bill was scheduled for a hearing by the Public Safety Committee on April 30, however, the bill has been withdrawn by Senator Correa from further consideration.
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) lobbied against the bill soon after it was introduced. The lobbying effort included letters to and meetings with members and/or staffers of the Public Safety Committee in March.
“This is a major victory for CA RSOL and more than 100,000 families in the state of California,” stated President Janice Bellucci. “If the bill had passed, ordinances such as those passed in Orange County and more than 300 cities within the state would have become permanent.”
There are several court challenges pending regarding existing presence restrictions affecting registrants and their families. The most closely watched challenge is against the Orange County ordinance, which prohibited all sex offenders from visiting county parks, beaches, and other recreational areas. A three-judge panel of the Orange County Superior Court declared that ordinance to be pre-empted by state law and therefore unenforceable. The panel’s decision is currently on appeal and a decision is expected in June 2013.
Good work, Janice!
Better still would be legislation to specifically bar such ordinances, rather than leave that up to court interpretation. But this win is a good start.
This is awesome news. Way to go CA RSO!!!
Congratulations, Janice and CA RSOL! Also, thanks to Senator Correa for withdrawing the bill. It was the right thing to do.
So glad we have you Janice. see the RSOL at the Capitol!!
Thank You Janice and all your staff for Helping registrants. This is so encouraging. All of your efforts are paying off. Thank you, Thank You. Tier levels, Thank You again. You have made my day brighter. I can not thank you enough. I am donating right now, you are so Worth every penny. Yippee !!!!
That is fabulous news!! Now the ocean sunsets are free to everyone! Parks & swings free for all! Public library for higher education or the simple love of reading free for all! Wonderful …. Janice you are tenaeous in every sense of the word … And for the folks you have working beside you – congratulations to seeing efforts being made …. The pendulum has started to shift, kinda like the little boy with his finger holding the dam! …. It’s a visual, I know!!
We now only need residency restrictions to budge ….
Much thanks to everyone at CARSOL. It is refreshing to come home from work and find some great news like this. You guys are doing an awesome job! Also many thanks for giving us this forum for ranting and bickering. I read every line and appreciate ALL of the contributions whether I agree with them or not. We need the variety of input. There’s a lot of experience to be had in this forum.
My personal viewpoint is that when I first heard of this bill, I was scared and angry at the same time. For the first time in 8 years, I broke my silence and wrote to Senator Correa’s office. I don’t know how much influence that may or not have had, if any at all. But I must thank Senator Correa for inspiring me to get off of my duff and become an active lobbyist! I guess SB 386 was sort of “the last straw” that finally provoked me into saying “enough!” Thank you Senator Correa! Your passion for ignorance and hypocrisy is the fuel that drives my passion to litigate people like you!
Everyone, let’s hear it for Senator Correa! He’s an inspiration to us all!
Senator Correa, to you I say this: WE’RE not happy, until YOU’RE not happy! Congratulations on getting your picture in the newspaper again. This Bud’s for you! 🙂
It’s a HomeRun for the Constitution …thank you state senator
Mr Correa for review in your proposed bill position to withdraw
the bill altogether ..your review is the kind of checks and balances
our democracy works…any and all restrictions to the liberty of
people are subject to Constitutional review check…that’s the
background check for any restriction to liberty.
now i can go to the ocean with out fear of arrest..
MAJOR victory. Thanks!!!!
maybe this what CRSOL should be telling Sacramento
“In a way, you almost instigated this, by showing the information from Megan’s Law to Mr. Gaskins,” Sacramento Superior Court Judge Sharon Lueras said in sentencing Sheaves.
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2013/05/ca-supremacist-charles-francis-gaskins.html#.UYXxOBjdicu
Thank you CA RSOL , Janice and all of the other volunteers. Immensely appreciated!
Does anyone know the status of the private case challenge of the ban on use of parks by RSOs in four Orange County cities: Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Lake Forest? The suit was filed in US District Court on October 1st 2012, by a John Doe and represented by the San Francisco lawyer Dennis Riordan. I believe the case number is 8:2012cv01665. I’m interested in learning the status of this private action or if it is the same one referred to above..
As glad as I am that “SB 386” has “stalled out”. I am more anticipatory that AB 702 will actually make it out of the State Assembly by month’s end!
Thank you for the good work. My son goes away to college in Orange County. Last time I took him there, he wished to eat lunch with me on the beach. He knows what I did, and has suffered enough for something he had nothing to do with. He has recovered more than I could have expected, but he still bears the scars of having his father taken away from him at age 11 and having his family life turned inside out. That blame was on me. Lunch with my son at the beach was not worth the risk of being arrested for eating lunch with my son in the wrong place! Now the blame is on society. I would not even have known about these restrictions if not for this web site. How is having to keep up with all the laws in all these places I might travel, not punishment over and over again?