[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed a lawsuit today in a federal district court challenging in-person registration requirements of both the City of Fresno and the County of Fresno. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California. According to the lawsuit, the city and county’s requirement to register in person violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment as well as the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The lawsuit requests that the court permanently enjoin the city…
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CA: Town repeals sex offender ordinance
[hidesertstar.com – 4/24/20] YUCCA VALLEY — Facing costly litigation, the Yucca Valley Town Council discussed repealing the ordinance restricting where paroled sex offenders can live within town limits. The urgency ordinance repealing part of the Yucca Valley municipal code was approved 5-0. “It’s a tough decision for us to make,” said Councilman Robert Lombardo, adding he believed the town could prevail in a lawsuit. “I think we could successfully fight this, but at a great cost. I feel comfortable appealing the ordinance.” In early February, the town of Yucca Valley…
Read MoreCO: Colorado Governor Stops In-Person Registration During Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Governor of Colorado has issued an Executive Order that temporarily suspends the requirement to register in person during the pandemic. Specifically, the Order suspends the requirement that registrants provide a current photograph or a set of fingerprints to verify their identity during registration. As a result, registrants are allowed to register using alternate effective means determined by local law enforcement. The purpose of the Executive Order, issued on April 6, is to “mitigate the effects of the pandemic, prevent further spread, and protect against overwhelming our health care…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: State Representatives or Modern-Day Snake Oil Salesmen?
Some Tennessee Representatives and Senators seem hellbent on promoting a never- ending stream of bills that serve one purpose, to make the lives of registrants miserable. There are several state representatives in particular that concoct a constant barrage of new bills aimed specifically at “sex offenders”, bills that appear to be the “bread and butter” of these “representatives of the people.” If they’ve made it their life’s mission to deny any humanity, any shred of dignity to registrants, they’re doing a fine job. Perhaps they reason, this is what gets…
Read MorePrison phone companies are profiting from a pandemic, here’s how the FCC can help
[thehill.com – 4/21/20] These days, most of us are staying in touch with our loved ones by phone calls or video chats. A single phone call costs us nearly nothing, a video chat requires only a Wi-Fi connection. But for millions of people, it isn’t so easy. As jails and prisons suspend in-person visits, most incarcerated people and their families are paying outrageously high costs to simply stay connected. The Federal Bureau of Prisons just made voice and video visitation free in its 122 prisons, and while noteworthy, this isn’t enough to ensure…
Read MoreBipartisan coalition calls on SBA to roll back record-related restrictions in COVID-19 small business loan programs
[womenagainstregistry.org and ccresourcecenter.org – 4/18/20] On April 17 a diverse bipartisan group of civil rights, advocacy, and business organizations, including CCRC, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Carranza expressing concern over the restrictions imposed by the SBA on people with a record of arrest or conviction under two programs recently authorized by Congress in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The letter points out that these unwarranted restrictions on loan programs intended to aid small businesses and non-profits will have a significant and detrimental impact in communities across the…
Read MoreCA: Los Angeles Superior Court Allows In-Person Registration to Continue
[ACSOL] A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled today that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department may continue to require in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling was made during a telephonic hearing in response to ACOL’s request for a Temporary Restraining Order. Although the judge noted that infection to COVID-19 is a “significant concern”, she interpreted state law requirements to obtain fingerprints and photos as to require that all registrants, including those at high risk due to age and/or medical condition, must register in person. She did not address…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: We All Saw It Coming
Those who live their lives on the registry knew it would happen, it was only a matter of time. The pandemic strikes, those in society that are used to everyday freedoms, suddenly forced to quarantine, out of work, told they may be under restrictions for a month, maybe two, at the most three before life returns to normal. Everyone jumps on board, eager to do their part to contain “the danger” looming outside their door. A few short weeks later we’re advised that this all may take longer, much longer…
Read MoreIL: Porn Convictions Tossed Due to Use of Confidential Information
[bloomberglaw.com – 4/14/20] An Illinois man’s convictions on two counts of child pornography were tossed and resentencing was required on a third because the trial court improperly allowed the jury to hear confidential pretrial services information about his residence, the Seventh Circuit ruled. Defendant Michael Chaparro told the Office of Probation and Pretrial Services he had lived at the address linked to a computer containing images of child pornography. Read the full article (ONLY with a subscription!) Read the court document
Read MorePath of Federal Criminality: Mobility and Criminal History
[ussc.gov – 4/14/20] This study expands on prior Commission research by examining the geographic mobility of federal offenders. For this report, mobility is defined as having convictions in multiple states, including the location of the conviction for the instant offense. This report adds to the existing literature on offender criminal history in two important ways. First, the report provides information on how mobile federal offenders are, as measured by the number of offenders with convictions in multiple states. Second, the report provides information on the proportion of offenders with convictions…
Read MoreEARN It Act is ostensibly a bill to prevent sexual exploitation of children online, but critics say it could end internet privacy and encryption features
[govtrackinsider.com – 4/8/20] A potential list of legally binding but to-be-determined “best practices” for internet companies could include almost anything. Context If somebody uses an open online platform such as Facebook, Craigslist, or Reddit to post illegal material such as child pornography, is the platform itself legally liable? Since the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the answer has been no. The person or user who posted the material can — and should — be found criminally guilty, but not the website itself. (Unless the actual primary activity of…
Read MoreNY: NYC Bar Report to Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Call to Temporarily Suspend In-Person Reporting Requirements
[mitchellhamline.edu – 4/3/20] By NYC Bar Committee | April 3, 2020 Dear Governor Cuomo: The New York City Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Operations Committee and the Sex Offender Registration Act Working Group write this letter to urge the temporary suspension of in-person reporting requirements for people on the sex offender registry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. By continuing to require in-person reporting for the 8,050 New York City residents on the registry, all of whom have in-person reporting requirements at the same office in lower Manhattan, the health…
Read MoreACSOL April 18 Phone Meeting
Dear Registrants, Family Members and Supporters – Please join me and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein, a criminal defense attorney, for our “monthly” meeting to be held as a telephone conference call. The conference call will be on Saturday, April 18 at 10 am Pacific Time (1:00 Eastern) and will last from 2 to 3 hours. Topics of conversation will include information about COVID-19 and its impact upon registrants and their families as well as the Tiered Registry and other current topics as well as recent court decisions and pending legal…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Dissenting Judges Should Be Ashamed of Themselves
A headline at LegalNews.com caught my eye, “High Court Rules Sex Offender Registration Qualifies as Punishment, Dissent Argues Registry is Administrative, Imposes Burden but No Restraint”. The case centered around a Maryland man who had been charged with and pled guilty to human trafficking in 2015. Upon his release from prison, according to the Court of Appeals ruling, the Maryland Sex Offender Registry had “wrongly” added the man’s name to the registry, requiring him to register as a “sex offender”. Under his plea agreement, the charge of trafficking of a…
Read MoreCA: California Courts Temporarily Change Rules To Ease Stress On System
[wbhm.org – 4/7/20] California’s court system, the nation’s largest, announced a series of emergency measures this week to address vulnerabilities related to the coronavirus pandemic. The 11 emergency measures include temporarily eliminating bail for defendants charged with misdemeanors and most nonviolent felonies, conducting pretrial hearings remotely, and placing new limits on evictions and foreclosures. The California Judicial Council adopted the changes Monday. It’s the policy making arm of the state’s courts. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye says the moves aim to reduce jail populations and protect Californians from losing their homes…
Read MoreFL: Broward jail inmate with coronavirus dies at hospital
[sun-sentinel.co – 4/8/20] A convicted sex offender became the first Broward County inmate to die from the new coronavirus, underscoring concern over how the pandemic will pose problems for detention facilities across South Florida. Alan Pollock, 64, died at Northwest Medical Center in Margate on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Broward Public Defender’s Office, which represented him. Broward County’s jails have had at least five inmates test positive for the coronavirus, which has been spreading in detention centers across the U.S. Nationwide, the disease has infected hundreds of detainees as…
Read MoreMI: Judge: State sex offender registry can’t be enforced in pandemic
[detroitnews.com – 4/6/20] A federal judge is commanding state authorities to stop enforcing rules under the Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act during the coronavirus pandemic. According to an interim order U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland issued Monday, officials are “preliminarily enjoined from enforcing registration, verification, school zone, and fee violations of (the act) that occurred or may occur from February 14, 2020, until the current crisis has ended, and thereafter until registrants are notified of what duties they have under SORA going forward.” On Valentine’s Day, Cleland declared the act unconstitutional…
Read MoreLooking For Additional Research Participants: Registered Sex Offenders, Male Or Female, 18 Years Of Age Or Older
[montclair.edu] [Note from Janice: I recommend you take part in this survey because I have corroborated Dr. Lisa Anne Zilney, her professorship at Montclair State University and her past scholarly works re: registrants.] Title: Contextualizing the experiences of sexual offenders Eligibility: You are a registered sexual offender in any state and are at least 18 years of age. Description: This study looks at the long term and short-term impacts of plea deals for sexual offenders. Plea deals can be coercive in nature, innocent individuals sometimes plead guilty, and people…
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