[inforum.com – 3/29/20] FARGO — The Fargo Police Department is allowing sex offenders to register by phone in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, while other local law enforcement agencies continue the registration process with few changes. Fargo police made the switch March 19, the same day it closed the lobby of its headquarters. The department is making several adjustments to its operations to limit contact amid the global pandemic, and having sex offenders register via phone is one of them. “If a new registrant who has never…
Read MoreAuthor: R H
Strategies for reducing COVID-19 exposure [paper]
[mitchellhamline.edu – 3/28/20] SEX OFFENSE LITIGATION AND POLICY RESOURCE CENTER Strategies for reducing COVID-19 exposure by revising the implementation of registration policies, housing banishment laws, and other restrictions impacting people with convictions MARCH 28, 2020 – We join numerous criminal justice organizations that have issued policy recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by suspending or eliminating non-essential police and court functions, while ensuring that law enforcement resources are used wisely to keep communities safe. This guidance focuses on policies affecting people listed on sex offense registries. More than 900,000…
Read MoreFL: Groups Call on Governor DeSantis to Temporarily Suspend In-Person Reporting Required Under Sex Offense Registry
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/27/20] BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA – March 27, 2020. The Florida Action Committee (FAC), the ACLU of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute are calling on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to temporarily suspend the requirement that persons required to register for past sexual offenses appear in-person at the Sheriff’s office to report during the Coronavirus state of emergency. Florida Statutes mandate in-person reporting every six months, quarterly, or monthly for registrants who are transient. Changes to vehicles or reporting travel for three or more days (or changes to prior…
Read MoreACSOL Files Fifth Lawsuit Challenging San Diego In-Person Registration During Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed today a fifth lawsuit challenging in-person registration for all registrants, including those with high-risk COVID-19 factors. This lawsuit was filed against the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department which registers more than 3,200 individuals each year. “The plaintiffs in today’s lawsuit include a 72-year-old man who suffers from hypertension as well as a 51-year-old man who suffers from chronic asthma,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Both of the plaintiffs live with, and support, individuals who also have high-risk COVID-19 factors.”…
Read MoreCA: 60 Organizations Jointly Request Significant Parole and Probation Changes During Pandemic
[ACSOL] A group of 60 organizations, including ACSOL, are jointly requesting that parole and probation agencies in California modify existing supervision conditions, policies and practices to align with public health recommendations in order to protect the lives of more than 400,000 people under their supervision. Included in the request is the end of in-person registration. “ACSOL and its members need to share the list of requests with local county government officials, including county boards of supervisor, county probation departments and local sheriff’s departments,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This…
Read MoreCA: Root and Rebound Rapidly is Responding to Our Communities’ Needs by Expanding Support During Covid-19
[rootandrebound.org – 3/26/20] Dear Community, As an organization that serves, supports, and advocates for the rights of people who have been impacted by mass incarceration–people who are currently and formerly incarcerated and their families, we understand that people are struggling right now in the midst of this pandemic. We believe that the strongest organizations are those that are willing to be responsive, to learn, and to adapt to what is happening on the ground and what is needed from us in this moment. So we are flexing and adapting our…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Don’t Let Increased Stress Lead to Suicidal Thoughts
In August 2017 I wrote a blog piece for Women Against Registry titled “No More Suicides, Please”. Almost 3 years later I’m still receiving notices of comments on that piece, notices that have prompted me to touch on this subject again. Knowing what we know about the way some registrants and their families have been treated, it’s no wonder some registrants, and even their family members, have considered suicide as their only option, the only way out of “life on the registry.” My previous blog was not written during a…
Read MoreThe Unethical Dilemma of an Offense Based Sex Offender Registration and Notification System and the Indiscriminate Effect on the Low Risk Offender
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 3/26/20] The Law Review article linked to below was written by Kenneth H. Browning, a third-year law student at Barry University School of Law. He examines ethics in the sex offender registration scheme and questions whether it is ethical to sweep up everybody into a common dust bin. Read the full article on floridaactioncommittee.org
Read MoreACSOL Files Fourth Lawsuit Challenging DOJ and L.A. In-Person Registration During COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) today filed a fourth lawsuit challenging in-person registration. This lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against both the California Department of Justice as well as the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. “We added the CA Department of Justice as a defendant in this case because several registration officers in the LA Sheriff’s Department said they could not stop in-person registration until and unless the CA Department of Justice authorized them to do so,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. Earlier…
Read MoreCA: ACSOL Lawsuit Filed Against SDPD for In-Person Sex Registration Amid Pandemic
[kpbs.org – 3/25/20] A lawsuit has been filed against the San Diego Police Department on behalf of more than 100 local sex offender registrants who are challenging requirements that they must register in person during the coronavirus pandemic, while state and local governments ask that residents stay home to prevent the virus’ spread. The lawsuit was filed by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws, which also filed similar lawsuits this week in Riverside and Sacramento counties. It asks for a judge to issue an order halting the practice of…
Read MoreACSOL Files Third Lawsuit Challenging Sacramento In-Person Registration During COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed a third lawsuit today challenging a city’s requirement that all registrants, including those with high risk COVID-19 factors, register in person. The defendant in the lawsuit is the City of Sacramento and the lawsuit was filed in Sacramento Superior Court. Today’s lawsuit alleges that the requirement to register in person during a pandemic and in contravention of state and local orders, is an abuse of discretion and therefore unlawful. The lawsuit requests that the court issue a writ of mandamus…
Read MoreACSOL Files Second Challenge to San Diego In-Person Registration Requirement During COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) today filed a second lawsuit challenging a city’s requirement that all registrants, including those who have high-risk COVID-19 factors, register in person. The defendant in this lawsuit is the City of San Diego. There are multiple plaintiffs in the lawsuit including ACSOL, a female registrant who suffers from chronic diseases, and additional registrants to be identified in the future. “The City of San Diego, during this historic pandemic, is increasing the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus by requiring people to…
Read MoreLAPD Stops In-Person Registration, Provides Registration by Telephone
[ACSOL] The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has stopped all in-person registration of individuals required to register as a sex offender in that city. In place of in -person registration, LAPD is allowing individuals to register by telephone. “LAPD is to be commended for its decision to protect registrants and their loved ones by allowing registrants to register by phone,” stated ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. “Unfortunately, there are many other law enforcement agencies that still require registrants to register in person.” According to LAPD, signs will be posted at every…
Read MoreACSOL Challenges Murrieta In-Person Registration During COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed a lawsuit today challenging the City of Murrieta’s requirement that all registrants, including those with COVID-19 high risk factors, register in person. The lawsuit is expected to be the first of many such lawsuits to be filed in California this week. “The City of Murrieta is requiring registrants to make one of two deadly decisions, that is, to register in person and risk exposing themselves to COVID-19 or to fail to register and be sent to jail where the risk…
Read MoreCA: CDCR Asks CA Supreme Court to Review Prop. 57 Decision
[ACSOL] The CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) filed today with the CA Supreme Court a petition requesting review of ACSOL’s successful challenge of CDCR’s regulations that prohibit all registrants from early parole consideration. The prohibition in CDCR’s regulations has been found to be unlawful by several appellate courts. In its petition, CDCR acknowledges that the Court has already granted review of a similar case, In re Gadlin, S254599. CDCR therefore requests that the Court defer action in the ACSOL case until the Gadlin case is decided. All documents in…
Read MoreSex Registration and the COVID-19 Pandemic
[ACSOL] A word or two concerning sex registration and the COVID-19 pandemic. As the landscape continues to change, and additional containment measures go into effect, I want to assure you that ACSOL is committed to protecting the health and safety of our community as well as that of the general public. Therefore, all those who are required to register should continue to comply with state law. However, since the pandemic will affect jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies in different ways, registrants should call the agency they register with first before…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Things That Make You Go, Hmmm
Not wanting to fill jails during the coronavirus, LA police have decreased the amount of arrests they make from 300 per day to 60. A sort of “catch and release program”, if you will. If they can do that now, doesn’t that mean they’re usually arresting and putting far too many people in jail? Hmmm. Prisons and jails have begun releasing low-risk inmates early, (with the exception of those with a sex offense), putting them on community supervision, parole and GPS ankle monitoring in an attempt to free up space…
Read MoreNJ: Sex Offenders Lose in Attempt to Remove Names From Registry
[usnews.com – 3/18/20] TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Supreme Court this week rejected an attempt by two sex offenders to have their names removed from a public registry. Two offenders identified only as H.D. and J.M. pleaded guilty to sexual offenses in the 1990s and guilty in 2001 to other offenses, one for computer-related theft and one for failure to register as a sex offender, and were sentenced to probation. State law imposes lifetime registration requirements on offenders but allows those on the registry to apply for removal…
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