CA Court Grants Contested Petition for Removal from Registry

A judge in Pasadena Superior Court yesterday granted a petition for removal from the registry despite an objection filed by the Los County District Attorney.  The petition was filed on behalf of an individual who was convicted 25 years ago in the same court and by the same judge. According to the District Attorney (DA), the registrant should be required to continue registration in order to “significantly enhance community safety.”  The only evidence presented in support of this position by the DA were documents related to the initial charges and…

Read More

PLF Files Two Motions in SORNA Regulations Case

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) this week filed two motions in the pending federal lawsuit challenging SORNA regulations that became effective earlier this year.  One of those motions asked the court to approve the use of pseudonyms for four individuals identified as John Doe #1, John Doe #2, John Doe #3 and John Doe #4.  The court granted that motion one day after it was filed. The second motion is a request for preliminary injunction which would, if granted, stop enforcement of some SORNA regulations.  A hearing for this motion…

Read More

Rebecca Myers: “I have spent 25 years treating serious sexual offenders – this is what I’ve learned”

“Sexual offenders can be deceitful and cruel. But they may also be ashamed and desperate to change. Helping them is the only way to prevent more victims.” ” ‘I’ve got a list of questions I’d like to ask you about your sexual offending against children, if that’s OK,’ I say. ‘You might find some of them … ‘ I pause, unable to find the words, ‘ … a bit detailed and personal.’ The grizzled old man sitting in front of me nods, but does not make eye contact. I don’t…

Read More

CA: Lakeside neighbors furious over home housing sex offenders

SAN DIEGO — Frustration and worry have grown in Lakeside over a home that is housing a group of registered sex offenders in a family neighborhood. Neighbors say they checked the California Megan’s Law website, and were surprised to learn five sex offenders were living in the home.  Some reached out to CBS 8 for answers as to why they weren’t notified. “I’m so angry about this, it’s not fair,” said Jeanette. Lakeside neighbors are fuming after learning five registered sex offenders are living under this roof on Sesi Lane…

Read More

Court to Rule on SORNA Regulations Motion Without Hearing

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) decided today to waive oral argument regarding its pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed in the SORNA regulations challenge.  The decision to waive oral argument was made by PLF after the court delayed six times the date of the hearing on that motion.   In the absence of oral argument regarding the motion, the court will make its decision based upon the extensive written record provided by both parties.  The court does not have a deadline by which to make its decision, which could affect the…

Read More

Uncivil Commitment: How The DOC Can Keep You Past Your Sentence

By Matthew Feeley, One of the foundations of a civilized society is the concept that people who do wrong need to be held accountable for their crimes. What naturally follows from that precept is that once a person has successfully paid society back by serving their prison sentence, they have earned the right to be free and return home. What would you think about a slick scam that legally circumvented such justice? A system where, after serving years in prison and mere days before being released, the state went back to…

Read More

Compelling Law Review Article Provides New Tool for Challenging Sex Offender Laws

There is a new and compelling law review article that provides a new tool for anyone who is considering a challenge to a sex offender law.  That article, Panicked Legislation, is written by law professor and ACSOL vice president Catherine Carpenter who will speak about the article on October 1 during ACSOL’s annual conference. The tool described in the law review article is the Irrebuttable Presumption Doctrine which can be used “to combat false presumptions in legislation that masquerade as universal truths.”  For example, many courts have falsely stated that…

Read More

WI: 7th Circuit Rules Residency Restriction is Retroactive

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today in which it declared retroactive a law in The Village of Hartland, Wisconsin, that severely limits the number of registrants who can reside in that town.  Today’s decision signaled a reversal of that Court’s prior decisions which held that a new law can be applied to individuals convicted of a sex offense prior to the passage of that law. The Court noted that its ruling today meets the requirements of only one of the two requirements necessary to determine that…

Read More

ACSOL Conference to Feature Distinguished Speakers, Important Panels

The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will conduct its annual conference on Saturday, October 1.  The cost is just $25. The conference will be virtual on Zoom and feature distinguished speakers including attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation, Ilan Meyer of UCLA, criminal defense attorneys Chance Oberstein and Alex Landon as well as civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci. Mr. Kruckenberg is the lead attorney in the case challenging the SORNA regulations.  At the conference, he will make a presentation about the ongoing litigation and its potential…

Read More

ACSOL Board Votes to Discontinue Support for March 2023 Conference

The board of directors for the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) unanimously voted yesterday to discontinue its support for the March 2023 conference in Washington, D.C.  Prior to that vote, ACSOL had donated $5,000 to the Women Against Registry foundation for that conference. The ACSOL board’s decision yesterday followed a decision made a few weeks ago to withdraw its support for the vigil planned to be held in March 2023 near the U.S. Supreme Court.  The purpose of the vigil was to educate the U.S. Supreme Court regarding…

Read More

This Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind.

Last September, a psychiatrist named Edward Gripon traveled to Texas’ death row to meet a man he helped put there. He had testified at the 2006 trial of Ramiro Gonzales, who was facing a death sentence for kidnapping, raping and killing Bridget Townsend when they both were 18 years old. “This is a man who has demonstrated a tendency to want to control, to manipulate, and to take advantage of certain other individuals,” Gripon told the jury at the time, predicting that Gonzales would pose a risk of harming more…

Read More

SC: Sex offenders begin applying to get off South Carolina registry

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — Sex offenders have begun petitioning the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to be removed from the state sex offender registry, according to a spokesperson with the department. Offenders are now able to apply to be removed from the registry after legislation signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in late May set up parameters to do so. The bill was in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling that said it was unconstitutional for the state not to have a process that allows sex offenders to be removed from the registry.…

Read More

Janice’s Journal: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals: Don’t Bother Us With the Facts

The requirement to wear a GPS device is often levied upon individuals required to register.  That requirement, however, is usually temporary and lasts no longer than the time in which a registrant is supervised under parole. The duration of that requirement was dramatically changed, however, in a recent decision issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a Wisconsin law that requires individuals convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions to wear a GPS for life.  In that decision, the Court approved this Draconian requirement. …

Read More

Vandenberg SFB commander sued for denying retired veteran access over molestation conviction

(Tribune News Service) — A retired Air Force veteran in Santa Barbara County has filed a lawsuit against Vandenberg Space Force Base, accusing its commander of denying him access to the installation last year over a 30-year-old child molestation conviction, according to federal court documents. In a lawsuit filed May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 75-year-old plaintiff Joseph Simonson accused Col. Robert A. Long, commanding officer of Vandenberg SFB, for denying access over the 1992 conviction. Additionally, Simonson said Long denied access to “constitutionally” protected retirement benefits by preventing physical access to the…

Read More