A partnership between the US Marshals and state and local police has sharply increased arrests of sex offenders who fail to register. Full Article
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Where are sex offenders? Jessica’s Law complicates monitoring
The number of homeless sex offenders has skyrocketed since Jessica’s Law went into effect, and after the recent arrest of two serial killer suspects some experts say the law to protect women and children is backfiring. Unable to live near schools and parks, some registered offenders end up living on the streets, making it difficult for them to find jobs and forcing them into areas where they end up congregating. Before the residency restrictions brought by Jessica’s Law eight years ago, 88 paroled sex offenders were registered as transient in California.…
Read MoreTX: Sex offender gets 85-year sentence
A College Station man was sentenced to 85 years in prison Friday for his third failure to register as a sex offender offense. ____ ____ ____, 52, will not be eligible for probation consideration until he has served at least a quarter of his sentence. Crawford pleaded guilty in 1984 to the sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman. The now-48-year-old testified Thursday in the punishment phase of ____’s trial. Article
Read MoreNorth State Psychotherapist wants changes to Megan’s Law
Dawn Horwitz-Person is a Sex Offender Treatment Specialist in Chico. She deals with some of the most violent and dangerous convicted sex offenders in the north state. She has also been featured on “Oprah,” and “Anderson Cooper 360.” Oprah Winfrey flew to Chico in 2010 to meet with Horwitz-Person and four of her patients, who openly discussed how and why they chose their victims. Horwitz-Person is one of many California Phycho-therapists hoping for changes to the California Department of Justice’s sex offender registry Megan’s Law, because she says it is…
Read MoreNeel Kashkari trails registered sex offender in new governor poll
Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari was already facing an uphill climb to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown this year, and now a new poll shows just how steep that hill is — he’s trailing a registered sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreCities scramble after sex offender ruling
Three cities and San Diego County are reviewing their bans on sex offenders being near schools and parks this week after the California Supreme Court declined to review lower court rulings declaring similar restrictions illegal. National City, La Mesa, Santee and the county have all adopted ordinances that prohibit sex offenders from being within 300 feet of a school, day care center, arcade, playground, park or amusement center, to some degree. Full Article
Read MoreIs there a loophole in CA’s tracking of sex offenders?
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —Certain sex offenders are supposed to be tracked and monitored, even after they’re released from prison. But according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, hundreds of them have registered as transient — and some are doing so to avoid detection and certain living restrictions. Full Article
Read MoreAPPELLATE COURT INCREASES ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTIFICATES OF REHABILITATION
The California Court of Appeal issued a decision today (April 25) that increases the eligibility of registered citizens who may apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. That is, the court determined that individuals convicted of Penal Code 288(a) may apply for such a certificate. “The court’s decision today is important to a small group of registered citizens who wish to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “Unfortunately, it does not guarantee that any registered citizen will actually obtain a certificate.” The appellate court’s decision…
Read MoreSex offender data threatening home values, tarnishing neighborhoods and frustrating real estate agents
Allan Van Inwegen said he received some unsettling news almost immediately after moving into a home with his wife and two children about 14 years ago. His neighbors told him they were living in a property right next door to a sex offender, “who happened to be 17 with a green mohawk,” said Inwegen, a broker in Denver. But after some digging, he discovered that the offender wasn’t exactly a menace. The 17-year-old had had sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend, and the girl’s father, a preacher, had caught them and…
Read MoreCALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON CITY, COUNTY ORDINANCES
[Updated with media links] The California Supreme Court today denied review of a lower court’s decision that, in effect, bans cities and counties from enforcing ordinances that restrict where a registered citizen may be present or near. Review by the Court was requested by the Orange County District Attorney. “Today’s decision is a major victory,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “Through its denial to review a lower court decision, the California Supreme Court has ruled that ordinances in more than 70 cities and 5 counties are preempted by existing…
Read MoreSanta Maria attorney files sex offender lawsuit against Lompoc
A Santa Maria attorney has filed a complaint in federal district court on behalf of a Grover Beach resident against the city of Lompoc over a sex offender ordinance the city adopted, claiming it violates both the federal and state constitutions. Attorney Janice Bellucci, who also serves as president of the California chapter of the nonprofit organization Reform Sex Offender Laws, filed the complaint on behalf of registered sex offender Frank Lindsay, 61, who serves as a board member for the chapter. Full Article
Read MoreSupreme Court sets aside $3.4-million verdict for child-porn victim
WASHINGTON — Victims of child pornography whose images of sexual abuse have circulated on the Internet may claim damages from every person caught with illegal images, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. But justices rejected the idea that a single person who possesses such images may be assessed the full amount due to the victim, setting aside a $3.4-million verdict against a Texas man in a favor of a woman whose childhood rape was photographed and widely circulated on the Internet. Full Article Also see: http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/04/opinion-analysis-dividing-the-duty-to-pay-for-child-porn/ (Analysis) http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/04/23/67276.htm
Read MoreNM: Court urges rewrite of state’s child porn law
New Mexico’s highest court on Monday overturned more than two dozen convictions in separate child pornography cases in a ruling that drew sharp criticism from Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, a former prosecutor. The state Supreme Court said the defendants can be charged with only one felony count of possessing child pornography despite having many pornographic images of children. Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said the ruling “will place children at risk.” Full Article
Read MorePolice can stop vehicles based on anonymous 911 tips, justices rule
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court has upheld the authority of police officers to stop cars and question their drivers based on an anonymous tip to a hot line. In a 5-4 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the justices ruled that such stops do not amount to an unreasonable search or seizure, even if the arresting officer did not observe the vehicle speeding or swaying while driving down the highway. Full Article
Read MoreRevolt over school’s honor for sex offender folk icon
Folk singer and convicted sex offender ____ _____ will be honored by La Guardia HS for the Performing Arts next month, enraging parents and prompting a dozen “uncomfortable” students to refuse to sing for him. Full Article
Read MoreLOMPOC SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT
Lompoc is the fifth city whose sex offender ordinance is being challenged in federal district court. The lawsuit was filed on April 21 in the U.S. District Court Central Division. “The City of Lompoc was notified in January that its ordinance violates the state and federal constitutions yet the city failed to either repeal or stay enforcement of that ordinance,” stated attorney Janice Bellucci. “Lompoc did not learn the lesson of the first four cities to be sued — Pomona, South Lake Tahoe, National City and Carson — earlier this…
Read MoreSteinberg seeks sex offender review beyond ‘what sounds good’
SACRAMENTO– California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg says he’ll seek a state investigation into California’s supervision of sex offenders that goes beyond the circumstances of two Orange County transients recently accused of killing multiple women while they were supervised by state and federal agents and tracked on electronic monitors. Steinberg’s staff said Friday that the Sacramento Democrat planned Monday to formally request a probe by the office of inspector general. However, speaking at a public policy forum Monday afternoon, Steinberg said his office is still drafting a call for an inquiry into the…
Read MoreMO: How robbing a pot dealer puts you on the sex offender list
On a January evening in 2004, four young men were visiting an acquaintance who lived in an apartment in Maplewood. Also living in the apartment was a 17-year-old who attended an alternative high school. His name was Eddie. Word was that Eddie sold pot. Full Article
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