An application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was filed today in federal district court requesting that enforcement of a sex offender ordinance in the City of Lancaster be halted. “The Lancaster ordinance denies the civil rights of more than 100,000 individuals and families in California,” stated Janice Bellucci, President of California Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL). “It prohibits people who made a mistake, but who have paid their debt to society from entering public places such as parks, schools and the library as well as private places such as…
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Another OC City Backs Off Sex Offender Ban
Westminster became the latest Orange County city to distance itself from a law banning sex offenders from city or county parks. A number of cities including Mission Viejo, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Laguna Niguel have similar bans, all of which could face challenges in court. An attorney who represents a sex offender in the Westminster case represents several offenders challenging similar bans around the county as an infringement on civil liberty. Many of the bans could depend on a pending appeals court decision about a Fountain Valley…
Read MoreNY: Bill O’Reilly – Gun Owners Compared To Sex Offenders
Former New York City mayoral candidate and author Mark Green advocated for new legislation that would allow people to identify and locate gun owners who lived in their neighborhoods. He compared it to the already existing “Megan’s Law,” which lets citizens know if a convicted sex offender lives near them. Then he flat-out compared sex offenders to gun owners. “If we have a Megan’s Law — because I think almost everyone might agree — that if you’re a convicted child molester, a neighbor might want to know that because they’re…
Read MoreCalifornia State Supreme Court to hear Jessica’s Law challenge
Today, more than two years after declining to rule on a law restricting where paroled sex offenders can live, the California Supreme Court agreed to again hear the case. Passed by voters in November 2006, Jessica’s Law includes a provision that bars parolees who’ve committed a sexual offense from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. A challenge over the residency restriction’s constitutionality and to whom the Jessica’s Law applies made its way up to the Supreme Court in 2010. The court declined to rule on the residency…
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL Meeting in Santa Maria on February 23
The first California RSOL meeting in Santa Maria will take place on February 23, 2013 at 9 am. As always, the meeting will focus upon issues of importance to registrants, such as residency restrictions and conditions of parole/probation and the status of pending lawsuit. Registrants, family members and supporters are invited to attend this free meeting. There will be no media or government officials. The meeting will be held at 1165 Stubblefield Road, Santa Maria, CA 93455, which is at the Unity Church near the intersection of Bradley and Stubblefield. Please…
Read MoreThe Year in Review… and Things to Come
The year 2012 was a remarkable year! The civil rights of registered citizens were recognized and protected by federal and state judges in a series of cases that (1) declared the Orange County park ban is preempted by state law, (2) stopped temporarily enforcement of Prop. 35’s requirements to disclose online identities, (3) prohibited the City of Simi Valley from requiring registrants to post a sign on the front door of their homes, and (4) blocked parole officers from applying residency restrictions to all parolees in San Diego County. In…
Read MoreNE: State told to pay $292K to firm that challenged sex offender laws
A federal judge has ordered Nebraska to pay more than $292,000 in attorneys’ fees in a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of changes to the state’s sex offender registry laws. But it was a fraction of the amount sought by the attorneys who represented the sex offenders who sued. The laws, the most recent changes to the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act, were passed in 2009 but put on hold as a result of the lawsuit before they were to go into effect in 2010. Full Article
Read MoreRights Group sues over Lancaster’s restrictions on sex offenders
Constitutional rights advocates sued the city of Lancaster on Tuesday to block a recently enacted ordinance banning registered sex offenders from going to – or even being near – the city’s parks, movie theaters and other public and private locations. “The ordinance basically violates the state and federal constitutions, and fails to protect public safety,” said Janice Bellucci, president of a group called California Reform Sex Offender Laws. Full Article
Read More[UPDATE 2 with Hearing Date] Court of Appeals to Review Orange County Ordinance
UPDATE 2: This case is now calendared for Thursday, 9-26-13 at 1:00 p.m.http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=43&doc_id=2030448&doc_no=G047657 *** UPDATE: This case will be heard on Monday, July 22, 2013 at 1:00 pm in the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division 3, Santa Ana, California. 4th District Div 3, 601 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, California 92701, Clerk’s Office (714) 571-2600http://www.courts.ca.gov/4dca.htm The California Court of Appeals has decided to review the ordinance passed by Orange County which prohibits all registrants from entering county parks, beaches, harbors and other recreational areas. The opening brief from the Office of the Public…
Read MoreNew York Culls Sex Offenders From the Online Gaming Ranks
SternisheFan writes with a story at PC Mag that New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has announced that more than 2000 registered sex offenders have been kicked off various online gaming platforms, in an cooperative effort involving both the state and various gaming companies. Full Article
Read MoreLake Forest reverses sex-offender ban in parks
LAKE FOREST – Three members of the City Council voted Tuesday to undo a law passed a year ago banning registered sex offenders from city parks. Mayor Kathryn McCullough, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts and Councilman Peter Herzog voted to remove the ban from the city’s books in light of a court ruling that a similar ordinance elsewhere is trumped by state law, and in the face of a federal lawsuit challenging the ban’s constitutionality. Full Article
Read MoreCA RSOL CHALLENGES LANCASTER SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE IN FEDERAL COURT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2012 California Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) today filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of Lancaster. The ordinance prohibits all sex offenders from entering both public and private areas, including the city’s library, museum, and parks as well as privately owned arcades and movie theaters. The bases for the challenge are violations of the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. constitution as well as Article XI of the California constitution. The ordinance was…
Read MoreCity of Lake Forest Take Final Action to Repeal Sex Offender Ordinance
The City Council of Lake Forest voted 3 to 2 to finally approve the repeal of the sex offender ordinance they adopted unanimously about a year ago. The Council preliminarily approved repeal of the ordinance at its meeting on December 4. “California RSOL thanks the Mayor and the City Council of Lake Forest for repealing a law that violated the civil rights of more than 100,000 law abiding citizens in the state of California and that did not increase public safety,” stated Janice Bellucci, President, California Reform Sex Offender Laws.…
Read MoreWhy We Fight to Keep Registered Sex Offenders Online
Believing that human trafficking is worsened by the internet’s anonymity, the sponsors of California’s Proposition 35 thought they had a simple solution to combating the problem: require convicted traffickers to register as sex offenders. Then require all individuals on California’s sex offender registry to disclose their online identities and service providers. The measure passed in the November election with 81 percent voter approval. This isn’t surprising, since Prop. 35 also increases criminal penalties for trafficking, uses criminal fines to fund victim services organizations, and mandates more law-enforcement training on human trafficking. But…
Read MoreCity of Lake Forest – Parks Ban Repeal, Second Reading 12/18
At the regular meeting of the City Council on December 4, 2012, the City Council considered and conducted the first reading of Ordinance No. 248. This Ordinance repeals Lake Forest Municipal Code Chapter 13.12 relating to registered sex offenders in City Parks. The second reading will take place on December 18 at 7 pm. Lake Forest City Hall, Council Chambers25550 Commercentre DriveLake Forest, California 92630 http://agenda2009.city-lakeforest.com/SIREPub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=482&doctype=AGENDA
Read MoreSeal Beach Considers Reversal of Sex Offender Ban
The Lake Forest City Council voted to reverse its ban on sex offenders in city parks last week, and Seal Beach might do the same. The Seal Beach City Council will meet in closed sessions Monday to discuss the possibility of ending a city law that prohibits sex offenders from Seal Beach recreation areas: parks, the pier, the jetties, the beach and beach parking lots. In March, the Council created the ordinance, which made the act a misdemeanor, on the urging of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Full Article
Read MoreArizona, states failing to find places for sex offenders to live
Arizona is not unique in its struggles to monitor and house sex offenders. No state does it well, experts say. An eight-month review by The Arizona Republic found troubling gaps in Arizona’s system of registering and monitoring sex offenders, with overlapping laws and restrictions contributing to homelessness among high-risk offenders. In central Phoenix and Tucson, many homeless sex offenders who are required to provide an address to authorities register to street corners because they have nowhere else to go. That leaves many homeless offenders largely unmonitored despite authorities’ efforts to…
Read MoreCity of Lake Forest Repeals Sex Offender Ordinance
The City Council of Lake Forest voted 4 to 0 to preliminarily approve the repeal of the sex offender ordinance they adopted unanimously a year ago. Final approval of the appeal is expected at the Council’s next meeting on December 18. “The Mayor and City Council of Lake Forest are to be commended for their courage in correcting a mistake they made one year ago,” stated Janice Bellucci, President, California Reform Sex Offender Laws. “Part of that mistake was reliance upon representations made by the Orange County District Attorney (DA)…
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