Our tenacity paid off! More than 18 months, 3 lawsuits and 2 protests later, the City of Carson has repealed its presence restrictions. In a vote of 3 to 0, the City Council decided to rid the City of Carson of its presence restrictions which both violated state law and denied the civil rights of more than 100,000 individuals. This important vote was taken despite a proclamation in 2014 by a member of the City Council to “declare war” upon registered citizens. This important vote was taken because we did…
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Carson Revises Presence Restrictions [updated with media]
Media links at the bottom – The Carson City Council agreed on December 1 to revise the city’s ordinance which restricts where registered citizens may be present. As a result of the revisions, registered citizens may soon visit public sites such as parks, libraries, and swimming pools as well as private sites such as fast food restaurants. “At long last the City of Carson has decided to comply with existing state law by revising its ordinance,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. The City ordinance was initially challenged in a…
Read MoreSue-Happy Sex Offender Frank Lindsay Throws His Latest Legal Papers at Long Beach
A San Luis Obispo County sex offender who sued Santa Ana in May 2014–and has sued several other California cities in attempts to overturn local laws targeting perverts–now has his legal team trained on Long Beach. Janice Bellucci, president of CA Reform Sex Offender Laws and Lindsay’s attorney, tells the Weekly she has filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles to challenge Long Beach’s sex offender residency restrictions. Specifically, it’s an ordinance adopted by the City Council that prohibits most registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of…
Read MoreSex offender sues Long Beach for right to live near schools, parks, day care centers
A San Luis Obispo County man is suing the city of Long Beach over restrictions that he says make it impossible to move to or even visit the area. Frank Lindsay says in legal papers that a 2008 ordinance prevents him and other registered sex offenders from living, either temporarily or permanently, in much of the city. Full Article
Read MoreCriminally Yours: Sex In Vegas
I spent the weekend in Las Vegas not having fun, but taking a CLE on how to defend sex assault cases, particularly those involving Internet child porn. Lawyers came from all over the country, even states with populations as small as Wyoming, where there are more cows than people. Full Article Related Educating Attorneys That they CAN WIN – Las Vegas, NACDL, November 19-20, 2015
Read MoreTwelve Sex Offenders Arrested Along the American River Parkway
A dozen sex offenders were taken into custody last weekend after law enforcement made a sweep of the American River Parkway. During a three day operation, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies talked to 284 people, and arrested 28. Deputy Tony Turnbull says of those arrests, 12 were sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreEven after release, California convicts contend with digital trail
Visitors to the 1998 California state fair were treated to demonstrations of a novel criminal justice tool: a computer that allowed them to look up information about registered sex offenders. Nearly two decades later, the novelty has vanished. A few clicks on a personal computer summon the name, address and record of sex offenders filed in the state’s Megan’s Law database. Every state in the nation now maintains a database of registered sex offenders. Full Article Related REGISTRANTS SUE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE — DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS TO, OR END OF,…
Read MoreRegistered Citizen Challenges Long Beach Residency Restrictions
A sex offender (“registrant”) wishing to relocate to the City of Long Beach where he conducts business filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging sex offender residency restrictions. An ordinance adopted by the City Council of Long Beach prohibits most registrants from living within 2,000 feet of a child day care center, park, or school. The lawsuit will be served tomorrow on the City of Long Beach. CA Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit today on behalf of plaintiff Frank Lindsay. “Long Beach’s residency…
Read MoreEducating Attorneys That they CAN WIN – Las Vegas, NACDL, November 19-20, 2015
RSOL is excited to announce that Janice Bellucci will lead our exhibit at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) Sex Crimes Training Seminar in Las Vegas. This exhibit is a fantastic opportunity for RSOL to network with and appeal to attorneys to join with us because the NACDL is the premier national organization of defense lawyers. We often hear that RSOL should clone Ms. Bellucci so that we can file challenges across the country. We agree, and believe that she is the best person to represent us at…
Read MoreCourt Expands Eligibility for Certificates of Rehabilitation [with CORRECTION]
CORRECTION: The information in the article below is based upon a court document from 2014 that was mistakenly identified as a 2015 appellate court decision. Regrettably, this year’s decision did not expand eligibility, but instead eliminated eligibility for many individuals to apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation. A California Court of Appeal issued a decision this week that expands eligibility for registrants to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. The decision, People v. Tirey, states that a registrant who was convicted of PC 288(a) and who completed parole 13 years…
Read MoreWhat’s In a Date?
When Frank Lindsay walked into his home to find a young man wielding two hammers—one in each hand—in his dining room, he assumed he had disrupted a robbery. It wasn’t until the man called him a “pervert” that Lindsay realized he was the target of a planned attack. Full Article
Read MoreREGISTRANTS SUE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE — DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS TO, OR END OF, MEGAN’S LAW WEBSITE [updated with media]
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) and two registrants today will file a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting immediate changes to, or in the alternative, the ending of, the state’s Megan’s Law website. The request is based upon the failure of the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to comply with a state law that required the agency to add conviction and release dates to individuals’ profiles on that website by 2010. “The California Department of Justice continues to act illegally and in violation of state law,”…
Read MoreCDCR Withdraws Halloween Sign Requirement Statewide
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced in federal district court its decision to withdraw a statewide requirement that sex offender parolees post a sign on the front door of their residences on Halloween. Immediately following that announcement, CA RSOL withdrew its request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). “This is a significant victory for more than 10,000 registered citizens and their families,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “They are no longer faced with the risk of significant injury.” CA RSOL and plaintiff John Doe were…
Read MoreCDCR Lawsuit Expanded, TRO Hearing Set October 26
A lawsuit challenging CDCR’s requirement that registered citizens post signs on the front door of their residences on Halloween has been expanded to include an individual in Los Angeles. Similar to the original plaintiff in the case who lives in San Diego County, the man in L.A. was told by his parole officer that he must post a sign on the front door of his home. “Both plaintiffs believe their lives will be in danger if they post a sign on the front door of their homes,” stated CA RSOL…
Read MoreLawsuit challenges Halloween sex offender requirement [update 3 with more media links]
This story has been picked up by Reuters News Service and was on the main page of US msn.com (screenshot). http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-sex-offender-sues-over-halloween-sign-and-rules/ SAN DIEGO — The group California Reform Sex Offender Laws and a sex offender on parole filed a lawsuit in San Diego federal court Wednesday challenging a requirement that sex offenders on parole post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween, as required by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Full Article Related Media http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Registered-Sex-Offender-Sues-Halloween-Safety-Program-333742971.html http://www.kogo.com/onair/demaio-report-56776/demaio-report-commentary-lawsuit-seeks-to-14038184 Carl DeMaio asks tough questions of the attorney…
Read MoreCA RSOL Challenges Halloween Sign Requirement in Federal Court [updated with complaint]
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) and a registrant on parole filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging a requirement that registrants on parole post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The requirement is levied by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as a blanket restriction on all registrant parolees in San Diego. “CDCR’s requirement that all registrant parolees post a sign on the front door of their residence violates the First Amendment because it compels speech,” stated Janice Bellucci, attorney…
Read MoreMurrieta Residency Restrictions Challenged in Federal Court
A registrant wishing to relocate to the City of Murrieta is challenging the residency restrictions adopted by the City of Murrieta, located in Riverside County. The restrictions prohibit most registrants from living within 2,000 feet of a child day care center, park, or school. CA Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit on October 6 on behalf of plaintiff Frank Lindsay. “Murrieta’s residency restrictions effectively banish most registrants from residing in that city,” stated Bellucci. “The restrictions prohibit registrants from living in at least 90…
Read More2015 RSOL Conference Videos are online
Just in time for the weekend, video recorded presentations from the 2015 RSOL Conference in Dallas are online for public viewing. Presentations that may be of interest include International Travel, Starting Your Own Business, as well as several talks by Janice Bellucci. http://rsolconference.org/conference-videos/2015-videos-2/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/ReformSexOffenderLaw
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