A bill has been introduced in the California State Assembly that would, if passed overturn a recent court decision and further limit the number of registered citizens who are eligible to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. That bill is AB 1438, which was introduced by Assembly Members Eric Linder (Republican, Riverside) on January 6. The California Court of Appeals decided in the case, People v. Tirey, on November 15, 2013, that registered citizens convicted of Penal Code Section 288(a) are eligible to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation. The court’s decision is based…
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Sex offender ordinance inspired by Phillip Garrido expected to be repealed in El Dorado County
PLACERVILLE – The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors is expected to repeal a 2-year-old sex offender ordinance Tuesday to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. The 2012 ordinance was inspired by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, the county’s most notorious sex offenders, who were convicted the year before of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her for 18 years. The measure forbids registered sex offenders from coming within 300 feet of parks, schools, libraries, public pools and other places where children congregate. “The ordinance that’s on the books today is, in fact, unconstitutional,”…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting in Los Angeles – February 8
The next CA RSOL meeting in Los Angeles will take place on February 8th at 10 am, at the usual location – the ACLU building at 1313 W. 8th Street in Los Angeles. Registrants, family and friends, supporters and professionals are welcome to attend. Media and Government officials are not invited in order to ensure everyone’s privacy. We will discuss current topics, changes in the laws as well as pending litigation and advocacy strategies. Please join us on February 8th – Show up, Stand up, Speak up!
Read MoreSierra Madre Stops Enforcement of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City of Sierra Madre has agreed to stop enforcement of its sex offender ordinance, which prohibited all registered sex offenders, from residing in most of the city and from being present in child safety zones that included the city’s schools, parks and public library. The Sierra Madre City Council approved this action on December 10 after being sued in federal district court by one of the city’s four registered citizens. The legal challenge was based upon allegations that the city ordinance violated the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S.…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting – January 11 in San Diego
The first regular CA RSOL meeting of 2014 will be held in San Diego on January 11 at 10 am. As always, the meeting will be open and free of charge to registrants, friends & family and supporters. Media and government officials are not invited in order to ensure all attendee’s privacy. The meeting will cover general topics of interest, as well as specific issues pertinent at meeting time, in addition to offering invaluable opportunities to network with others affected by this issue, as well as activists and professionals. Meeting…
Read MoreViewpoint: Sex offenders need stronger punishments
Baylor Lariat – A couple months ago, more than 100 people convened in Los Angeles for the Fifth Annual National Reform Sex Offender Laws conference, “Justice for All.” The purpose of the conference is to shed light and try to bring about reform of national and state sex offender laws that they claim deny the civil rights of more than 750,000 sex offenders. I find this to be offensive. These laws exist for a reason and they exist to protect everyone, especially children. To think that, as a sexual offender, your…
Read MoreFear the Bogeyman: Sex Offender Panic on Halloween
It can be said that sex offenders are the new bogeymen, mythical monsters invented to scare children into social order. People convicted of sex offenses, and subsequently placed on the public registry, are transformed into a concept of evil, which is then personified as a group of faceless, terrifying, and predatory devils. It would appear that this strategy is used to keep sex offenders at a distance, in turn keeping our children and families safe from harm. But in reality, such fantasy does just the opposite: ignoring the realities of…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting in Fresno – November 9
On November 9, 2013, Attorney Janice Bellucci with California Reform Sex Offender Laws (www.californiarsol.org) will be in Fresno to talk about her role in helping offenders who must register, to understand they have a civil rights attorney to help them. Janice has filed lawsuits against California Cities, that restrict sex offenders from going into public buildings or other public areas. She has successfully sued and won to have these ordinances repealed. Another guest is Clare Ann Ruth Heffelbower from Fresno Pacific University. She is the Director of the COSA program…
Read MoreManufacturing Fear: Halloween Laws for Sex Offenders
In North Carolina, a sheriff tells parents to check the online sex offender registry before allowing children to trick-or-treat. In Montana, a town offers a “trunk-or-treat” event where kids can get Halloween candy from trunks of cars in a parking lot to avoid potential danger. In New York, “Operation Halloween: Zero Tolerance” prohibits sex offenders from wearing masks or costumes or answering their doors on Halloween, and, as a parole source says, “There is certainly nothing more frightening than the thought of one of these men opening their door to…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting on November 16 – Los Angeles
California RSOL will hold its next monthly meeting on Saturday November 16 at the usual location, the ACLU building at 1313 W. 8th Street in Los Angeles. The meeting will start at 10 am and cover general topics of interest, as well as specific issues pertinent at meeting time, in addition to offering invaluable opportunities to network with others affected by this issue, as well as activists and professionals. One topic already on the agenda is the expected decision on the “Godinez” case, which prohibits 290 Registrants from entering Orange County…
Read MorePaedophiles Driven Out By ‘Pocket Parks’
Communities in the US who say their neighbourhoods have been blighted by high concentrations of registered sex offenders have found an unusual way of driving them away. The phenomenon of ‘pocket parks’, which are built on patches of waste land, is spreading across the country and forcing sex offenders to move out. Under Jessica’s Law, which is named in honour of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford who was abducted and murdered by a convicted sex offender, anyone on the register cannot live within 2,000 feet of a park or school. Because of that,…
Read MoreCity of Orange Gives Final Approval to Repeal of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City Council of the City of Orange, in a vote of 4 to 1, gave final approval on October 8 to repeal a city law that required registered citizens to post a sign in front of their residence on Halloween. The City’s first vote on this issue took place on September 24, only six days after a lawsuit was filed in federal district court challenging the ordinance. Prior to filing the lawsuit, the City was asked on September 3 to repeal the ordinance, but failed to consider the issue…
Read MoreSex offenders congregate to reform laws they consider too harsh
American Bar Association Journal – More than 700,000 people are now registered sex offenders, and some among that group are fighting to change or overturn laws that they consider too harsh. More than 100 people attended a conference held in Los Angeles a few weeks ago to advocate for reform, the New York Times reports. Those attending the meeting—and other conferences like it—claim the sex offender laws are unconstitutional and ineffective. In California, for example, sex offenders can’t live within 2,000 feet of a school, park or playground. In the state’s Orange…
Read MoreIs It ‘Very Offensive’ for Sex Offenders to Demand Just and Sensible Laws?
The New York Times notes a recent conference in Los Angeles aimed at calling attention to the excesses and injustices of laws aimed at sex offenders. The Times reports that the 100 or so attendees—sex offenders plus their girlfriends, wives, and mothers—”hope to convince judges, lawmakers and the public that indiscriminate laws aimed at all sex offenders are unconstitutional and ineffective.” Illustrating the mentality they are fighting, Nina Salarno-Ashford, a lawyer with Crime Victims United, tells the Times. [quote cite=”Nina Salarno-Ashford”]I find it very offensive that registered sex offenders are trying to defeat…
Read MoreRestricted Group Speaks Up, Saying Sex Crime Measures Go Too Far
NY Times … A few weeks ago, more than 100 people — sex offenders, almost all of them men, along with wives, girlfriends and mothers — came from around the country to “Justice for All: A Conference to Reform Sexual Offense Laws.” They and others have formed associations and are holding conferences like this one to argue that a wave of legal penalties and restrictions washing across the country has gone too far. They hope to convince judges, lawmakers and the public that indiscriminate laws aimed at all sex offenders are…
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL Challenge Featured on National TV Show [updated with show]
California RSOL and its recent legal challenge to the Halloween ordinance in the City of Orange that required registered citizens to post a sign in front of their residences will be discussed on “The Doctors”, a national TV show, on September 30 on CBS. The discussion is a 5-minute segment that includes “the doctors”, a mother from the City of Orange and CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci, “This is an important opportunity to educate the public on one way in which the civil rights of registered citizens have been violated,”…
Read MoreCalifornia Sex Offenders Get Halloween Victory
An Orange, Calif., ordinance that required registered sex offenders to post a sign on their front door on Halloween has been repealed, less than a week after a federal lawsuit was filed claiming the practice was unconstitutional. For the approximately 100 registered sex offenders in the city of Orange, it was a matter of their own personal safety, said Janice Bellucci, an attorney representing the plaintiff and head of California Reform Our Sex Offender Laws, an advocacy group that fights for the civil rights of registered sex offenders. “It means…
Read MoreOrange City Council Repeals Halloween Sign Ordinance
The City Council of Orange, in a vote of 4 to 0, voted in favor of repealing a city ordinance that required registrants to post a sign on the front door of their residence for 24 hours on Halloween. The vote was taken after a lengthy discussion which included a recommendation by the City Attorney to repeal that requirement. “California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) thanks the City Council of Orange for upholding the constitution in tonight’s vote,” stated Janice Bellucci, president of CA RSOL. “It is unfortunate, however,…
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