ASCOL wants to hear from registrants in California who have paid or considered paying attorneys for: Application for a gubernatorial (Governor’s) pardon; Petition for termination from the sex offender registry when you are assigned to Tier 3 or otherwise ineligible for removal; or Evaluating your eligibility for a pardon application or tiered registry petition when you are assigned to Tier 3 or otherwise ineligible for removal. It appears that California attorneys sometimes advertise and/or charge large amounts for these services when there is little or no chance for success. ACSOL…
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Action Alert for CA: Time to Sign Up for Lobby Day in Sacramento on March 21
It’s time to sign up for Lobby Day in Sacramento on March 21. You can use the link below to let ACSOL know that you will participate. There is no fee required to participate and, in fact, there will be free parking, free coffee and even a free lunch. Please park in the parking lot of the Hyatt Hotel located at 1209 L Street as long as your vehicle fits in that lot. Get a parking ticket and ACSOL will reimburse you for the full amount. Training will begin in…
Read MoreCA Registrants Lacking Tier Assignment Can Get Help
During this week’s meeting of the CA Sex Offender Management Board, it was announced that any person who currently lacks a tier assignment can obtain information about their tier assignment or lack of a tier assignment from the CA Department of Justice. According to that announcement, registrants seeking this information should send an email to the CA Department of Justice to this address: [email protected]
Read MoreACSOL Presents to CASOMB Proposed Changes to CA Tiered Registry Law
ACSOL made a presentation today to the CA Sex Offender Management Board regarding proposed changes to the CA Tiered Registry Law. The presentation included seven proposed changes and was made by ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. The proposed changes are (1) reduce from Tier 3 to Tier 1 individuals convicted of a non-production felony child pornography offense, (2) clarify that courts may consider a petition for removal from the registry even if the individual does not have a tier assignment, (3) reduce from Tier 3 to Tier 2 individuals convicted…
Read MoreCA: A Federal Judge Says the DOJ’s Sex Offender SORNA Registration Rules Violate Due Process by Requiring the Impossible
Source: reason.com 1/19/23 Justice Department regulations threaten people with prosecution for failing to register even when their state no longer requires it. A rule that Attorney General Merrick Garland issued in 2021 notionally requires people to do things that are plainly impossible. If they have been convicted of a sex offense, they must register with their state, even when the state neither requires nor allows them to do so. They also must supply the state with all the information required by federal law, even when the state does not collect…
Read MoreCA Court Blocks DOJ’s new SORNA Rule Because it Violated Due Process and First Amendment
Los Angeles: A California court last week blocked the Department of Justice’s new Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act rule because it violated due process and the First Amendment. “The DOJ almost never loses these cases. That they lost here goes to show just how far out on a limb the DOJ is with this rule,” said Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The rule clearly violated due process and free speech protections. And while the court felt bound by precedent to conclude that the rule didn’t violate the…
Read MoreCA: Release of Sex Offender Into Community Is Blocked
Source: metnews.com 1/10/23 The release of a sexually violent offender into a community following an involuntary hospital confinement after he served his prison sentence can be blocked by setting up the home schooling of children within close proximity to where the former inmate is scheduled to reside, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has declared, over a dissent. At issue is Welfare & Institutions Code §6608.5(f) which provides that “a person released under this section shall not be placed within one-quarter mile of any public or private school providing instruction…
Read MoreACSOL Files Lawsuit Due to CA DOJ Failure to Provide Tier Assignments
ACSOL filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court today alleging that the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) has failed to provide tier assignments to thousands of California registrants and thus violated a state law that required all registrants to receive a tier assignment by December 31, 2022. As a result of the agency’s failure, there are thousands of registrants who are being prohibited from petitioning for removal from the registry. According to the lawsuit, CA DOJ failed to provide tier assignments to 12,438 registrants as of November 2022. This…
Read MoreACSOL to Lead CA Lobby Day on March 21
ACSOL will lead the California Lobby Day on March 21 in Sacramento. The primary focus of Lobby Day is to advocate for changes to the CA Tiered Registry Law that could significantly increase the number of registrants eligible to petition for removal from the registry. More than half of all CA registrants (48,631) have been assigned to Tier 3, the highest tier, which makes them ineligible to petition for removal. In addition, more than 12,400 registrants have not yet received a tier assignment and are also ineligible to petition for…
Read MoreCA: Steven Tyler Accused of Sexual Assault of a Minor in New Lawsuit Over a Decades-Old Claim
Source: yahoo.com 12/29/22 A woman who claims to have had an illicit relationship with Steven Tyler in the Seventies when she was a minor has filed a lawsuit against the Aerosmith singer, accusing him of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed following California legislation that temporarily waived statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse allegations. Read the full article
Read MoreCA: Child-sex offender faces felonies for living in High Desert home but claiming homelessness
Source: vvdailypress.com 1/2/23 A registered sex offender last convicted in California less than six years ago for child-sex abuse is now behind bars on two felony charges for allegedly “giving false information to law enforcement” by claiming to be homeless despite having taken up residence in a High Desert home. John Ray ____, 57, was arrested shortly before noon last Wednesday on the outskirts of Apple Valley at a home that authorities say he’s been living in without registering it as a residence he uses in legally-required updates to his…
Read MoreCA: Colleges experiment with restorative justice in sexual assault cases
Source: calmatters.org/ 12/28/22 When a sexual assault survivor walks into Alexandra Fulcher’s office at Occidental College, it’s the first step in a process fraught with consequences for both the survivor and the accused. If Fulcher, the school’s Title IX director, launches an official investigation, the survivor could be asked to recount their trauma and cross-examined about it in a live hearing. Their alleged assaulter could be expelled. But for the past year, survivors at Occidental have had another option. They can participate in a restorative justice conference with the person…
Read MoreCA: Nearly 300 Sue Over Alleged Sexual Abuse at LA County Youth Detention Centers
Source: nbclosangeles.com 12/28/22 Nearly 300 people are suing Los Angeles County, alleging decades-long sexual abuse in various detention centers for minors. The third complaint against the LA County Probation Department was accuses probation officers of sexually abusing boys and girls. The suit was filed thanks to a 2020 California law that gave victims three years to sue over sexual abuse that happened decades ago. The latest lawsuit, which involves 279 alleged victims of sexual abuse at LA County detention centers for minors, follows two previously filed suits involving 70 women.…
Read MoreCA: Sexual misconduct allegations made against California correctional officer; 22 potential victims identified
Source: ktla.com 12/28/22 Allegations that a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer sexually abused nearly two dozen incarcerated women has been sent to a district attorney’s office for possible charges, CDCR officials said Wednesday. An investigation began in July after the CDCR’s Office of Internal Affairs discovered information that suggested Officer Gregory was assaulting women at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. Officials identified more than 22 potential victims as a result of the investigation, the CDCR stated in a news release. “____ shamefully hid behind his badge…
Read MoreCA: California county bans landlords from conducting criminal background checks for housing
Source: foxnews.com 12/22/22 A California county has passed an ordinance that will ban landlords from conducting criminal background checks on prospective tenants, a move made in an effort to make it easier to get housing and curb discrimination. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to adopt a Fair Chance housing ordinance. One member abstained. The ordinance is part of a package of tenant protection bills. The measure will prohibit both private and public landlords from requiring applicants to disclose arrests or convictions. It also bans advertising…
Read MoreCA: UK’s DailyMail spreads stereotypes and lies about registrants
Source: dailymail.co.uk 12/21/22 DailyMail.com’s analysis of a California sex offender database reveals that nearly 2,000 convicted pedophiles are living together in groups of three or more in ‘pedophile dens’ in the state Some of the ‘pedophile dens’ are just a block away from schools DailyMail.com also spoke to residents of the ‘dens’ and even got a tour of one property housing several child molesters We can reveal that a $1million, 6-bed home in Northridge, California, with a tennis court, is home to six pedophiles with some of the most heinous…
Read MoreAppellate Court Denies Registrants Access to Jury Service
Source: ACSOL An appellate court in California today issued a decision that, in effect, denies everyone convicted of a felony sex offense who is currently required to register from serving on a jury. According to that court, serving as a juror “is not a fundamental right” and the exclusion of those registrants from juries “serves the legitimate state goal of ensuring impartial jury verdicts.” Today’s decision by the First Appellate District Court of Appeal is the court’s response to an appeal filed in November 2021. In that appeal, plaintiffs asked…
Read MoreCA: L.A. County sheriff’s deputy under investigation after sex act is caught on hot mic
Source: latimes.com 12/15/22 The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a deputy for allegedly engaging in a sex act during a break and broadcasting the tryst over her radio, officials said Thursday A short audio recording first made public by TMZ captured part of the alleged encounter. In it, a woman laughs and says, “You’re going to rip my underwear!” A man replies and a beep common on police radios sounds. A source familiar with the investigation, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said the woman’s voice…
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