Source: Placer County DA on Instagram 9/16/24 Today, the Placer County Superior Court held a check-in for the release of state-designated Sexually Violent Predator William Stephenson. The District Attorney’s Office’s assigned prosecutor was present at the hearing alongside county counsel and joined by county representatives, and community members to monitor the update given to the court. William Stephenson appeared virtually with the Department of State Hospitals and their contractor, Liberty Healthcare. DSH reported they are currently assessing an undisclosed location in Placer County. They reported once the state does…
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CA: Man killed within 45 min. of being placed in Alameda Co. jail cell with SVP
Source: kron4.com 9/5/24 [ACSOL is posting this to show how the actions of one registrant can negatively affect all registrants] DUBLIN, Calif. (KRON) – Alameda County is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit after an inmate, Yuri Brand, was slain inside Santa Rita Jail. Attorneys claim Alameda County Sheriff Deputies – who are Santa Rita Jail’s guards – “negligently placed” Brand and a violent sex offender into the same cell. Approximately 45 minutes later, the complaint alleges the inmate with mental health issues killed his new cellmate by choking him…
Read MoreCA DOJ to Send Notices to Those Convicted of Attempted Offenses
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) will send notices to those convicted of an attempted offense regarding the lowering of their tier assignment, according to a message received from that agency. The notices will be mailed to the homes of those who are affected by this change. CA DOJ sent an email message yesterday to an attorney who requested in June 2024 a new tier assignment for an individual convicted of an attempted offense. This request was made after a court issued a decision in March 2024…
Read MoreCA: California Supreme Court upholds law that treats rapists more harshly than some murderers
Source: sfchronicle.com 8/29/24 Prisoners serving life terms for violent sex crimes committed between ages 18 and 25 are not entitled to a parole hearing after 25 years, even though such hearings are available for some convicted murderers, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The so-called one-strike sentences, approved by the California voters in 2006 and expanded by the Legislature in 2010, made violent sex offenders ineligible for early parole hearings because of the seriousness of their crimes and the danger they could pose after release, the court said. Lawmakers reasonably…
Read MoreCA: Background Check Vendors Reckon With Increased Job Bias Scrutiny
Source: bloomberglaw.com 8/23/24 Third-party employee screening companies are finding themselves more in the litigation fray in California for blocking job seekers with criminal records thanks to a growing advocacy and legal movement that’s pushing to hold them accountable alongside employers. A group of background check companies—DISA Global Solutions Inc., the Health and Safety Council, and the North American Background Screening Consortium—and three oil refinery businesses are accused of using a rating system that screens out otherwise qualified candidates solely based on their previous convictions that have no adverse relationship with…
Read MoreCA: California courts now required to advise defendants of possible SVP plea consequences
Source: kpbs.org 8/26/24 The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that trial courts will be required to advise defendants of the consequences of pleading guilty to crimes that could make them eligible for designation as a sexually violent predator, in a ruling stemming from a case out of El Cajon. The state’s highest court found that typically, defendants are not informed that their pleas to certain charges could result in being designated as a sexually violent predator, or SVP, which could lead to an indefinite commitment to a state hospital for…
Read MoreCA: Sacramento County DA’s Office accuses judge of creating an illegal plea deal with a man accused of grabbing five different women
Source: msn.com 8/17/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A disagreement in a courtroom is spilling out into the public arena. The Sacramento County District Attorney (SCDA) is accusing a judge of creating an illegal plea deal with a man accused of grabbing five different women from behind in the Natomas area. “After five incidents of him approaching five separate women, touching their buttocks,” said Sonia Martinez-Satchell, Deputy District Attorney with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney’s office says those incidents happened in parking lots in Natomas over two months beginning in September…
Read MoreACSOL CA Good News Alert: Senate Bill 1128 Stopped in Committee Hearing
CA Senate Bill 1128 was stopped today during a hearing conducted by the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee. The committee did not provide a reason for stopping the bill, but it has been reported that strong opposition to the bill by ACSOL and its leaders was an important part of that decision. “ACSOL thanks every person who showed up at the committee hearing on July 2, who sent a letter to the committee and who called committee members,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “You made a difference by showing up,…
Read MoreCA Alert: California Governor’s Pardon will generally NOT terminate a duty to register
Dear registrants, family members, and supporters: Many private attorneys and public defenders indicate that a pardon by the California governor will terminate your duty to register. Some attorneys charge thousands of dollars to submit pardon applications. However, California Attorney General’s Office, which is responsible for maintaining California’s sex offender registry, will NOT terminate sex offense registration following a gubernatorial pardon grant, unless the Governor makes an express finding that the grantee is factually innocent of the sex crime triggering the registration requirement. Governor Newsom has granted no pardons…
Read MoreCalifornia budget watchdog opposes prison for child-sex buyers — too expensive
Source: thecentersquare.com 8/8/24 The California Department of Finance filed formal opposition against a bill that would create stronger criminal penalties for individuals who solicit sex from children, saying imprisoning more buyers of sex from underage prostitutes would be too expensive. SB 1414, by State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, originally would have made attempted or successful solicitation of sex with a minor for money a felony with a prison sentence ranging from 2 to 4 years, a fine not exceeding $25,000, and registration as a sex offender — regardless of whether…
Read MoreCA: Prostitution Surveillance Video Recording Tower Goes Up in San Diego
Source: reason.com 8/5/24 Warrantless surveillance, Comic Con “sex trafficking,” and the persistence of trafficking myths Moral panic about sex work leads to law enforcement practices that reach far beyond anyone engaged in or with erotic labor. The latest example comes from San Diego County, California, where cops are putting up a creepy surveillance tower under the auspice of stopping sex sellers and sex buyers from meeting. The prostitution surveillance tower, stationed along National City’s Roosevelt Avenue, will record video of anyone who happens to be in the area. Read the…
Read MoreCA: Registrant who ‘started 160,000 acre California wildfire by pushing his burning car into gully’ is pictured – as inferno triggers terrifying fire tornado
Source: dailymail.co.uk 7/25/24 A California sex offender has been arrested for allegedly starting a 160,000 acre wildfire – the state’s largest this year. Ronnie ____ II, 42, was caught pushing his burning car into a gulley in upper Bidwell Park near the city of Chico on Wednesday, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office announced. The vehicle then tumbled 60 feet down an embankment, sparking a fire tornado that engulfed more than 71,000 acres of northern California overnight and prompted mass evacuations. Read the full article
Read MoreChanges to be Made in Treatment for CA Registrants on Parole
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed in writing to stop their unwritten policy that required all registrants on parole to undergo treatment the entire time they are on parole. The agreement is the result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of registrants earlier this year. “This agreement is significant because it will help almost 7,000 registrants currently on parole,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This agreement will lead to early discharge for many of those registrants.” In the settlement agreement, CDCR agreed that…
Read MoreACSOL In-Person Meeting in San Diego on Nov. 16, 2024
You are invited to attend ACSOL’s in-person meeting in San Diego, CA on Saturday, November 16, 2024 starting at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at: California Western School of Law Room LH-1 225 Cedar Street San Diego The meeting will include discussions regarding topics of interest to both registrants and their loved ones, including the status of proposed changes to the Tiered Registry Law such as the reduction of tier assignment for those convicted of an offense involving child pornography. The meeting is free and will include refreshments.…
Read MoreCA: Man died in San Diego jail after deputies wrongly placed him in cell with violent offender, outside review finds
Source: msn.com 7/13/24 San Diego sheriff’s deputies failed to take reasonable measures to protect a low-level sex offender when they put him in a jail cell with a high-level violent offender, the county’s civilian oversight board has ruled. The low-level sex offender, a 56-year-old man named Derek Thomas Baker who was sent to jail for failing to properly register, was beaten to death in March 2022 after he was housed alongside Patrick Ferncase, who had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with force and elder abuse. Read the…
Read MoreCA Democrats ‘Water Down’ Sex Trafficking Bill. Good. The original version was overly punitive.
By: ELIZABETH NOLAN BROWN California Democrats are taking heat for “water[ing] down” a “child sex trafficking bill.” But—as anyone whose brain isn’t completely broken by politics might imagine—this isn’t a case of lawmakers trying to make life easy for people who abuse and exploit children. They’re just trying to insert a smidge of sanity into the bill’s punishment schemes. The scorn with which this has been met underscores how hard it is for legislators to push back against policies that are purportedly about protecting children. The Bill The measure in question—Senate Bill…
Read MoreCA: Committee Agrees SB 1128 Won’t Be Applied Retroactively
The California Assembly Public Safety Committee today voted in favor of Senate Bill 1128 (SB 1128) that would require individuals convicted of PC 261.5, unlawful intercourse, who are at least 10 years older than their alleged victim, to register. During today’s hearing, however, the Committee agreed that the bill would not be applied to those previously convicted of this offense. According to a report given earlier this month during a meeting of the CA Sex Offender Management Board, the retroactive application of this bill could add up to 32,000 people…
Read MoreAppellate Court Rules Everyone Convicted of PC 288.2 Must Register for Life
Source: ACSOL The Third District Court of Appeals in California issued a decision today stating that every person convicted of Penal Code (PC) Section 288.2, providing harmful material to a minor, must register for life including those whose felony conviction has been reduced to a misdemeanor. The Court based its opinion on an interpretation of PC Section 17(e) which states that judges cannot remove from the registry a person convicted of that offense. “Today an appellate court made a bad decision,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “That bad decision will…
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