CALIFORNIA: [ocregister.com – 10/15/19] AB 218 extends statute of limitations allowing victims to file lawsuits up until age 40. Advocates, lawyers and victims across the state on Monday lauded a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom allowing victims of childhood sexual assault more time to file lawsuits. Assembly Bill 218 affects those abused in many walks of life, from Olympics swimmers and schoolchildren to Boy Scouts and young Catholic churchgoers. The bill, signed by the governor on Sunday and taking effect Jan. 1, gives victims of childhood sexual…
Read MoreCategory: California
Emotional Support Group Meetings
Emotional support meetings provide individuals required to register, their family members, and their friends, an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and share their experiences, strengths and hopes. They are not the same as monthly ACSOL phone conference meetings. The support meetings do not discuss legal issues, bills, and laws. They are based upon the format of 12 Step meetings. Media, law enforcement, parole, etc. are not allowed to attend meetings. There is no cost to attend. The meetings are currently online using Zoom or phone. This may change over time…
Read MoreCA: State court revives psychotherapist challenge to law on patients who reveal child porn activity
[sfchronicle.com – 12/26/19] The California Supreme Court revived a challenge by psychotherapists Thursday to a state law requiring them to notify the government about any patient who has viewed child pornography. The law, passed in 2014, expanded statutes from the 1980s that required therapists to report to police or child welfare offices — or face loss of their licenses and criminal prosecution — when a patient has produced, distributed or duplicated images of juveniles engaged in sexual activity. The new law extended the requirement to patients who downloaded or viewed…
Read MoreShould psychotherapists be required to report patients who look at child porn?
For years, California law required psychotherapists to report any patient who admitted developing, duplicating, printing or exchanging material depicting an obscene act involving a child. The therapists accepted that requirement. They regarded it as an obligation to report producers and distributors of child pornography. But when the Legislature amended the law in 2014 to reflect new technology, many therapists balked, complaining the new wording required them to inform on patients who posed no threat to others. … Ira Ellman, one of several scholars who joined a friend-of-the-court brief in the case,…
Read MoreCA: CASOMB Reports Significant Increase in Number of Registrants
[ACSOL] The number of individuals required to register as a sex offender in the state of California continues to grow rapidly, according to the CA Sex Offender Management Board. The current number of registrants in the state is 108,970, an increase of about one thousand people in only five months. “The rapid growth in the number of registrants in California must stop,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “A significant part of this growth is made up of individuals convicted of offenses involving unlawful images, including teens who are viewing…
Read MoreCA: Federal Court Voids San Diego Residency Restrictions [NEW LINKS]
[New related links added] [ACSOL] A federal district court determined today that San Diego’s residency restrictions are void. As a result, the city cannot restrict where a registrant who is not on parole may reside. “The court’s decision today settles plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, but does not settle the entire case,” explained civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci. “We will continue the case in order to protect the rights of all registrants who choose to reside in San Diego.” Plaintiffs filed their motion on June 27…
Read MoreCA: Registrants Challenge Jury Pool Exclusion
Five registrants have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court challenging a new state law that allows all felons, except those convicted of a sex offense, to serve as jurors. According to the lawsuit, the new law violates the equal protection clause of the state’s constitution. The new law, which began as Senate Bill 310, did not initially exclude registrants from jury service. That version of the bill passed the Senate, however, the bill was later amended to exclude registrants in the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee. “There is absolutely no…
Read MoreCould GPS-Tracked Sex Offenders Go Unmonitored During Power Shutoffs?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Hundreds of thousands of Californians remain in the dark as another round of planned power outages hit California. Parts of 29 counties and nearly 600,000 customers are affected. And now the shutoffs are raising new concerns that violent offenders could take advantage of the outages. Victims rights groups say the fear is real. They want to make sure offenders using tracking devices are being monitored. Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: The Big Picture
I founded California Reform Sex Offender Laws, the predecessor of the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) eight years ago in September 2011. I did so after reading the book, “We’re All in This Together”, by Frank Lindsay who was convicted of a single sex offense in 1979. My decision to create this organization was based upon the outrage I experienced after learning that not only Frank’s civil rights, but the civil rights of a large group of people in this country were being violated every day, 24 hours…
Read MoreCA: County jail inmates announce hunger strike to protest ‘price gouging’
[calaverasenterprise.com – 9/25/19] Seventeen inmates at the Calaveras County Jail have announced their plan to initiate a hunger strike in protest of “outrageous prices” for telephone calls and commissary items including soup and ramen noodles. “Not only are we afflicted, but our families as well,” the inmates wrote in a letter to the Enterprise. “We have made attempts at every other level to have this situation resolved, to no avail. We are hoping that the public can get involved and know the real situation that is going on here.” advertisement…
Read MoreCA: Can Sex Offenders Legally Live Next Door To Schools?
[sacramento.cbslocal.com – 9/19/19] An Olivehurst Grandmother is furious after learning that a sex offender is living just feet away from her neighborhood elementary school. “I’m concerned about people not being aware of the sex offenders in the area,” said Robyn Gorham. Gorham says she was stunned to find out how many sex offenders lived just down the street from Cedar Lane Elementary, where her grandson is set to attend. “There are parents here and I don’t think they’re aware of what’s right in our neighborhood,” said Gorham. A quick search…
Read MoreACSOL Makes Presentation to CA Sex Offender Management Board
ACSOL President Chance Oberstein and ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci made a presentation to the California Sex Offender Management Board during the board’s monthly meeting on September 19. During their presentation, the ACSOL leaders informed the board about changes needed to the Tiered Registry and asked the board to support those changes. Also during the meeting, CASOMB members reported on the number of registrants in the state. The Tiered Registry should be modified to allow individuals convicted of child pornography (CP) offenses to be removed from Tier 3 which requires…
Read MoreCA: Georgia Couple Posed as L.A. County Deputies to Scam Victims Out of $16K in Gift Cards
A couple from Georgia posed as Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies in a telephone fraud scheme and scammed six people out of $16,000 in gift cards, the department said Monday. Nicolas Brady Kennedy, 29, and Ashley Marie Walker, 28, both of Loganville, Georgia, made a series of phone calls mostly targeting the elderly in Northern Los Angeles County, Sheriff’s Chief Patrick Nelson said at a news conference. Full Article
Read MoreSan Diego To Enter Settlement Talks In Sex Offender Residency Lawsuit
San Diego City Council members on Tuesday will get their first official update in two years on a lawsuit challenging a city law that restricts where sex offenders can live. In August 2017, council members went against advice from the City Attorney’s Office and refused to repeal an ordinance banning sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and other minor-oriented facilities. The city has not enforced the law since 2009 because of previous challenges to its constitutionality. Full Article
Read MoreCA: City of Lomita Repeals Residency Restrictions
The City of Lomita, which is located in Los Angeles county, has repealed its residency restrictions which prohibited registrants from living permanently or temporarily within 2,000 feet of schools and parks as well as 300 feet from child care centers. As a result of the restrictions, registrants were unable to stay even one night in a hotel or motel in the City of Lomita. The Lomita City Council repealed the city’s residency restrictions during a regularly scheduled meeting on September 3. The repeal will become effective on October 2. “Registrants…
Read MoreCA: Recalled Judge Who Gave Stanford U Sex Offender Slap on the Wrist Fired as Girls Tennis Coach
The California judge who got ousted from the bench in a recall after he handed out a light sentence to a Stanford University student convicted of sexual assault is now out of yet another job, that of high school girls tennis coach. Former Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky was hired at the start of the school year to coach girls junior varsity tennis at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle. But after word got out, and complaints came in, about…
Read MoreCA: City of Commerce Repeals Local Residency Restrictions
[ACSOL] The City of Commerce, located in Los Angeles County, has repealed its local residency restrictions. The repeal took place during a City Council meeting held on September 3. The City Council’s actions took place after its residency restrictions were challenged in Los Angeles Superior Court in a lawsuit filed April 22. This lawsuit is 1 of 37 lawsuits filed thus far challenging residency restrictions adopted by cities and counties in California. Prior to filing of this lawsuit, ACSOL warned the City of Commerce in a letter that the city’s…
Read MoreCA: Democrats incur LGBTQ wrath over sex offender registry bill SB 145
[losangelesblade.com – 9/6/19] During a week of flurry before Labor Day, the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees determined which final legislation to pass to the floor for votes and which to suspend for this session. At the end of the day on Friday, Aug. 30, one bill superseded the usual drama to create a pall over California Democratic unity as LGBTQ legislators and advocates expressed outrage that purported supporters used anti-LGBTQ messaging to woo electoral votes in 2020. … However, in a move that infuriated LGBTQ advocates and law…
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