SACREMENTO – California will alter its 8-year-old ban preventing all registered sex offenders from living near schools or parks, state officials announced Thursday, instead imposing the restriction only on pedophiles and others whose sex crimes involved children. The state corrections department said it is changing its policy in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that found the blanket prohibition unconstitutional. The high court ruled this month that restrictions imposed by California voters in 2006 go too far to limit where sex offenders can live. Full Article
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California eases Jessica’s Law restrictions for some sex offenders
When California voters approved Jessica’s Law in 2006, the goal was simple: to keep sex offenders away from children. The sweeping measure prohibited all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks where children gather, regardless of whether their crimes involved children. The law left large swaths of neighborhoods off-limits to these parolees, creating consequences that not everyone expected. Sex offenders were pushed into industrial areas, homeless camps and other remote locations. In Harbor Gateway, officials even built pocket parks to help make larger portions of the…
Read MoreWary of lawsuits, Downey rolls back restrictions on sex offenders
DOWNEY – The City Council on Tuesday reluctantly but unanimously voted to roll back its residency restrictions on registered sex offenders after the state Supreme Court ruled that similar restrictions in San Diego County are unconstitutional. … Councilman Sean Ashton instructed Garcia to investigate whether the city can bill sex offenders to cover the costs of police supervision. “I don’t want sex offenders here. I don’t care where else they have to go, I just don’t want them here,” he said. Full Article City Council Video at 1:31:30
Read MoreCalifornia loosens rules on where sex offenders can live
California officials announced Thursday the state will stop enforcing a key provision of a voter-approved law that prohibits all registered sex offenders from living near schools. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it will no longer impose the blanket restrictions outlined in Jessica’s Law, which prevented all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, regardless of whether their crimes involved children. Full Article Related UT San Diego SF Chronicle CBS Sacramento KCRA
Read MoreBoard to Rescind Residency Restrictions for Sex Offenders [UPDATED]
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Supervisors vote to lift sex offender residency restrictions (March 24) Riverside County supervisors are expected Tuesday to begin the process of nullifying an ordinance prohibiting where convicted sex offenders can reside. The Office of County Counsel is requesting that the Board of Supervisors completely invalidate Ordinance 902 in order for the county to comply with a California Supreme Court finding that residency restrictions are no longer enforceable, except in narrowly defined circumstances. Full Article Agenda – Repealing Ordinance
Read MoreSex offender placement plan cause for concern (Opinion)
With the current controversy surrounding a convicted sex offender being released in our community, and the further insult of having the $3,200 rent check for a fairly nice house being covered by California taxpayers, it is time we look closer at the policies and views on how we handle sex offenders, Megan’s law policy and its corresponding database. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreState Legislation Would Require SVP’s to Reside Near Police Departments
A state Assembly bill would, if enacted into law, require anyone deemed a sexually violent predator (SVP) to live within 10 miles of a “permanent physical police or sheriff’s station”. That bill is AB 262 which was introduced by Tom Lackey, who is a Republican member of the state legislature representing Palmdale and a former CHP officer. “The public needs to be protected from individuals who currently pose a current threat to public safety,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “However, this legislation is written too broadly because it would…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Registered Citizens Continue to Face Banishment
Registered citizens continue to face banishment throughout the land. They are often torn from their families and relegated to the dark corners of society where they sleep in their cars if they are lucky and on the streets if they are not. Banishment comes in many forms. This commentary is limited to the two most insidious forms – residency restrictions and proximity restrictions. Both limit where a registered citizen may go. Both tear families apart. Neither accomplishes its stated purpose, that is, to increase public safety. There are a growing…
Read MoreOrange County: Is it time for District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to resign?
Sitting down with District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, I ask the same question I’ve been asking others for several days, but it’s personal when it comes to the man who has led prosecutions in Orange County for 18 years. … Several years ago, Rackauckas crusaded to close parks to sex offenders. It proved a costly battle – for local cities. … After costly litigation, every city has repealed its ordinance. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting – May 9 in Los Angeles
The monthly meeting for May will take place on May 9 in Los Angeles at the usual location in Los Angeles, at the ACLU Building at 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Start time is 10 am. The main focus of discussion will center on the recent California Supreme Court decisions about residence restrictions. We welcome registrants, friends and family and other supporters to attend. The meeting is off-limits to media and government officials in order to ensure everyone’s privacy. There is no charge to attend. Show up,…
Read MoreState audit faults evaluations of sexually violent predators
The state auditor released a report Thursday criticizing the Department of State Hospitals’ evaluation system for determining whether prisoners due for parole or psychiatric patients being held at Coalinga State Hospital are sexually violent predators. The audit found that evaluations of current and potential “SVPs” are inconsistent, and that there is no standard protocol used to determine whether those being assessed meet the criteria for confinement. The audit also found that evaluators lack clinical supervision and training, and that Coalinga has a “significant backlog” of annual evaluations that violates the rights…
Read MoreAnother View: Sex offenders are human beings, too
Ben Boychuck’s recent article (“Best solution may be sex offender ‘colonies,’” March 6) reminded me of a similar suggestion in 2010 by gubernatorial candidate Douglas Hughes to build a “pedophile island” off the California coast. Thankfully, Hughes was not elected, but his sentiments are often echoed across the nation. Full Letter to the Editor Related: Best solution may be sex offender ‘colonies’ (Opinion)
Read MoreIt’s Time to Rethink Our Approach to Sex Offenders
Each year, 10,000 to 20,000 sex offenders are released from prisons into communities that aren’t quite ready to accept them back. Restrictions on where offenders can live and loiter are a popular legal strategy to keep children out of reach of sexual predators, but in reality they keep offenders an arm’s length away from affordable housing and employment. Full Article Related: The Outcast at the Gate
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: The March on Carson
We showed up. We stood up. We spoke up. Voices of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Caucasians. Voices of the young (age 7) and voices of the old (75+). We were heard. By the residents of Carson who honked their car horns in approval. By the Los Angeles Times who sent a photographer to capture images of the event. By KTLA TV who sent both a reporter and a videographer to record our voices and our actions. Our messages? We delivered three important messages in Carson on March 7,…
Read MoreRegistered sex offenders to march on Carson City Hall to fight restrictions
A group of convicted sex offenders will march to Carson City Hall on Saturday to demand equal rights to visit fast-food restaurants, parks, libraries and other public areas from which they are now banned. The protest is timed to coincide with the date of Martin Luther King Jr.’s voting-rights march to Selma, Ala., 50 years ago to emphasize that the issue is about a denial of constitutionally protected human rights. Carson imposes the state’s harshest restrictions against registered sex offenders. “We really want to call it to the attention of…
Read MoreBest solution may be sex offender ‘colonies’ (Opinion)
Sex offenders are the lepers of the 21st century – outcast and feared, with treatment elusive and at times inhumane. For centuries, the best medical minds thought leprosy was incurable – the first effective treatment emerged only in the 1940s – so colonies appeared, usually in remote places next to monasteries, where the lepers could live and die safely out of sight, out of mind. We don’t have a cure-all treatment for people who commit sex crimes, nor do we have sex-offender colonies. Perhaps we should. Full Opinion Piece More…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: The California Supreme Court has spoken but what have they said?
The California Supreme Court has spoken but what have they said? The Court published two decisions today that were expected to determine whether residency restrictions are constitutional and if so, to whom do they apply as well as whether the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) may issue a blanket residency restriction to all registered citizens in San Diego while on parole. These issues are of vital importance to more than 100,000 registered citizens and their families. Unfortunately, the Court did not meet expectations because they failed to address…
Read MoreCA Supreme Court Decisions re. Residency Restrictions [Update II with Editorials]
The CA Supreme Court Decisions in the People v. Mosley and In re Taylor Cases are posted. Please stay tuned for commentary from California RSOL. People v. Mosley In re Taylor Related Media: Reports LA Times OC Register SF Chronicle SJ Mercury Riverside Press-Enterprise – with CA RSOL mention San Bernardino Sun UT San Diego Huffington Post SCPR CBS San Diego ABC San Diego reason.com KUSI San Diego KEYT (with video of Janice Bellucci and CA RSOL) Reactions / Editorials / Analysis George Runner – Author of Jessica’s Law (February…
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