San Bernardino County and the city of Victorville have settled lawsuits with a civil rights attorney challenging the constitutionality of both municipalities’ sex offender ordinances. Victorville has agreed to revise its 8-year-old ordinance to conform with state law, which prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a school or park and bans those on parole and whose victims were under the age of 14 from visiting public parks without the express permission of their parole agent. Full Article
Read MoreCategory: California
About a Dozen Sex Offenders Work, Learn at SDSU
About a dozen registered sex offenders are employed or enrolled at San Diego State University, school police confirmed Monday. SDSU’s list of 11 or 12 offenders includes at least one student and a handful of faculty, staff and contract workers, according to SDSU Police Lt. Randy Lawrence. None of them live on campus, and they are not allowed to work at the child care center. Full Article
Read MoreVictorville to mull sex offender laws [UPDATED]
12/17/2014: Victorville aligns sex offender laws with state VICTORVILLE — The City Council this week reluctantly agreed to align its local ordinance restricting the movements of registered sex offenders with a statewide system already in place. Victorville on Tuesday became one of at least 15 municipalities throughout the state this year to either repeal their ordinances or rewrite them to mirror state law. Others who have done so include Hesperia, Adelanto and Apple Valley. Full Article — VICTORVILLE — Amid a growing precedent and under pressure from a reform activist…
Read MoreJessica’s Law promised more than it could deliver
Jessica’s Law, the ballot measure to harness sex offenders, began eight years ago with a promise – one that parents whose daughters have disappeared, as well as law enforcement experts, now say lulled California into a false sense of security. Full Article
Read MoreLongtime Carson City Attorney Bill Wynder leaves post to do missionary work
Carson >> To say it’s not easy serving as Carson’s city attorney is an understatement. But the position’s importance, though largely behind the scenes, can’t be overstated — particularly because political dramas, lawsuits and ethics investigations are common in this town. … Earlier this year, all five council members ordered him to take on the California Supreme Court when that body ruled that local laws restricting the movement of sex offenders were unconstitutional. The council disagreed, and told Wynder to fight to protect its ordinance that requires registered sex offenders…
Read MoreProp. 35 belongs in scrap heap of flawed initiatives (Editorial)
California voters could not resist the chance to condemn human trafficking and sex offenders who prowl the Internet. In 2012, they approved Proposition 35, the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, with 81.3 percent of ballots cast. The vote was as predictable as it was unfortunate. Powerful though it was politically, the initiative is a prime example of why, with rare exceptions, criminal law should not be written by initiative promoters. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made that clear last week by striking down the Proposition 35 requirement that…
Read MoreCA Sex Offender Management Board Supports Tiered Registry Bill
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) decided at its meeting on November 20 to support a draft tiered registry bill that includes the termination of registration requirements for some registered citizens after 10, 20 and 30 years of their conviction while continuing lifetime registration for others. The text of the draft bill has not yet been released to the public but its contents were discussed during the CASOMB meeting. According to discussions at the meeting, the bill would designate registered citizens as Tier 1 (10 year), Tier 2 (20…
Read MoreOnline rights restored to sex offenders as Prop 35 is struck down (Radio)
The United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down part of California’s Proposition 35, citing an infringement on free speech that is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Prop 35, a bill put on the ballot via initiated state statute, increased prison terms for human traffickers, required sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, and mandated that all registered sex offenders disclose their internet accounts, among other restrictions. Having been approved by 81% of the state’s electorate, the proposition passed with the highest success rate of any item on…
Read MoreNational City Repeals Sex Offender Ordinance
National City’s lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove an ordinance restricting predatory sex offenders from parks and other places where children gather. The 2005 rule said convicted sex offenders must stay 300 feet away from schools and parks. So why did the city council make such an unpopular move? Full Article
Read MoreAppellate Court Affirms Decision to Block Enforcement of Prop. 35 Requirements
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the decision of a federal district court to block enforcement of Proposition 35 requirements that all registered citizens provide a list of any and all Internet identifiers as well as any and all Internet service providers to law enforcement. California RSOL is a plaintiff in this case and was represented by the San Francisco ACLU as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. According to the decision, the requirements violate the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in at least three ways: (1)…
Read MoreCA Sex Offender Management Board to Discuss Tiered Registry Bill
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) will discuss at its meeting on November 20 a tiered registry bill that would allow some registered citizens to leave the registry in either 10 or 20 years. The meeting will be held at 660 Bercut Drive, Sacramento, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to the public who may speak up to 3 minutes. “Copies of the draft bill have not been made available to the public, however, the bill was discussed at the CASOMB meeting in September and that…
Read MoreLAUSD Sorry It Successfully Argued Girl, 14, Consented to Sex with Teacher
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) didn’t have a problem with attorney W. Keith Wyatt when he successfully defended them in a lawsuit last year by blaming a 14-year-old girl for having sex with a teacher. It saved the district a lot of money. But they do have a problem with him now after word of how he won the case received publicity last week and he told public radio station KPCC on Thursday, “She lied to her mother so she could have sex with her teacher. She went…
Read MoreLos Angeles schools drop lawyer who won suit after blaming 14-year-old for sex with teacher
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles school district on Friday removed a lawyer who successfully defended it in a sexual abuse lawsuit in which he told jurors that a 14-year-old girl who had sex with a male teacher shared responsibility despite her age. The trial victory spared the cash-strapped district a potentially pricey verdict, but news of the trial strategy and remarks by attorney W. Keith Wyatt that it was a more dangerous decision to cross the street than to have sex with a teacher drew criticism. Full Article Related…
Read MoreReview finds parole agents swamped with sex offender caseloads
Nearly two-thirds of parole agents who monitor sex offenders juggle caseloads that exceed department standards, a state corrections review reported Wednesday in response to an Orange County murder case. Agents are supposed to supervise between 20 and 40 parolees, depending on how many are high-risk offenders. But more often than not, the state Office of the Inspector General found, agents are overburdened. Full Article
Read MoreStudy: Sex-offender GPS no panacea against crime
LOS ANGELES – The California law mandating GPS monitoring of sex offenders can provide a false sense of security for the public, according to a report released Wednesday. While it can help law enforcement authorities find suspects after a crime has occurred, it has only limited benefits in preventing crime in the first place, the report says. The report from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Inspector General was requested after two Orange County sex offenders who were required to wear GPS devices were arrested last spring in the…
Read MoreCA Supreme Court to Hear Two Residency Restrictions Cases
The California Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument on two residency restriction cases on December 2 starting at 2 p.m.. The oral arguments are open to the public and will be held at the Ronald Reagan State Office Building, 300 South Spring Street, Third Floor, North Tower, Los Angeles. “The issue of where a registered citizen may live is of great importance to more than 105,000 families within the state of California,” stated California RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “This issue is also important to the protection of the state and…
Read MoreLakeside residents outraged over sex offender’s release
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) – The community of Lakeside is in an uproar over news that a registered sex offender could soon be living across the street from an elementary school. Full Article
Read MoreCA Supreme Court to Hear Residency Restrictions Case
The California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on December 2 in Los Angeles on a case in which the constitutionality of residency restrictions have been challenged. Following oral argument, the Court has up to 90 days to render its decision. “Current residency restrictions violate both the state and federal constitutions,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “As applied, they constitute banishment which has been outlawed in our country for more than 100 years.” The case to be argued is In re Taylor, S206143, in which the California Court of…
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