SOUTH PASADENA >> A civil rights activist group filed a lawsuit against South Pasadena this week, alleging the city’s sex offender ordinance strips “a socially outcast minority” of their First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Attorney Janice Bellucci, president of the California Reform Sex Offender Laws organization, called South Pasadena’s Title 20E-1 through 20E-10 municipal code arbitrary and discriminatory. The regulation was passed in 2009. Full Article Also see: South Pasadena Ordinance Challenged in Federal Court South Pasadena agrees not to enforce city’s presence restrictions
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South Pasadena Ordinance Challenged in Federal Court
A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of South Pasadena has been challenged in a lawsuit filed today in federal district court on behalf of a registered citizen. “The lawsuit was filed today because the City of South Pasadena Police Department recently arrested a registered citizen who did not live in that city, but who chose to visit a park in that city,” stated California RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “The City did so despite the fact that the City Council instructed city staff on February 19 not to enforce…
Read MoreReport faults military sex-offender tracking
The Defense Department doesn’t know how many registered sex offenders have access to military bases and lacks a departmentwide sex offender registry, a new report says. The military also has no way to verify if applicants for military housing are sex offenders required to register with local police, the audit conducted by the Inspector General for the Pentagon found. According to the audit, the department is working to fix the problems but still has work to do. Full Article
Read MoreAdelanto to amend sex offender code
ADELANTO — The City Council has voted unanimously to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would amend the city’s code to comply with recent court rulings regarding the presence of registered sex offenders at public parks. “Recent decisions have been issued by the Court of Appeals which call into question the validity of city ordinances that prohibit sex offenders from entering city parks,” a city staff report reads. Full Article
Read MoreCarson vows to ‘go to war’ to keep sex offender restrictions
Carson’s political leaders are prepared to throw the city’s weight — and its bank account — behind a legal and legislative battle to maintain control over where sex offenders are allowed to visit and live in the city. Full Article
Read MoreWasco sex offender ordinance adopted in 2007 thrown out
WASCO, Calif. – A sex offender ordinance in Wasco challenged by a law firm has been thrown out. The ordinance adopted by the city in 2007 restricted offenders from getting 300 feet near of public or private places. This involved public libraries, schools, parks, bus stops and child care centers. A Central Coast law office challenged that ordinance on grounds that it was too broad and violated offenders’ constitutional rights. As part of the settlement, the city of Wasco must now pay legal fees. Article Related
Read MoreFederal Cybersecurity Director Found Guilty on Child Porn Charges
As the acting cybersecurity chief of a federal agency, ____ ____ should have been well versed in the digital footprints users leave behind online when they visit web sites and download images. But ____ —convicted today in Nebraska on three child porn charges including conspiracy to solicit and distribute child porn—must have believed his use of the Tor anonymizing network shielded him from federal investigators. … The FBI monitored him for a year and after arresting him in November 2012 continued to operate his child porn sites secretly from a federal facility…
Read MoreCalifornia passes ‘yes-means-yes’ campus sexual assault bill
Californian lawmakers passed a law on Thursday requiring universities to adopt “affirmative consent” language in their definitions of consensual sex, part of a nationwide drive to curb sexual assault on U.S. campuses. Full Article LA Times Article
Read MoreScotts Valley sex offender treatment center closes days before school starts
SCOTTS VALLEY >> A sex offender treatment center that drew the ire of some parents because it was located near Scotts Valley Middle School closed Monday. The announcement came Tuesday on the eve of the first day of school in Scotts Valley, months after the Scotts Valley Police Department asked the center to find a new location and almost two years since the facility first opened doors. Full Article
Read MoreHesperia settles lawsuit with sex offender
HESPERIA — Since this week’s council meeting and its late continuation of closed session to discuss pending litigation, an agreement was reached Thursday to settle a registered sex offender’s lawsuit against the city. Full Article Related REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SUES CITY OF HESPERIA; 15thLAWSUIT FILED IN 4 MONTHS [Upated with Media Link]
Read MoreCoalition Urges CA Governor: Protect Patients, Stop Gutting Confidentiality
(Los Angeles, California, August 20, 2014) — A coalition of nonprofits alarmed about the gutting of patient confidentiality urges California Governor Jerry Brown to veto pending legislation that requires mental health practitioners to police their patients and report a growing list of statements to law enforcement—or face prosecution and potential jail time. Full Article
Read MoreLocal Sex Offender Watch Alert Barred
Sonora, CA — The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department can no longer provide a sex offender watch list or alert residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. The Sheriff’s Office has been forced by California’s Department of Justice to drop the “Offender Watch” online service which allowed residents to go on line, enter their address and be alerted via email if a sex offender moved in. Full Article
Read MoreOrange Joins Cities Changing Sex Offender Bans
The city of Orange is set to join a growing list of cities revising bans on registered sex offenders in parks in the wake of recent state appeals court rulings. … Orange has already been served with a lawsuit, Lindsay v. City of Orange, challenging its laws banning sex offenders in parks. The suit alleges the entire ordinance must be repealed, but the city attorney is recommending only one section pertaining to parks be removed. Full Article
Read MoreCity of Carson Fails to Repeal or Revise Ordinance [updated with CC Video]
The Carson City Council failed to repeal or revise its sex offender ordinance during its meeting on August 5 despite recommendations to do so from both the City Manager and City Attorney. According to a staff report dated August 5, the City’s ordinance is inconsistent with state law due to presence restrictions which limit where registered citizens may visit. The City’s ordinance also includes residency restrictions which limit where registered citizens may live. Residency restrictions are currently under review by the California Supreme Court. “The City of Carson acted unwisely…
Read MoreHesperia City Council Modifies Existing Sex Offender Ordinance
In a vote of 4 to 1, the Hesperia City Council approved significant modifications to its sex offender ordinance by reducing both presence and residency restrictions. Specifically, the Council voted to end provisions that prohibited registered citizens from loitering within 500 feet of public places and replaced them with restrictions from being present at schools or public places where children gather. The Council also voted to reduce residency restrictions from 4,000 to 2,000 feet from schools and parks. The new law, when in effect, will be consistent with current state…
Read MoreCarson City Council to consider revoking restrictions on sex offenders
Carson’s wide-reaching laws restricting registered sex offenders from approaching parks, child-care centers, public pools or other places where children gather will be on the chopping block Tuesday night when the City Council considers a lawsuit challenging the Municipal Code. Full Article
Read MoreCouncil to consider bond issue, reconsider sex-offender laws
HESPERIA — The City Council will consider and reconsider a number of issues at a specially scheduled 3 p.m. Tuesday meeting. Included on the agenda is a resolution approving issuance of multi-family housing revenue bonds, revisions to regulations concerning registered sex offenders and amendments to the fine schedule under emergency water conservation conditions. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia not following recommendation on parole agent caseloads
California never adopted the recommendation that the caseloads of agents supervising sex offenders be reduced, despite the urging of a blue-ribbon task force that was set up after an arrest in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, and the deaths of others at the hands of those under the state’s watch. Instead, agent caseloads remain at levels as much as twice what the task force deemed safe, while duties for those agents have been greatly expanded. Full Article
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