The City of Palmdale has repealed its sex offender ordinance, which included both residency and presence restrictions. The repeal is permanent and therefore registrants are no longer required to meet any of the ordinance’s requirements. “Palmdale has chosen to follow the path started by Lake Forest in December 2012,” stated Janice Bellucci, President of CA RSOL. “As such, Palmdale is one of many cities that now realize that the ordinances they passed did not increase public safety and denied the civil rights of registrants.” The Palmdale City Council voted…
Read MoreCategory: California
Sen. Jim Beall’s Statute of Limitations Bill to Sue Child Molesters Makes Progress
Legislation to overhaul the statute of limitations so adult survivors of child molestation can seek justice in civil courts against their abusers approved by Senate Judiciary Committee. Legislation by state Sen. Jim Beall to overhaul the statute of limitations so adult survivors of child molestation can seek justice in civil courts against their abusers was passed earlier this month by the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Senate Bill 131 changes California’s antiquated statute of limitations on civil claims brought forward for childhood sexual abuse,’’ said Beall, whose District 15 includes Los Gatos. Full…
Read MoreTiered Registry Bill Stopped by Appropriations Committee
The Appropriations Committee of the California Assembly today stopped further consideration of the tiered registry bill, AB 702, this calendar year. There was no discussion of the bill nor was a vote taken. Instead, Chairman Mike Gatto (Democrat, Los Angeles) decided to “hold the bill” in the committee’s suspense file. “This is a sad day for registrants in California,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “Because of this decision, California will remain 1 of only 4 states in the nation that has a lifetime registry for all registrants.” …
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL Lobbies for Tiered Registry Bill
Ten individuals representing California RSOL are lobbying in Sacramento in support of a tiered registry bill, AB 702. The bill, as currently written, would remove some individuals from the registry after 10 or 20 years after their release from prison, probation and/or parole. “It is great to have two teams of individuals, including registrants and family members, lobbying in support of the tiered registry bill,” stated Janice Bellucci, President of CA RSOL. “We are educating elected officials and members of their staff regarding the need for a tiered registry.” AB…
Read MoreRestrictive Residency Rules and the Illusion of Public Safety
The latest strategy to restrict where convicted sex offenders live is to create parks where none exist to force registered sex offenders to move out of a neighborhood. The City of Los Angeles plans to build three pocket parks in the communities of Harbor Gateway and Wilmington. California state law prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park, playground school or a daycare center. Some states restrict living within 1,000 feet or near certain bus stops. There are similar residence restrictive laws in every state along with…
Read MoreBusted! Offenders Adds Sex Offender Registry Information from Sacramento, California
Busted! Grid, the leading innovator in the aggregation of crime information, announces the addition of sex offender registry information from Sacramento, California to the Busted! Offenders database. Over 6,600 registered sex offenders living and working in Sacramento have been added to the BustedOffenders.com website. The addition will help ease family’s safety concerns among people in the city who come in contact with their children. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL Challenges Santa Ana Ordinance, Registration Process
California RSOL filed a lawsuit in federal district court on May 2 challenging the sex offender ordinance and sex offender registration process in the City of Santa Ana. The ordinance contains presence restrictions including a prohibition of registrants using the city’s public library. The registration process requires all registrants to register inside the Santa Ana Jail for periods up to four hours as well to wear a prison uniform. Registrants are not allowed to leave during the registration process and are prohibited from using cell phones or any other communications…
Read MoreFormer Facebook exec joins Chelsea’s Law effort
Chris Kelly, a former Facebook executive who authored and financed a highly successful California initiative to stop sex trafficking, has joined the effort to pass Chelsea’s Law in all 50 states. Signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, after unanimously passing both houses of the state Legislature, Chelsea’s Law is a one-strike mandate for sexual predators convicted of a violent sexual assault on a child. It’s named after Chelsea King, a 17-year-old Poway girl who was brutally raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender who was paroled after serving…
Read MoreCivil Rights Attorney Speaks Out in Defense
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – There’s new information on what a civil rights attorney says needs to be happening with ____ ____, the sexually violent predator recently released in Santa Barbara County. She says his release as a transient is doing him no favors, and she says ____ deserves a home. Janice Bellucci has been advocating for reform to sex offender rights for many years now. Although Bellucci admits she’s been ridiculed many times for her views, she sticks firmly by them. “They have declared these people to be safe to…
Read MoreCity of Palmdale to Consider Repeal of Sex Offender Ordinance
The City Council of Palmdale will formally consider during its May 1 meeting a complete repeal of its sex offender ordinance. The ordinance is broad in that it includes both residency and presence restrictions. “It is essential that the City of Palmdale repeal the ordinance on May 1 in order to correct the mistakes made in its passage,” stated President Janice Bellucci. “The current ordinance violates both the federal and state constitutions.” California RSOL met with city officials in early April to discuss the ordinance and stated that the ordinance…
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL Scores Victory in Sacramento
A state bill that would have allowed counties and cities to pass ordinances prohibiting where a registrant can be present (such as parks, beaches and libraries) has been stopped! The bill, S.B. 386, was introduced by Senator Correa of Orange County on February 21. The bill was scheduled for a hearing by the Public Safety Committee on April 30, however, the bill has been withdrawn by Senator Correa from further consideration. California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) lobbied against the bill soon after it was introduced. The lobbying effort…
Read More[UPDATED] RIVERSIDE: RCC student president, a sex offender, seeks re-election
[Updated with reelection – May 2013] Riverside City College’s student body president, a registered sex offender on probation, is running for re-election. As ___ ____ prepares for the May 1 election, college district officials await a legal opinion from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office about whether the student government can or should change its bylaws to prevent candidates with criminal records from running in the future. Full Article Update from May 2013: Figueroa reelected RCC student body president Update: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20130418-riverside-rccs-student-president-says-sex-offender-past-irrelevant-to-re-election.ece
Read MoreAB 702 Passes First Test
The Public Safety Committee approved by a vote of 4 to 2 Assembly Bill 702 (AB 702), which would create a tiered registry for sex offenders in California. The vote took place after testimony from three representatives of California RSOL as well as oral support from organizations including but not limited to the ACLU and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Additional support came from registrants and family members who attended the hearing. “The committee’s passage of AB 702 is a vital first step leading to the creation of a tiered…
Read MoreCalifornia college student body president is sex offender
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – When flyers appeared at Riverside City College on April Fool’s Day saying the student body president was a sex offender, students were stunned by the cruel prank. They were even more stunned when they learned it was true. “I was flabbergasted,” said Amanda Waring, a theater arts major who works for the school newspaper. “At first people thought it was a joke.” ___ ___ ___, 40, who was elected to a one-year term as student body president in May, pleaded guilty in 2005 to kidnapping and lewd…
Read MoreFullerton Parks Ordinance preempts State Law
On April 11 a panel of 3 Superior Court Judges found the Fullerton municipal ordinance prohibiting 290 registrants from entering and being near public parks to be preempting state law and thus unlawful. This decision is not published, so it only effects the Fullerton ordinance in this very case. It is is similar to the ruling regarding the County of Orange ordinance from last November. The Court of Appeal’s published opinion regarding the County Ordinance is expected late spring / early summer. Fullerton Parks Ordinance – Appellate Court Decision (April 2013) COURT…
Read MoreSeeking smarter rules for sex offenders
Janice Bellucci is a mother of two, the wife of a pastor and a former Girl Scout leader active in volunteer work. She lives in a gated community an hour’s drive north of Santa Barbara, with needlepoint pillows on the sofa and a vegetable garden in the backyard. She is also the public face of an organization advocating for the closest thing to an untouchable caste in our society: California’s 88,000 registered sex offenders. A former aerospace lawyer, Bellucci is the president of the California chapter of Reform Sex Offender…
Read MoreCalifornia to Host National RSOL Conference
Sign up now: Conference Registration – More Details: Conference Information – National RSOL The 5th Annual Reform Sex Offender Laws Conference, “Justice For All”, will be held in Los Angeles during Labor Day weekend. The conference will begin on Thursday, August 29, with an evening social gathering and continue through noon on Sunday, September 1. The conference will be held at the Westin Hotel near LAX airport. “This is an excellent opportunity for registrants and family members of registrants to learn about the laws and policies that affect their daily lives,” stated…
Read MoreReport outlines extreme abuses by California prison staff
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California parole agent was accused of soliciting one of his parolees to kill another. Numerous corrections department employees allegedly had sex with inmates, including juveniles. Full Article
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