Category: California

The Long Beach Unified School District has won a $2.6-million judgment in its lawsuit against a former student who falsely accused classmate and football player Brian Banks of rape, officials said Thursday. “The court recognizes that our school district was a victim in this case,” district Supt. Christopher J. Steinhauser said in a statement. “This judgment demonstrates that when people attempt to defraud our school system, they will feel the full force of the law.” Full Article

A panel of federal judges on Thursday ordered Gov. Jerry Brown to immediately begin releasing inmates from the state’s crowded prisons. In a 52-page order signed by U.S. District Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Lawrence Karlton and Thelton Henderson, the court ordered Brown to expand good-time credits that allow inmates to finish their prison terms early. Full Article

Article provided by Ventura Criminal Defense Lawyer – Bamieh & Erickson PLC Those convicted of sex crimes have long been a straw man for elected officials looking to bolster their political clout. Every time a politician wishes to appear “tough on crime,” one of the easiest avenues is pushing new sex offender legislation through the California House and Senate. But, while new sex offender regulations may be popular with the public, they are not always good policy, often hampering the livelihoods of individuals who would have otherwise simply paid their…

A man accused of killing a registered sex offender in a San Juan Capistrano mobile home park and attacking a second victim days later goes on trial Monday for murder. Robert Vasquez, 36, could face a sentence of life in state prison without parole if convicted, according to a statement from the Orange County district attorney’s office. Full Article NOTE: We copied and pasted the headline in the interest of news aggregation. However, we strongly disapprove of the choice of words and this type of reporting.

A survey that a crime victims’ group described as the first of its kind in California yielded some findings contrary to conventional wisdom Thursday: Most victims question the benefits of imprisoning more criminals and prefer rehabilitation, education and Gov. Jerry Brown’s realignment program. “This report turns on its head the notion that victims care only about tough-on-crime sentences,” said Lenore Anderson, director of Californians for Safety and Justice, the nonprofit that commissioned the poll. Full Article

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…

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…

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

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…