Category: California

This is the twenty-sixth in a series of articles about Auburn-area homeless people, written by local attorney, author, and Sierra College Instructor, Bob Litchfield . The young man looks to be about twenty years old. But it turns out that he is actually 28. He has been homeless for about two years. Since he is a 290 registered sex offender, we will not use his real name. Instead, we’ll call him Sam. Young Sam can’t get a job, he is homeless, he wears a GPS ankle monitor, and he is…

Crafting Chelsea’s Law —- named for slain Poway teen Chelsea King —- was a “bipartisan success,” but other California laws to monitor sex offenders are problematic, state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said Friday. At a panel discussion with San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in Mission Valley, Leno addressed a gathering of professionals from social workers to law enforcement officers, who were in town for an annual conference held by the California Coalition on Sexual Offending.  Full Article

The California Sex Offender Management Board recently issued a report that questioned the effectiveness of residency restrictions. The report noted an extremely low recidivism rate for sex offenders (3.25 percent for parolees and 5 percent for those who completed parole) and concluded that most sex offenses are committed by individuals who are not on the state’s registry. The report also noted an increase of more than 100 percent in the homelessness of registered individuals. This increases rather than decreases the safety of communities, according to the Board. The full report,…

The California Supreme Court is expected to consider soon the important case of People v. Mosley. That case focuses upon whether the imposition of a lifetime sex offender registration, which includes residency restrictions that prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any public or private school or park where children regularly gather increase the penalty for the original offense for which the registrant was convicted. The opening brief on the merits of this case was filed on April 11, 2011, and the reply brief was filed on…

12-15-2011 California: Laguna Hills City Councilman Joel Lautenschleger, who’d previously appeared on the fence about a ban on sex offenders in local parks, joined his council colleagues in unanimously approving the second reading of such an ordinance Tuesday night. The ban, which is modeled after the county’s, goes into effect in 30 days. The city ordinance creates a “Child Safety Zone” that prevents registered sex offenders from gathering in city parks unless they first receive permission from the sheriff’s department, which patrols Laguna Hills. The law also mandates signs in…

Friday, November 18, 2011 Habeas Corpus Forms for CA’s RSOs Residential Restrictions http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/ModelHabeasFull,Dec10.pdf Above is a link to The Prison Law Office’s forms to file a Habeas Corpus Petition asking local CA courts to stay CA’s RSOs on Parole.

The County of Riverside unanimously passed an ordinance on October 18 that prohibits anyone listed on the registry from celebrating Halloween in their own home! This is a violation of registrants’ constitutional rights, including but not limited to, the First Amendment. Riverside County specifically prohibits registrants from (1) decorating the dwelling in which he/she lives, (2) leaving on any exterior decorative and ornamental lighting and (3) answering the door to children who are trick-or-treating. Riverside County passed this ordinance under an emergency provision which allows the ordinance to take effect…