[rootandrebound.org – 3/26/20] Dear Community, As an organization that serves, supports, and advocates for the rights of people who have been impacted by mass incarceration–people who are currently and formerly incarcerated and their families, we understand that people are struggling right now in the midst of this pandemic. We believe that the strongest organizations are those that are willing to be responsive, to learn, and to adapt to what is happening on the ground and what is needed from us in this moment. So we are flexing and adapting our…
Read MoreCategory: General News
NARSOL / ACSOL Phone Meeting March 29
NARSOL and ACSOL will once again join forces for a special Action News Alert phone meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, March 29, from 1 to 3 p.m. Pacific Time, 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. A week ago, NARSOL issued a press release calling for all in-person verification checks of registrants to be suspended during the Coronavirus health crisis. On its blog, NARSOL is providing daily updates of where this is being done and where in-person visits are still required. During the phone meeting, ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci…
Read MorePlease participate in SORS (Sex Offense Registry Study)
[sorstudy.org] [Note from Janice: I can attest that this is a legitimate study] We are looking for research participants who can help us learn about important issues related to sex offense registries. We are collecting anonymous information from people required to register. WHO? You are eligible to participate in this study If you are 18 or older, and are required to register on a sex offender registry in the United States. Please complete the survey using this link: http://bit.ly/sors2020 HOW? The survey is conducted online and will take 20-30 minutes to complete.…
Read MoreMany CA Registrants Eligible to Vote
The State of California allows many, although not all, registrants to vote in every election (local, state, federal). There are three basic criteria to determine a person’s eligibility to vote: (1) U.S. citizenship, (2) at least 18 years old on election day, and 3) not currently found mentally incompetent. There are additional eligibility criteria for individuals who have been convicted of an offense, including a sex offense. “It is important that registrants know their voting rights,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “In the past, some government employees have wrongly…
Read MoreGeneral Comments March 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of March 2020. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreConference Call to Discuss Three Important Cases
NARSOL and ACSOL will have a three-hour conference call on March 2nd, beginning at 7:00 pm Eastern time. We will be discussing what’s likely to happen next in three important cases pending in Michigan, Georgia, and New Mexico. Hour 1: We will be discussing the recent decision in Michigan, which will soon bar that state from enforcing SORA on those whose conduct occurred before 2011. In addition, the court’s final order will severely limit enforcement of various provisions of SORA on the remaining registrants. Paul Reingold from the University of Michigan…
Read MoreLetter: The punishment must fit the crime
About 100 U.S. teachers, mostly women, are charged with sex crimes each year, although many others go unreported. Affairs between teachers and students are becoming more common in both the U.S. and Europe, probably because the rise of social media has made communication easier and more private. In most of Europe, the age of consent is 14, while in American states it’s 16, 17 or 18. But regardless of students’ ages, teachers may be considered predators because their authority implies a potential for duress. No coercion may have been used…
Read MoreRegistrant Workforce Training Program (Los Angeles)
Please see the Program Flyer for details Program Flyer
Read MoreGeneral Comments February 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of February 2020. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreRep. Smith Meets With Trump; Says Int’l Megan’s Law Is Working
Your local congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ4) held a press conference with U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Tuesday, where he talked about the success of his 2008 bill, International Megan’s law. Full Article
Read MoreACSOL Lobby Day 2/11 — please keep calling and writing
Thanks to those who showed up on the 2/11 ACSOL Lobby Day, which focused on needed changes to the Tiered Registry Law that will take effect in 2021. Changes included new tier assignments for those convicted of felony offenses involving illegal images and sexual battery as well as creation of an off-ramp for those assigned to the highest tier. We ask that you make phone calls or send letters supporting these changes to the office where we will meet,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The messages to be delivered…
Read MoreInternational Travel 2020
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number] Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Read MoreDistinguished Speakers, Informative Panels Added to ACSOL Conference
Social justice leader Alissa Ackerman and civil rights attorney Aaron Marcus have been added to the 4th Annual ACSOL Conference to be held on May 29 and May 30 in Los Angeles. Ackerman and Marcus will join keynote speaker Justin Brooks of the CA Innocence Project as well as Chance Oberstein, ACSOL President, and Janice Bellucci, ACSOL Executive Director at the conference. In addition to presentations from these civil rights leaders, the conference will offer panels on issues such as how to survive parole and probation, employment, the Tiered Registry…
Read MoreSex Offender Laws Are Broken. These Women Are Working To Fix Them.
Sandy Rozek is the polar opposite of what comes to mind when you hear the word activist. A 78-year-old great-grandmother and retired high school English teacher who lives in Houston, Rozek is not woke, doesn’t post on Twitter, and spearheads a movement you’ve probably never heard of. Rozek works with the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL). She is one of several women who lead an effort to oppose the unjust, irrational, and ineffective laws that continue to punish sex offenders long after they have served their time. Full…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: People Will Try Anything to Get Off the Registry
In Jefferson County, Tennessee this week, 2 people were charged with forging the signature of a mental health counselor in order to get one of them removed from the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. In December 2018, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began investigating allegations that a woman, 37 years old, had attempted to assist a man, 36 years old, in getting himself removed from the North Carolina Registry. The woman apparently forged a mental health consultant’s signature on an evaluation document in order to facilitate the man’s removal from the…
Read MoreFL: NPR Station to discuss sex offender issues at 1:00PM today.
Today at 1:00PM on South Florida’s NPR affiliate 91.3, they will be running a story on sex offenders. For those in the South Florida area, you can listen live on your radio. For those out of the area, you can stream it live online from https://www.npr.org/ or search for WLRN 91.3 HD1 https://www.wlrn.org/topic/radio. FAC Announcement
Read MoreNY: Why Keeping People With Sex Offense Convictions Off Social Media Sites Does Little To Make Those Sites Safe
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal purports to take sexual violence seriously, but it aggressively ignores reality in favor of lazy solutions. Full Opinion Piece By Guy Hamilton-Smith, ACSOL Board Member
Read MoreWhen a sex offender calls, she’s there to listen
Vicki Henry sits at the desk in her two-bedroom duplex on a recent Sunday morning and adjusts her phone headset, which she has nestled on hair with a deep magenta tinge, a rare bit of pizazz for the 72-year-old grandmother of three. Everyone else in Henry’s working-class neighborhood of Arnold, a southern suburb of St. Louis, is probably at church or finishing up a pancake breakfast with the family. But Henry is on the clock for a job that pays her nothing. She wears a baggy red T-shirt with “Women…
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