(Reuters) -The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide. The decision stems from a 2020 lawsuit by a Pennsylvania man, Bryan Range, who was barred under federal law from possessing a gun after pleading guilty to welfare fraud. He claimed the prohibition violated…
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New California Appellate Court Ruling Could Have Deadly Consequences
A San Francisco Appellate Court recently ruled that parole agents do not have to comply with the knock-notice rule under Penal Code section 1531 when making routine parole-compliance checks. They are now permitted to barge into a parolee’s residence without first knocking and announcing their presence. This shocking new decision runs counter to previous court rulings that held that parole agents must comply with the knock-notice law for parole and even probation searches. Unfortunately, this new ruling could have deadly consequences. On March 13, 2020, while executing a “no-knock” search warrant at…
Read MoreExposure to HIV Removed from Offenses Requiring Sex Offender Registration in Tennessee
People living with HIV convicted of criminal exposure can request to terminate registration requirements with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (NEW YORK) – On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 0807/House Bill 832 into law after it passed the House and Senate in April. The law removes criminal exposure to HIV from the list of violent sexual offenses where a conviction required an individual to register as a sex offender for life. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2023. Tennessee is one of 30 states that have…
Read MorePARSOL Responds to May 23, 2023 SCOPA Hearing
HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (PARSOL) strongly urges the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to uphold Chester County Judge Allison Bell Royer’s finding in the case of Comm. v. George Torsilieri that Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is unconstitutional. Royer found that “SORNA is unconstitutional both facially and as applied to this Defendant on the bases that it employs an irrebuttable presumption that is not universally applicable and because its punitive nature offends Alleyne and Apprendi; results in a criminal…
Read MoreSORNA Case Update: Hearing Set For June 5
There is an update in the pending case challenging the SORNA regulations. The federal government has withdrawn its appeal of the Preliminary Injunction, however, the federal government is continuing to pursue a motion to dismiss the case. Although both the federal government and the plaintiffs have waived oral argument regarding that motion, the judge has scheduled a hearing on that motion during which oral argument may be required for June 5 at 9 a.m. Plaintiffs are required to file their brief opposing the motion to dismiss no later than April…
Read MoreMarjorie Taylor Greene shocks Lesley Stahl by saying Joe Biden supports pedophilia
Source: lgbtqnation.com 4/3/23 During an appearance on CBS’s television magazine 60 Minutes, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called Democrats – and even President Joe Biden – supporters of pedophilia. “Greene complains that the news media harp on things she did in the past,” Stahl says in a voiceover. “Like, as in this video, chasing after a survivor of the Parkland, Florida school shooting… and things she says that are over the top, like…” “‘The Democrats are a party of pedophiles,’” Stahl says, quoting Greene from an April 2022 interview. “I…
Read MoreCA Sex Offender Management Board Discusses Further Improvements to Tiered Registry Law
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) continued today its discussions of improvements to the Tiered Registry Law during its regularly scheduled monthly meeting. During those discussions, CASOMB identified three improvements to that law as their top priorities — removal of CP offenses from Tier 3, creating an off-ramp for those assigned to Tier 3 and allowing registrants to access their profiles on the Megan’s Law website. Also during those discussions, CASOMB determined that “deeper study” is required before they can make a recommendation regarding either the reduction of PC…
Read MoreACSOL President Catherine Carpenter Identifies, Analyzes Method to Win Court Cases
ACSOL President Catherine Carpenter, who is also an endowed law professor at Southwestern School of Law in Los Angeles, has identified and analyzed a method that can be used to win registrants’ cases in court. That method, known as the irrebuttable presumption doctrine, shifts the burden of proof to governments when they make allegations such as that all registrants pose a current danger to society and are very likely to re-offend. “Professor Carpenter has provided an extremely valuable tool to the registrant community in the research she has conducted that…
Read MoreWI: MURPHY’S LAW: Supreme Court Race All About Sex Offenders
Which is strange because the state high court will probably never rule on such cases. Just one day after the February 21 primary election, state Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz released her first ad for the general election, an attack on her opponent Dan Kelly entitled “Predator.” “Dan Kelly won’t keep our communities safe,” the ever-ominous voice of such ads informed us. “As a lawyer Kelly defended child sex predators who posed as ministers in order to prey on vulnerable young girls.” The ad goes on, adding more lurid detail,…
Read MoreCA Court Blocks DOJ’s new SORNA Rule Because it Violated Due Process and First Amendment
Los Angeles: A California court last week blocked the Department of Justice’s new Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act rule because it violated due process and the First Amendment. “The DOJ almost never loses these cases. That they lost here goes to show just how far out on a limb the DOJ is with this rule,” said Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The rule clearly violated due process and free speech protections. And while the court felt bound by precedent to conclude that the rule didn’t violate the…
Read MoreCourt Grants Partial Motion for Preliminary Injunction in SORNA Regulations Case
A federal district court today issued a decision granting, in part, a motion for preliminary injunction that was pending in the SORNA regulations case. A copy of the court’s decision is being posted today on the ACSOL website, however, ACSOL must wait until the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) issues a press release before it publishes an article describing the court’s decision. PLF issued a press release regarding the decision on Wednesday, January 18. A copy of that press release is posted here on the ACSOL website. Download the PDF…
Read MoreStars of 1968’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ sue Paramount over nude scenes filmed when they were minors
Source: cnn.com 1/4/23 Actors from the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet” have filed a lawsuit against Paramount Studios, which produced the film, for allowing the movie to be released with scenes showing them nude when they were minors. The lawsuit, filed last week in Santa Monica Superior Court by stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, accuses Paramount of sexual exploitation and distributing nude images of adolescent children. In a copy of the suit provided to CNN, the complaint alleges that the film’s director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019 and…
Read MoreFrank Lindsay’s Health Continues to Improve
1/21/23 UPDATE: Frank Lindsay continues to heal outside the hospital. He requires oxygen 24/7 and is undergoing physical therapy. Frank received his tier assignment earlier this month and his petition for removal has been filed in the county where he resides. With luck and prayers, Frank will be off the registry as well as free from the use of oxygen tanks before the 4th of July. Original post: ACSOL leader Frank Lindsay’s health continues to improve although he remains hospitalized due to low oxygen levels. Frank was initially hospitalized…
Read MoreFederal Court Stops Lawsuit Challenging Denial of Base Access
A federal district court judge has stopped a lawsuit filed on behalf of a registrant who is also a military retiree and denied access to a military base solely because he is currently required to register. According to that judge, access to a military base is a privilege and not a right. The judge also noted that a base commander has absolute authority to control access to a military base. In addition to granting the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case, the judge denied plaintiff the right to amend…
Read MoreSanta Cruz judge denies general ‘transient’ release to [former] “sexually violent predator”
SANTA CRUZ — The bid to release a twice-convicted rapist into the community without a set, permanent residence failed Tuesday. Bonny Doon residents rallied at the county courthouse in November to speak out against “sexually violent predator” Michael Cheek being housed on Wild Iris Lane. (Shmuel Thaler — Santa Cruz Sentinel file) Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati ruled against a “transient release” petition by 71-year-old Michael Cheek, designated by the state as a sexually violent offender. In November, Cogliati approved Cheek to move under supervised release into a…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Halloween Is Here Again
Earlier this week I was preparing to write a column about Halloween when I was interrupted by a more pressing matter. I am glad that I was interrupted because the message of that column is no longer true. The original focus of my message was about Halloween and that is the focus of this column. The difference, however, is that the original column was going to address the seeming lack of Halloween restrictions being levied against registrants as well as the lack of media inquiries. Unfortunately, the actions of two southern…
Read MoreWA: Thousands of formerly incarcerated people in Washington allowed to vote with no carve-outs
WASHINGTON, USA — The November midterm elections are less than two weeks away and for thousands of people in Washington, it’s the first time they are eligible to vote under a new law that restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated people. “I was actually incarcerated at 17,” said Cyril Walrond. Walrond spent 17 years in prison and was released on Aug. 1 at the age of 34. “The very next day to register to vote and to vote in the primary, really gave me a sense of connectivity within my community, where…
Read MorePLF Files Two Motions in SORNA Regulations Case
The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) this week filed two motions in the pending federal lawsuit challenging SORNA regulations that became effective earlier this year. One of those motions asked the court to approve the use of pseudonyms for four individuals identified as John Doe #1, John Doe #2, John Doe #3 and John Doe #4. The court granted that motion one day after it was filed. The second motion is a request for preliminary injunction which would, if granted, stop enforcement of some SORNA regulations. A hearing for this motion…
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