California judge’s ruling a partial victory for registered child sex offenders

Los Angeles (CNN) — Registered child sex offenders in Simi Valley, California, will not have to post a sign outside their home this Halloween reading in part “no candy,” but they still are prohibited from decorating their houses and handing out candy, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. This is a partial and temporary victory for a group of the city’s sex offenders and their wives who sued the city claiming that a recently passed law was unconstitutional and sought a temporary injunction of the law before a full hearing next…

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AUS: Why name and shame sex offenders, asks Tom Percy

THE experience with sex offender registers in the US has included deaths and gratuitous violence, as well as payback measures. There are a couple of convicted murderers living in the same suburb as I do. I know, because I’ve seen them. There are probably a few in your suburb, too. Maybe even your street. After all, almost all of them do eventually get out, and they have to live somewhere. Full Article

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Court Grants Partial Temporary Restraining Order In Challenge to Halloween Ordinance

The City of Simi Valley is prohibited from enforcing a requirement that sex offenders post a sign on the front door of their homes on Halloween this year, according to a decision by federal district court judge Percy Anderson.  The decision will allow the city to prohibit sex offenders from decorating their homes and answering the door to trick-or-treaters as well as require them to leave off all exterior lighting. “We are pleased with the judge’s decision to prohibit the City of Simi Valley from requiring registrants to post a…

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Another one bites the dust: Hollow SVP prosecution no match for jurors’ common sense

15 minutes. After a five-week trial, that’s how long it took a jury in a rural Northern California county to decide that an openly gay man who had served two years in prison for a forcible oral copulation of an acquaintance back in 2003 did not merit civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. The prosecution’s case featured a lone government psychologist whose opinion rested on a hollow combination of homophobia, bogus psychiatric diagnoses and trumped-up risk estimates. The psychologist cited archaic (and discredited) Freudian theory to claim that the…

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COMMENTARY: SOME U.S. SEX LAWS DRACONIAN AS GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO PROTECT CITIZENS

No country on the planet has tried to control it’s citizens sexual behavior more than the United States. That statement is not about the necessity of such laws but rather a matter of fact. Fear and a demand for government protection from “predators” has created some really bad public policy. Originally set up to protect children from pedophiles, the expansion of the publicly available sex offender registry now includes anyone and everyone convicted of a felony with the word sex in it. Getting drunk and showing off your junk can…

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Convicted East Bay Sex Offender Killed In Prison Cell

FOLSOM, Sacramento County (CBS SF) – A convicted sex offender from Contra Costa County who was killed in an apparent homicide in his state prison cell in Folsom last week has been identified as 51-year-old Raymond Johnston. Lt. Tony Quinn, of California State Prison-Sacramento in Folsom, said correctional officers found Johnston unresponsive in his cell just after 9 p.m. Wednesday as prisoners were being counted. Full Article

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Can everyone please calm down about child abuse?

Jimmy Savile was a repulsive individual who indulged in vile, degraded, abusive acts. On that we can all agree. But what is less a matter of consensus is how we should respond to the scandal. When I argued on Newsnight this week that we need some calm reflection and that the whole of society should not be reorganised around child protection, it started a minor Twitchunt, and I have been accused of everything from being a BBC stooge to a callous apologist for paedophilia. Full Article

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Anaheim City Council approves Parks Ban

The Anaheim City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting persons required to register under CA PC 290 to enter public city parks  on Oct 23. California RSOL members spoke in opposition. Audio: [audio:https://all4consolaws.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/anaheim_oct23.mp3] Video: http://anaheim.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1134 Item 29 starts at 1:43 Documents: http://www.anaheim.net/docs_agend/questys_pub/MG38467/AS38506/AS38509/AI40614/Documents.htm City Web Site: http://www.anaheim.net      

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Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Impede Safety Goals

Recently, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that a policy banning registered sex offenders from entering Albuquerque’s public libraries is unconstitutional. Over the past decade the availability of online sex offender registries has enabled widespread awareness of sexual offenders living in the community, increasing concerns for the safety of children and leading politicians to pass laws restricting where sex offenders can live, work and even be present. Residence restrictions in 30 states and countless municipalities typically prohibit individuals convicted of sex crimes from residing within 500…

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CA RSOL Reaches Goal – Gets 500 Petition Signatures

California RSOL met its goal of obtaining 500 signatures on a petition challenging the ordinance passed by Orange County which prohibits all registrants from entering parks, beaches, harbors and other recreational area. The petition was sent to District Attorney (DA) Tony Rackauckas because of his role in promoting the county ordinance as well as lobbying cities within the county to pass similar ordinances. A letter accompanying the petition asks the DA to work with California RSOL to revise and/or repeal all ordinances within Orange County. The letter also warns the…

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Aljazeera – Pariahs among us: Sex offender laws in the 21st century

Maybe it is not so surprising that all we can think to do with a subject we are simultaneously obsessed with and repulsed by is to shout our alarm about it at every opportunity. Sex crimes: The only kind of offence in the United States that compels all convicted perpetrators to register their name, address, date of birth, fingerprints and a photograph on a public website. And what constitutes a sex crime? The breadth of this damning classification is alarming and includes public urination, consensual teen sex, sale of sex and exposure…

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Television Judge Claims CA RSOL Halloween Lawsuit “Hogwash”

Judge Pirro: California Sex Offenders’ Arguments in Halloween Trick-or-Treat Lawsuit Are ‘Hogwash’ Television judge, Jeanine Pirro, voiced her opinion about the CA RSOL lawsuit in Simi Valley on Fox News’ Fox & Friends show, stating that the claim that Simi Valley’s Halloween ban is unconstitutional is “hogwash.” http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/10/05/pirro-sex-offenders-lawsuit-halloween-trick-or-treaters/

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CA RSOL Sends Letter to Mayor and City Council of Anaheim

According to the City Attorney for Anaheim, California, the City Council is set to consider an ordinance banning registrants from entering into all community, neighborhood and “special use” parks located within the city of Anaheim. CA RSOL has written and sent this letter to the Mayor and City Council of Anaheim in opposition to the proposed ordinance. To view comments made during the previous City Council meeting by Orange County District Attorney, Mr. Tony Rackauckas, in support of the City’s proposed ordinance, please see this post.

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