Source: ACSOL The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed in writing to stop their unwritten policy that required all registrants on parole to undergo treatment the entire time they are on parole. The agreement is the result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of registrants earlier this year. “This agreement is significant because it will help almost 7,000 registrants currently on parole,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This agreement will lead to early discharge for many of those registrants.” In the settlement agreement, CDCR agreed that…
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Janice’s Journal: Glimmers of Hope
There are glimmers of hope on the horizon for registrants and their families. Most of that hope is based upon recent court decisions. However, one piece of hope comes in the form of a recently published newspaper article. Both will be discussed below. One form of hope comes from a recently published newspaper article about a person charged with shooting and killing another person. The headline of that article identified the suspect in that killing as a parolee. It was only upon reading the full article that the suspect was also identified as a person…
Read MoreAppellate Court Reverses Denial of Petition (Good News!)
Source: ACSOL The Second Appellate District Court today issued a decision reversing a trial judge’s decision to deny a petition filed on behalf of a California person required to register. As a result of this decision, the trial court judge must grant that petition which will in turn terminate the person’s requirement to register. “Today’s decision is the third appellate court decision reversing a trial court judge’s decision to deny a petition,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “In all three decisions, the appellate court found that the District Attorney…
Read MoreCA: Number of CA Registrants Continues to Decline
Source: ACSOL The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decline, according to a report made by the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) during the January 18 meeting of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). Specifically, the number of individuals required to register decreased by 896 from 105,738 to 104,842 between November 2023 and January 2024. Of that total, there are 76,575 registrants in the community of whom 19,789 are in violation due to registration issues. There are also 6,503 individuals required to register who…
Read MoreCASOMB Expands Recommendations for Tier Reductions
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) today approved tier reductions for those convicted of three offenses — Penal Code Sections 288.2, 288.3 and 288.4 — who are currently assigned to Tier 3 which requires lifetime registration. All three offenses involve either the sharing of harmful material with a minor of arranging a meeting with a minor. “This is a remarkable and positive recommendation for CASOMB to make,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The board based its decision upon the reason for one of their previous decisions, that is,…
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 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 MoreCA Court Grants Contested Petition for Removal from Registry
A judge in Pasadena Superior Court yesterday granted a petition for removal from the registry despite an objection filed by the Los County District Attorney. The petition was filed on behalf of an individual who was convicted 25 years ago in the same court and by the same judge. According to the District Attorney (DA), the registrant should be required to continue registration in order to “significantly enhance community safety.” The only evidence presented in support of this position by the DA were documents related to the initial charges and…
Read MoreGerman Court Grants Protection to former Florida Sex Offense Registrant on Human Rights Grounds
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 10/7/22 Taken from the FAC article: SOURCE: Steven Whitsett, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Sending registrants back to prison for mere administrative violations of Florida’s sex offender registry violates human rights law. How’s that for a bit of good news? After paying my “debt to society” by completing a lengthy prison term in Florida and two years of supervision, I decided that I didn’t owe anything further and was not going to be persecuted in my own country for the rest of my life. So, I packed my bags and boarded…
Read MorePreliminary Injunction Motion Sought in SORNA Regulations Challenge
A motion for preliminary injunction has been filed in the pending challenge to SORNA regulations that became effective in January 2022. The motion was filed on June 3 by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) in federal district court. The motion requests a hearing date of July 18. If that request is granted, the hearing will take place in Riverside county. “The Pacific Legal Foundation is to be commended for filing this important motion,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “If the motion is granted, it could stop the enforcement of…
Read MoreFood Brands Fight the Background Check
Source: tastecooking.com 9/14/21 A growing number of bakeries, restaurants, and ice cream companies are leading the charge to employ the formerly incarcerated. “It’s the same work I was used to in prison, but the difference is that, in prison, I was working for 10 cents a day.” Alvin Wilson is a 66-year-old baker. Living in New York’s Westchester County with his sister, he’s spent the last seven years mixing brownie batter ingredients and packing the baked result at Greyston Bakery, the organization whose brownies can be found in your favorite…
Read MoreSouth Carolina Supreme Court Declares Lifetime Registration Without Court Assessment to be Unconstitutional
[ACSOL] The Supreme Court of South Carolina issued a decision today that declared unconstitutional lifetime registration in that state because the state does not provide registrants “any opportunity for judicial review to assess the risk of re-offending.” Specifically, the Court ruled that lifetime registration violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. “Because of this decision, registrants in South Carolina will no longer be required to register for life unless and until a court assesses their risk of re-offending,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This is a big…
Read MoreCA: Registrant Gains Access to Section 8 Housing
A registrant in California has gained access to Section 8 housing. This is a significant change because in the past all California registrants were denied access to Section 8 housing because they were required by state law to register for life. “This is a significant milestone,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “With the help of ACSOL, a registrant was able to persuade the federal government that he is no longer a lifetime registrant.” The registrant, who wishes to remain anonymous, applied to live with his fiance in Section 8…
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