Janice’s Journal: But It’s Not Punishment
As Executive Director of ACSOL, I communicate with registrants and their families almost daily on a variety of topics. One of the saddest types of calls I receive are from…
Janice’s Journal: Uneven Results in Beginning of Petitioning Process
[ACSOL] The petitioning process under the Tiered Registry Law has begun. A quick look at the first 60 days of the process shows uneven results. The best news is that…
Janice’s Journal: Educating the U.S. Supreme Court
How can we educate the U.S. Supreme Court when they refuse to listen? One way is to make noise at their place of business so that they can no longer…
Janice’s Journal: Independence for Some, Continued Registration for Others
There are two significant dates about to converge in a few days. Both offer independence to some, but not all. The first of the two dates is July 1 when…
Janice’s Journal: Two Men Required to Register Murdered This Week
Two men, who were required to register as sex offenders, were murdered this week. Each murder is a tragedy. Together the murders should serve as a wake-up call that vigilante…
Janice’s Journal: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
[4/29/21 Updated with link (see end of post)] As we approach the end of April 2021, we are waiting for the “other shoe” to drop. In fact, we are waiting…
Janice’s Journal: Worse Than Murder?
As Executive Director of ACSOL, I listen every day to concerns expressed by registrants and/or their family members. Many of those concerns are focused upon challenges that registrants face in…
Janice’s Journal: We’ve Got Your Back
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) was created about 10 years ago to protect registrants and their families from a constant and continual assault of new laws that…
Janice’s Journal: Tiered Registry Law and Its Early Implementation Significantly Flawed
The Tiered Registry Law, passed in 2017, became effective this month more than three years after it became law. During that long period of time, more than 100,000 people convicted…
Janice’s Journal: The Year of Perfect Vision, Part 2
When this year began, I wrote a column called “20/20: The Year of Perfect Vision.” In that column, I expressed a long list of hopes for the year 2020 including…
Janice’s Journal: Homeless for the Holidays
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, the first in a series of winter holidays followed by Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Day. For many people, including some registrants, they…
Janice’s Journal: We Are at the Brink
The Cambridge English dictionary defines the word “brink” as the point where a new or different situation is about to begin. The word “brink” therefore accurately describes the current situation…
Janice’s Journal: Mourning the Loss of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
After a long battle with cancer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died yesterday. She and her wisdom will be missed profoundly. As a civil rights attorney, an appellate…
Janice’s Journal: Zombies versus Sex Offenders?
A friend recently referred to a TV series, IZombie, as a TV show in which some Zombies are portrayed in a positive light. That is, she said, there are good…
Janice’s Journal: CA Action Alert: It’s Time to Protest Exclusion of Registrants from Prison Releases
In my last column, I implored the California Department of Corrections (CDC) to include registrants in its release of prisoners that began on July 1 due to a growing number…
Janice’s Journal: Let My People Go
How dare they! How dare the CA Department of Corrections[1] once again deny rights to individuals solely because they have been convicted of a sex offense. Didn’t they learn? The…
Janice’s Journal: Take Your Knee Off of My Neck
I became a grandmother for the first time a week ago. It’s a moment I have been looking forward to, and planning for, many years. Who knew it would take…
Janice’s Journal: The Stage Is Set, But Will the Players Play
California Governor Gavin Newsom has set the stage for the end of in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic. He did so by issuing an Executive Order that authorizes and encourages…