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WI: Winnebago County approves $1 million housing project for released violent sex offenders

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Source: news.yahoo.com 6/22/22 OSHKOSH – The Winnebago County Board passed a resolution Tuesday night to spend just over $1 million to build a housing facility for certain violent sex offenders that state law requires the county to house. Multiple single-resident housing units would be built on county property near County Y to house recently released offenders. In 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a law shifting the responsibility to counties to provide housing or suitable housing to purchase for certain sex offenders who committed a sexually violent offense. Previously, it was…

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CA: Two More Registrants Gain Freedom When Petitions Granted

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Source: ACSOL Two registrants are no longer required to register today due to petitions granted in two different counties — San Luis Obispo and Stanislaus.  In the San Luis Obispo county case, the registrant was convicted of PC 288(a) and assigned to Tier 2.  Prior to petitioning for removal, he registered for more than 30 years.  In the Stanislaus county case, the registrant was convicted of PC 647.6 and assigned to Tier 1.  Prior to petitioning for removal, he registered for more than 10 years. “California courts are continuing to…

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NY: Under public pressure, Pleasant Night Inn owners bar sex offenders from West Carthage hotel

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Source: news.yahoo.com 6/20/22 Jun. 20—WEST CARTHAGE — The owners of the Pleasant Night Inn have said they no longer wish to house registered sex offenders. In a letter to the Jefferson County Department of Social Services, for which the Inn provides rooms to house people in emergency housing programs, owner Pratesh R. Patel requested that no registered sex offenders be placed in the hotel. “As of July 18, 2022, we have amended our hotel policy to no longer accept registered sex offenders at our location,” Mr. Patel said in the…

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AZ: Elderly Child Molesters Pose Dilemma For Courts And Community

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Source: arizonadailyindependent.com 6/18/22 Richard ___ was placed on intensive supervised probation last summer after pleading guilty in a Cochise County courtroom to felony sexual abuse of a teenaged boy who lived in Richard’s neighborhood. It was the latest in a string of sexual misconduct with children the now 85-year-old has engaged in dating back to the 1950s, according to court records.  But Richard has been in the county jail since June 9 on a no-bail order at the request of his probation officer who alleges Richard recently committed three violations…

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New CA Tiered Registry Lawsuit Filed in L.A. Superior Court

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Source: ACSOL A lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 16 challenging a provision of the California Tiered Registry Law.   Specifically, a registrant is challenging his assignment to Tier 3 based upon his conviction for violating Penal Code Section 288(c)(1).  According to the lawsuit, the registrant’s tier assignment violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution.  The lawsuit requests that the court prohibit the California Department of Justice from assigning individuals convicted of Section 288(c)(1) to Tier 3. After his original conviction of a felony violation…

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UK: Do Sex Offender Registers Actually Reduce Reoffending Rates?

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Source: digitaljournal.com/ 6/16/22 This article covers what it means to be on a sex offender list and assesses whether or not they help reduce reoffending… In the year ending December 2021, the UK reported a staggering 183,587 sexual offences, a 22% increase from the figures reported for 2020. Despite increased awareness campaigns and measures, such as the sex offenders register, figures continue to climb. In this article, we’ll examine what this means and shine a spotlight on the question, ‘do sex offender registers actually reduce reoffending rates?’. … Ineffective Against Reoffending…

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Number of CA Registrants Continues to Decrease Slowly

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Source: ACSOL The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decrease slowly, in large part due to implementation of the Tiered Registry Law.  According to a report from the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) made during today’s meeting of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB), the total number of California registrants is 107,925 which is a reduction of 615 individuals as compared to three months earlier.  Of that total, CA DOJ reported that there are 19,176 individuals who are currently in violation for failure to…

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Vandenberg SFB commander sued for denying retired veteran access over molestation conviction

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(Tribune News Service) — A retired Air Force veteran in Santa Barbara County has filed a lawsuit against Vandenberg Space Force Base, accusing its commander of denying him access to the installation last year over a 30-year-old child molestation conviction, according to federal court documents. In a lawsuit filed May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 75-year-old plaintiff Joseph Simonson accused Col. Robert A. Long, commanding officer of Vandenberg SFB, for denying access over the 1992 conviction. Additionally, Simonson said Long denied access to “constitutionally” protected retirement benefits by preventing physical access to the…

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FL: A Florida appeals court approves ‘gain time’ for a man convicted of an attempted sex crime on a child

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Source: news.wfsu.org 6/12/22 Rejecting longstanding legal precedent, a state appeals court said Friday that a man convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child is eligible to be considered for early release from prison. The ruling by the full 1st District Court of Appeal turned down arguments by the Florida Department of Corrections and drew two dissents. It involved whether inmate McMillan Gould should be eligible for what is known as prison “gain time” after pleading no contest to attempted sexual battery on a child under age 12. Judge Adam…

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TN: Phone scam with a new twist: Pay or be placed on the sex offender registry

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Source: wkrn.com 6/9/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A new phone scam is making its way around the Nashville area. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Fraud and Sex Crimes detectives, the scam sees Nashvillians called by someone claiming to be from the department warning them they’ll be placed on the sex offender registry unless they pay the caller money. The caller uses an actual Metro officer’s name, according to police. The calls use spoofing technology to appear as if they come from a legitimate Metro Police phone number. Metro…

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FL: As sex offenders around Tampa Bay age, where will they go for nursing care?

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Source: tampabay.com 6/9/22 John ___ spends his hours in a shed-sized room in St. Petersburg. Wipes, hospital dressing gowns and diapers are stocked haphazardly along narrow wooden shelves. John ’s feet, propped up on a large camel-colored reclining chair where he lies, are cracked and yellow. The recliner engulfs the cramped room, its edges almost touching the walls. A fly flits greedily about his motionless body. “I’m probably going to die here in my house,” he said. John, 75, had a stroke in 2013 that left him partially paralyzed. But…

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Federal Lawsuit Claims Former Public Defender Committed Legal Malpractice

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A lawsuit was filed today in federal district court that claims an attorney formerly employed by the Contra Costa county public defender’s office committed legal malpractice when he recommended that an 18-year-old high school student plead no contest to an allegation of forcible rape that was not supported by physical evidence.  That attorney is a current judge in Contra Costa Superior Court. After the student entered that plea, he was released from jail but was required to register as a sex offender for more than 22 years.  During that time,…

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FL: Martin County sheriff wants to push out registrants who were pushed out of other counties

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Source: wptv.com 6/7/22 MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Martin County commissioners Tuesday will consider expanding the distance registered sex offenders in the county have to live from playgrounds, schools and day care centers. Current registered sex offenders living in the county would be grandfathered into the new rule, if it is approved. Sheriff William Snyder is asking the county to change the requirement from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet away. … “The reason we’re doing that is because we’ve interviewed predators and offenders coming in to register, which they’re required to…

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Preliminary Injunction Motion Sought in SORNA Regulations Challenge

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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…

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IL: Controversy in Joliet highlights difficulty of housing sex offenders who have completed their sentences

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Source: chicagotribune.com 6/6/22 At a public meeting in Joliet, residents stood up and spoke out against an apartment building that houses sex offenders in a city neighborhood — with one resident lamenting that she wouldn’t let children play outside unless she was on her lunch break, according to a video taken by an attendee. Other residents, according to accounts of some at the meeting, advocated for violence against the sex offenders, threatening homicide and arson. The heated public meeting Wednesday, which centered around an apartment building that houses about six…

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Congress can’t punt its lawmaking responsibility to the attorney general

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Source: thehill.com 6/6/22 Congress makes the law; you are innocent until proven guilty; and everyone is entitled to due process of law. These are elementary principles of American government that we all learn in grade school. But they are threatened when Congress gives the U.S. attorney general unilateral power to write the criminal laws his office is charged with enforcing. It shouldn’t be controversial to say that someone must not go to prison unless he broke a law written by Congress (or a state legislature). But Attorney General Merrick Garland…

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ACSOL June 25, 2022 Meeting

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Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting.  The meeting will be held on Saturday, June 25, on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to show…

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Evangelical Christian zealot Kirk Cameron Claims Public Schools Are ‘Grooming’ Kids For ‘Sexual Chaos’ In Bonkers Video

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Source: comicsands.com 6/1/22 Getting kids out of public schools is a huge talking point lately. Parents are questioning whether their kids are safe as shootings and other acts of violence have become terrifyingly common. They’re questioning the education they’ll get as many states have embraced policies that mean they don’t actually have to teach the truth because it might make White students “uncomfortable.” They’re questioning whether their kids will get to eat, or maybe end up suffering at their teachers hands. Child actor turned Evangelical Christian zealot Kirk Cameron is…

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