WASHINGTON — Days before the presidential election, James Alefantis, owner of a local pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong, noticed an unusual spike in the number of his Instagram followers. Within hours, menacing messages like “we’re on to you” began appearing in his Instagram feed. In the ensuing days, hundreds of death threats — one read “I will kill you personally” — started arriving via texts, Facebook and Twitter. All of them alleged something that made Mr. Alefantis’s jaw drop: that Comet Ping Pong was the home base of a…
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FL: Dying, Wheelchair-Bound Sex Offender Must Leave Hospice Care Because There’s a Preschool Nearby
In Florida, a wheelchair-bound man with end-stage Alzheimer’s must move out of the hospice where he’s dying, because he is a registered sex offender and the hospice is too close to a preschool. Phew! That will certainly make the kids a lot safer. Full Article
Read MoreRegistered Sex Offender Barred from Child’s Campus Sues School District
A parent and registered sex offender is suing the Grossmont Union School District because he says he is not allowed on campus to take part in his child’s education. The father told the district he is a registered sex offender, but the district would not give him the written permission he needs to go on campus, denying him what he and his lawyer, Janice Bellucci, say is his right to take part in his child’s education. Full Article Related http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/nov/21/ticker-parent-sues-grossmont-school-district/#
Read MoreCA DOJ Makes Significant Changes to Megan’s Law Website
The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) recently made significant changes to the state’s Megan’s Law website, including the addition of conviction and release dates on the profiles of about 50,000 registrants. The state agency agreed to add the dates as the result of a lawsuit filed in November 2015 and settled in August 2016. “The recent addition of conviction and release dates is expected to help registrants find better jobs and housing,” stated ACSOL president Janice Bellucci. “Additional conviction and release dates will be added to the website as…
Read MoreFL: The challenge of elderly sex offenders
By the time deputies arrested ___ ___ ___ for failing to register as a sexual predator, he had built up a 10-year record of consistent registration in Marion County. That’s 42 check-ins, as his attorneys and his friends pointed out at a sentencing hearing in June. When it came to No. 43, ____, 72, who has since been diagnosed with early stages of dementia, says that he simply forgot. “My only crime, your honor, is that I have become old and forgetful,” he told Circuit Judge Robert Hodges that day. Full…
Read MoreEU proposes U.S.-style security checks to vet visa-free travelers
BRUSSELS — The European Commission wants additional security checks on visitors to Europe, it said Wednesday, proposing a US-style online system to vet visa-free travelers as part of efforts to clamp down on terrorism and illegal immigration. Full Article
Read MoreAnd Now We’re Talking About Internment Camps?
A Donald Trump supporter cited the United States’ use of Japanese internment camps during World War II as precedent for implementing a registry of Muslim immigrants in an interview on Fox News Wednesday. President-elect Trump first suggested creating a registry for Muslims in November 2015, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told Reuters on Tuesday that Trump’s immigration advisers were drafting a proposal on how this could be implemented. Full Article Related Internment Camp Survivor George Takei Warns That Trump’s Muslim Registry Is “A Prelude To Internment”
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: ACSOL Board Faced With “Sophie’s Choice” [updated with Guide to Tiers on Tiered Registry Bill]
During the five years in which this organization has existed, we have often heard a wish expressed – that registrants in California be treated differently, not the same. That wish was expressed in many variations including that registrants should be treated differently according to their current risk or that registrants should be treated differently according to the offense for which they were convicted. Those wishes are now nearing reality in the form of a tiered registry bill expected to be introduced in the state legislature early next year. As drafted,…
Read MoreLos Angeles DA to Co-Sponsor Tiered Registry Bill
Los Angeles District Attorney (DA) Jackie Lacey has agreed to co-sponsor a tiered registry bill along with the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). A copy of the draft bill was distributed during today’s CASOMB meeting. As expected, the draft bill proposes dividing registrants into three tiers based upon the offense for which the registrant was convicted as well as his/her risk level. For registrants in the first two tiers, their duty to register would end in either 10 or 20 years after release from incarceration provided that they have…
Read MoreListening to Sex Offenders
Last year, Lenore Skenazy hosted a brunch at her home in New York City. The “free range kids” advocate invited journalists, fed them quiche, and introduced them to two guest speakers. Both were young men who had served time for sex crimes against minors. Full Article
Read MoreState Sen. Leyva will introduce legislation regarding sex offenders on campuses in California
Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) announced on Nov. 16 that — when the California State Senate convenes in early December — she will introduce legislation to prohibit any registered sex offender from being present on a school campus in California for any reason. Full Article Related Leyva: Keep School Kids Safe From Sex Offenders – Press Release State Sen. Connie Levya intends to file legislation to keep sex offenders from entering California schools – LA Times
Read MoreAZ: Neighborhood in Goodyear set to vote on a partial ban on sex offenders
A letter sent to residents in the Goodyear neighborhood of Palm Valley shows that they will soon vote on a proposal that would ban level two or level three sex offenders from living in the community. Part of the letter explains some of the concerns that apparently prompted the proposal: “WHEREAS, the Association has determined that Level 3 and Level 2 registered sex offenders present an unreasonable danger to the members of the Association due to 1) the Registrant’s access to the common areas of the Association to which all…
Read MoreAre Sex Offenders Human?
In July 16, 2015, Barack Obama visited a federal prison, the first sitting president ever to do so. It was a powerful statement of support for a broad movement—stretching from Black Lives Matter to Right on Crime—to reform the U.S. criminal justice system, one of the most punitive in the world. Six months later, on February 8, 2016, the president signed a law requiring the passports of citizens with convictions for sex offenses to be marked “Sex Offender,” globalizing an already extraordinarily harsh domestic system of surveillance and punishment. In…
Read MoreNotice of Appeal Filed in IML Case
A notice of appeal was filed today in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the first formal step required in order to appeal the dismissal of the only court challenge to the International Megan’s Law (IML). “The IML unfairly and unjustly labels hundreds of thousands of American citizens as sex tourists and sex traffickers,” stated ACSOL President Janice Bellucci. “This punishment will increase when the State Department adds unique identifiers to their passports.” The IML challenge was filed in federal district court in February, one day after it…
Read MoreACSOL Conference Call November 16 – Polygraph Exams [Recording Added]
ACSOL’s will hold a public conference call on Wednesday, November 16, at 5 p.m. Pacific time. The topic of the call will be “Polygraph Exams” and the call will follow the same format as the previous calls. There will be a brief presentation of the topic to be followed by a Q&A session where call attendees may ask questions pertaining to the topic. Dial-in number: 1-712-770-8055 Conference Code: 983459 I look forward to having you call in. Sincerely, Janice Conference Call Recordings
Read MoreMI: Justice denies Michigan’s appeal to halt sex offender ruling
A U.S. Supreme Court justice has rejected Michigan’s request to halt a lower court decision that found the state unconstitutionally put additional restrictions on sex offenders long after their convictions. Justice Elena Kagan denied Tuesday the emergency appeal for a stay. In August, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said changes to Michigan law in 2006 and 2011, which included retroactively restricting sex offenders’ movements near schools, penalize offenders as “moral lepers.” The appeals court denied Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request to block the decision during appeal. So…
Read MoreFL: Why are sex offenders allowed online?
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL — More than 70,000 sex offenders live and work in the state of Florida. They are restricted by law as to where they can reside and where they can physically go. This includes being no closer than 1,000 feet to a playground, daycare or school. What many may find surprising is that while sex offenders are restricted in many aspects of their lives, they have essentially free access to roam the Internet. “I don’t think that’s right,” mother Jacqueline Josephs told CBS12. “It’s a shame and parents…
Read MoreTrinidad & Tobago: Online seminar on Sex Offender Registry
A SENIOR policy advisor from the United States’ Department of Justice SMART department — which is in charge of the Sex Offender registration policy in the US — will speak at an online seminar hosted by the Caribbean Committee Against Sex Crimes (CCASC) on November 18. Full Article
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