Cruel and unusual punishment has no exact definition in law—a number of state constitutions describe it as punishment that’s so disproportionate to the crime committed that it shocks the conscience of a reasonable person. Our notions of it have changed over time and vary across cultures. In essence, it’s something like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s description of hard-core pornography–he couldn’t define it, he said, but “I know it when I see it.” A court case in Ohio offers a test of whether we think putting those convicted of any…
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IN: ACLU – RFRA must let sex offenders worship at churches with schools
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed Wednesday what appears to be the first lawsuit that invokes the state’s new new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Their clients? Registered sex offenders who believe their religious freedom is being denied by another new law that bans them from attending any church located on the same property as a school. Full Article
Read MoreInternet Identifier Bill to be Heard on July 14
The Senate Public Safety Committee will hear Senate Bill 448 (SB 448) on July 14. The bill, if passed, would require all registered citizens to disclose their “internet identifiers” to law enforcement within five working days. “The bill’s requirement would violate the 1st Amendment rights of registered citizens,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci, “because the identify of registered citizens would be revealed every time they expressed their opinions on websites such as that operated by CA RSOL.” The author of the bill is Senator Hueso, a Democrat, who represents…
Read MoreA place to call home: Lawsuit filed against Grover Beach by a sex offender was years in the making
Grover Beach is being sued over its residency restrictions on sex-offenders, and there shouldn’t be anyone surprised about it. Officials with the city, which is one of only two in SLO County that passed restrictions on top of those required by state law, likely knew the ordinance would eventually be challenged in court, but moved forward with its creation and enforcement anyway, according to documents obtained by New Times. Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Senate Bill 54 – Is the Battle Over? Maybe, Maybe Not [updated with sample letter and contact info]
The Senate Public Safety Committee conducted a hearing on June 30 during which it considered Senate Bill 54 (SB 54). The bill, if passed, would (1) overturn a recent CA Supreme Court decision that declared blanket residency restrictions for registered citizens on parole to be unconstitutional and (2) prevent most registered citizens from obtaining judicial relief from those restrictions. The bill would not, as described by Senator Runner’s staff, break a stalemate created by the CA Supreme Court, and prevent 5 to 10 years of litigation. Instead, the bill would…
Read MoreBill To Revive Restrictions On Sex Offender Housing Stalls
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A bill seeking to revive broad restrictions on where sex offenders can live in California has stalled in a state Senate committee. Republican Sen. Sharon Runner of Lancaster introduced SB54 after the state Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools or parks goes too far. State parole officers now impose the restriction only on pedophiles and others whose sex crimes involved children. Full Article Related Senate committee kills public safety measure designed to clarify sex-offender restrictions
Read MoreAustralia: Think twice before demanding harsher sentences for child sex offenders
How should we sentence sexual fiends, monsters and perverts? By sentencing them to prison for as long as possible – preferably never letting them free – would seem to be the popular view, if some media reports are to be believed. This group of offenders is particularly demonised due to fears they are a highly dangerous, recidivist and predatory class of criminals. Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreDE: ____ charged for refusing polygraph, therapy
When former state Senate hopeful ____ ____ testified at his child rape trial last year, he swore he did not force a youngster to repeatedly have sex with him more than a quarter-century ago. The trial ended in a hung jury. When he pleaded “no contest” in March to two counts of unlawful sexual contact and was put on probation, ____ didn’t admit to sex crimes, only that he would not fight the state’s accusations. Authorities have since charged him with violating probation because he has refused to to speak…
Read MoreCourts are reconsidering residency restrictions for sex offenders
In 2006, California voters passed “Jessica’s Law,” a ballot initiative that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. In 2011, crime analyst Julie Wartell of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office analyzed how much housing was left for those offenders. Consulting land-use files, she concluded that just 0.7 percent of multifamily parcels in the county were compliant. Full Article
Read MoreMarried to a sex offender
Traumatized by their husband’s crimes and ostracized by friends and family “secondary victims” struggle to cope with shattered lives … Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: I Have a Dream – You Have a Dream
Registered citizens, family members and supporters gathered in Dallas, Texas, for three days to discuss the changing landscape for those convicted of a sex offense. The venue was the 6th annual National Reform Sex Offender law conference. This year’s conference was the fifth conference I attended and I was struck by the dramatic changes between this year’s conference and the first conference I attended in St. Louis in 2011. One such change was name tags. For the 2011 conference, many people chose not to wear name tags and those who…
Read MoreCalifornia Supreme Court reversal forces counties to examine sex offender registration
After a conviction for oral sex with a 17-year-old foster child under his care, ____ ____ served as an assistant to the Miss Rio Linda Pageant, where he was photographed with teenage girls. If pageant officials and parents had checked the state’s sex offender registry, ____’s name would not have appeared. A judge granted ____ a reprieve from registration under a 2006 state Supreme Court decision that allowed judges to exempt offenders who committed certain child sex crimes. In April, the state’s highest court reversed itself, requiring registration for those…
Read MoreReformed. . . or not?
Contrary to popular belief, convicted sex offenders typically don’t commit those acts again but it’s difficult to determine who will and who won’t. The idea of a sexual predator stalking our neighborhoods like hunters preying on innocent women and children is frightening. Certainly those predators exist: serial rapists and pedophiles who’ve assaulted numerous victims over months and years, even after prison sentences and convictions. They are the reason sex offender registration laws exist. But that perception of sex offenders casts a wide net over thousands of men and women in…
Read MoreLiving with 290: My dad is dying
He wants me to go back to Missouri to help him work on a few things that still interest him. He wants to die at home and he needs someone there because his wife is close behind and unable to care for him. He wants to die with dignity – at home, under his own terms. He is one of the last surviving WW II vets and most of his life after he worked in the defense industry with a high security clearance. He helped design the B1 Bomber and…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Lost my Job Today
I had another job lined up to start on the 22nd. I waited as long as I could to tender my resignation to my current employer, when my new employer called me after they ran my background check. I tried to keep my current job, but my employer said that they accepted my resignation in good order. Now I am unemployed. I’ll start looking tomorrow. With the draconian life-time felony, no wonder it’s so hard to get your live back. Considered suicide, but that would give .doj too much pleasure.…
Read MoreThe Hunt for Child Sex Abusers Is Happening in the Wrong Places
It’s late March when Lauren Book and I head into the bowels of the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), armed with loose-leaf paper, pencils and the knowledge that we are about to sit face to face with three of the most dangerous sexually violent predators in the state. Full Article
Read MorePeople 2015: Josh Gravens, Advocate for Outcasts
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. As a rule, convicted sex offenders don’t get much empathy, and usually for good reason. Often, cities don’t think twice about creating laws that restrict sex offenders’ lives to the point that they become unlivable. Full Article
Read MoreSex offender files lawsuit against Grover Beach
A registered sex offender filed a federal lawsuit last week against the city of Grover Beach challenging an ordinance that makes it a crime for sex offenders to set up residency in most of the city. The law suit is the first filed against a city since the California Supreme Court’s decision declared such restrictions unconstitutional. Full Article
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