Two friends were found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of a registered sex offender who was stabbed 58 times and his body dumped near Chandler Downtown Airport in southwest Fresno. David Barrera and Patricia Ann Perez, both 50, face life in prison when they are sentenced next month in Fresno County Superior Court. The jury deliberated over three days before convicting them of murdering 60-year-old Lawrence Ballesteros, who was killed Sept. 18, 2012, on his bed inside a detached garage — a couple of weeks after he…
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Tarred and Feathered
This week, stories of people being threatened and punished with public shame. Including the story of someone who was literally tarred and feathered. It happened a lot more recently than you’d guess. Radio Show
Read MoreProbe of GPS monitoring of suspected serial killers sought
SACRAMENTO — The leader of the state Senate is seeking an investigation into how two sex offenders being monitored by parole agents and tracked by GPS devices were allegedly able to rape and kill four women without being detected. Full Article
Read MoreAustralia: Palmer party sex offender bill rejected
A parliamentary committee has rejected a Palmer United Party bill which would have allowed police the power to enter and search the premises of sex offenders, amidst claims from a committee member the system is not doing its job. The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee, chaired by LNP MP Ian Berry, rejected the bill Palmer MP Carl Judge had introduced to parliament, which would have increased police powers in regards to registered sex offenders. The committee had previously rejected a bill introduced by Katter MP Shane Knuth, which would…
Read MoreA Criminal Justice System in Crisis: Suspect Serial Killers Slip Through the Cracks in OC (Op-Ed)
In light of the recent arrests of two registered sex offenders in connection with four murders in Orange County, I’d like to share an article that I originally wrote a few months ago for OC Lawyer Magazine. The tragedy brings into focus the critical shortcomings of our state’s sex offender registry and the stress it puts on a criminal justice system already in crisis. As far as public policies goes, the laws regulating sex offenders are incredibly difficult to approach and reform, but we owe victims (and potential victims) a…
Read MoreGPS failed to stop serial killings
While GPS devices used to monitor sex offenders played an integral role in the capture of two suspected serial killers last week, early details from the case raise questions about how well the tracking data are routinely monitored. Police say the devices enabled them to trace the movements of ____ ____ ____, 45, and ____ ____, 26, and link the two men to the slayings of at least five women. But the investigation has also painted an unsettling picture of sex offender oversight: According to the police account, the pair…
Read MoreWhen sex-offender laws promote more crimes
National City has become the latest California city to face a lawsuit from a registered San Luis Obispo County sex offender over its sex-offender regulations. _____ ____, 61, of Grover Beach, contends such local ordinances are superseded by Jessica’s Law, the 2006 measure adopted by California voters. Full Article
Read MoreSD: City defines where sex offender can be
The Hankinson City Council is trying to create a safe zone for children after a high-risk sex offender took up residence a few miles outside town. Last week, the council passed the first reading of an ordinance that prohibits a registered sexual predator from living within 800 feet of a school, childcare facility, child care institution, park, playground or other places where children regularly congregate. The ordinance also states it would be an offense for a sex offender to knowingly loiter on a public way within 400 feet of a…
Read MoreOK: Bill Would Ban Sex Offenders from State Parks
The House of Representatives approved a legislation today which would prohibit sex offenders from entering state parks in Oklahoma. This includes aggravated sex offenders and habitual sex offenders. Aggravated sex offenders are those who committed a crime against a child and habitual offenders are those who have committed more than one sex crime. The presenter of the bill, State Representative Josh Cockroft, said “we have to continually tweak sex offender laws to ensure that there are no loopholes that allow them access to public places frequented by children. Protecting our children…
Read More“World’s Worst Mom” to speak at 6th RSOL National Conference
Lenore Skenazy, (www.freerangekids.com) blogger, public speaker, and reality show host is the keynote speaker at the 6th annual conference of Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. being held in Dallas, Texas, July 16-19, 2014. She was given the title of the World’s Worst Mom after, at his insistence, she dropped her nine year old son at Bloomingdale’s in New York with a subway map and twenty dollars and allowed him to get home on his own. He did, and she has been simultaneously held in great admiration and in despised ridicule…
Read MoreCITY OF REDLANDS REPEALS SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE
On April 1, 2014, The City of Redlands, California, repealed a 2011 ordinance prohibiting persons required to register pursuant to Penal Code section 290 from entering city parks without prior written permission by the City of Redlands Police Department. The City rescinded Chapter 9.14 of the Redlands Municipal Code in its entirety by way of 4-1 vote of its five-member city council. The ordinance was repealed as a result of a California Court of Appeals decision on January 10, 2014 in People v. Nguyen 222 Cal. App. 4th 1168 (2014).…
Read MoreThe Field Validity of Static-99/R Sex Offender Risk Assessment Tool in California
Policies that differentially apply to sexual offenders at different risk levels require defensible procedures for classifying offenders into risk categories. The current study examines the reliability and validity of Static-99 and Static-99R sexual offender risk assessment tools as implemented in the State of California. California is a valuable case study because it is a large jurisdiction that has devoted considerable resources to the implementation of risk tools. Paper
Read MoreDo Ex-Sex Offenders Have Civil Rights?
They are the most loathed convicts on the planet. Even other criminals hate them. Cities in recent years have targeted them with laws that limit where and when they can be certain places, particularly on Halloween, when children are out. But ex-sex offenders do have rights. At least that’s the contention of a group called California Reform Sex Offender Laws. Full Article
Read MoreNot Really, But Sort Of In Defense Of The ‘Pillowcase Rapist’ (Commentary)
Now I know that for some people, sex crimes are worse than actual murder. I know there a contingent of people who believe that rapists and sex offenders should be punished as if they committed murder, including having the death penalty on the table as option. For them sex offenders, especially those who committed crimes against children, should never see the light of day again (Hi John and Ken). I get that. What I’m about to touch on isn’t for you because I know that for you no amount of…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Unconstitutionality in Sex Offender Registration Laws
More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary. This Article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this Article posits that, even if sex offender registration schemes initially were constitutional, serially amended sex offender registration schemes—what this Article dubs super-registration schemes—are not. Their emergence demands reexamination of the traditionally held assumptions that…
Read MoreToday’s Untouchables: Sex Offenders
Sex offenders are the foremost pariahs of our current day. In opinion polls, even intravenous drug users place higher. A recent series of high profile cases involving child sexual abuse have revealed the maddening frequency of the problem. My hometown newspaper now exists in electronic format, and as I read the local news, it seems that every other week brings a report of a new crime against minors. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Most are the product of incest, unreported, hushed up within families. The offenses that…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting – May 17 in Berkeley
California RSOL’s Meeting will take place on May 17 at 10 am in Berkeley. The location is Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709. The meeting will cover general topics of interest, as well as specific issues pertinent at meeting time, in addition to offering invaluable opportunities to network with others affected by this issue, as well as activists and professionals. One topic of discussion will be the series of lawsuits filed throughout the state against municipal ordinances that prohibit registrants to enter public parks and other recreation areas.…
Read MoreWA: Yakima County judge blocks release of sex offender information
YAKIMA, Wash. — A Yakima County judge has blocked the release of names and addresses of low-level sex offenders to a Mesa woman who wants to post the information on a website. Ruling Friday, Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson permanently blocked Donna Zink’s request for low-level sex-offender registration forms from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. The move had been sought by 22 low-level offenders who said releasing the information would subject them to public scorn and threaten their safety. The ruling covered all low-level offenders who comply with state law,…
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