Tag: California

CA: Board Overseeing Federal Homelessness Funds Erupts Into Shouts Over Nomination of Sex Offender – PubliCola

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Source: publicola.com 5/10/23 The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has asked a member of its Continuum of Care board to step down after she yelled at a fellow board member who objected to the appointment of a proposed new board member, pointing out that he is a registered sex offender and accusing him of behaving inappropriately toward her in the past. In an email to KCRHA staff and board members last Thursday, KCRHA chief program officer Peter Lynn said he was formally asking the board co-chair, Shanéé Colston, to resign…

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CA: CASOMB Reports Increases on Petitions Filed and Granted

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Source: ACSOL The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) held its monthly meeting today and during that meeting it was reported that the number of filed petitions for removal from the registry has increased to a total of 5,582.  Of that total, state courts have granted 4,050 petitions and denied 85 petitions.  There are 1,532 petitions that have been filed but are waiting for a court’s decision. “The number of petitions filed has increased by 881 as compared to January 2023,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “While this number…

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CA: Former federal agent from Riverside gets life in prison for sexual assault of 2 women

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Source: ktla.com 5/8/23 A former special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) from Riverside was sentenced to life in federal prison for sexually assaulting two women and using his law enforcement position to prevent them from reporting his violent crimes, authorities announced Monday. The former federal agent, 48-year-old John Jacob Olivas, started his government career in 2007, working in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He later moved to HSI but resigned in 2015 after working for the agency for just over six years, according to a news release from the United…

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CA: Voters in Special Election Will Decide Who Will Replace Nathan Fletcher as Supervisor

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Source: timesofsandiego.com 5/2/23 The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a special election on Aug. 15 to fill the District 4 seat being vacated by Nathan Fletcher. The board voted 4-0 to advance a resolution, which will be formally presented at the board’s May 23 meeting, to call for the special election. Fletcher, who is in an out-of-state treatment facility, is planning to officially step down from his seat on May 15. Fletcher announced his resignation on March 29 after admitting to an…

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CASOMB Committee Confirms Support for 3 Proposed Changes to Tiered Registry Law

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Source: ACSOL A committee of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) met today to discuss proposed changes to the Tiered Registry Law.  During that meeting, the committee confirmed their support for three of seven changes to the Tiered Registry Law proposed by ACSOL earlier this year. First, the committee supports the reduction of some felony convictions for child pornography (CP) from Tier 3 to Tier 2.  The reduction to Tier 2 would be limited to convictions for CP possession only and not include distribution or production of CP. Second,…

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CA Senate Judiciary Committee Approves SB 809

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Source: ACSOL The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 809 last night by a vote of 8 to 2.  The bill will next be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a date to be determined. If passed, Senate Bill 809 would help individuals convicted of a felony to find employment.  As currently written, SB 809 includes people convicted of a sex offense.   Bill sponsors include Californians for Safety and Justice, Center for Employment Opportunities and Root and Rebound.  ACSOL supported this bill both in a formal letter to the…

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California: The State of Incarceration

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Source: vera.org Despite California’s reputation as a progressive state, it is one of the epicenters of mass incarceration in the United States, incarcerating more people than any other state except Texas. Annually, California law enforcement agencies make almost 800,000 arrests and more than 600,000 bookings into county jails, and courts send almost 30,000 people to prison.† The result is that, on an average day in California, around 60,000 people are held in county jails and close to 100,000 people are incarcerated in state prisons.† In addition to people in criminal…

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CA: Prosecutor Labels Homeless Registrant Accused as ‘Nuisance’ in Attempt to Get Him Extraordinary Jail Sentence – Judge Disagrees

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Source: davisvanguard.org 4/25/23 WOODLAND, CA – Deputy District Attorney Preston Schaub accused a homeless man of being a “nuisance” and “burden to the community” last Friday during a sentencing hearing here in Yolo County Superior Court in an apparent attempt to convince Judge Tom Dyer to issue an abnormally severe sentence. Judge Dyer didn’t bite, sentencing the man to probation as long as he abides by court’s conditions. The accused had pleaded no contest to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance earlier this month, and DDA Schaub tried to use…

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CA: California proposal would reinstate prisoners’ voting rights

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Source: apnews.com 2/8/23 LOS ANGELES (AP) — California voters could decide whether to reinstate voting rights to people in prison on felony convictions under a newly proposed constitutional amendment. It would be a major expansion of suffrage for incarcerated people if passed. California would join Maine and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, as the only states where felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are in prison, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The California bill, introduced Monday by Assembly Member Isaac…

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CA: Assembly Public Safety committee faces pressure for blocking fentanyl, rape and other crime bills

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Source: kcra.com 4/20/23 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —The Chairman of the California Assembly Public Safety Committee, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, is responding to the mounting pressure his committee is facing after his committee decided to block or stall several crime-related bills. This week, both Republicans and Democrats have held or are scheduled to hold news conferences to speak out against the committee for not taking action on fentanyl. … The committee, which is made up of mostly progressive Democrats, has been known for blocking penalty enhancements broadly for fear of mass incarceration and…

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CA: Authorities investigate death of jail inmate

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Source: lakeconews.com 4/17/23 LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said an investigation is underway into the death of a jail inmate who died at an out-of-county hospital over the weekend. Inmate Jason Ray, 41, died on Saturday, April 15, in the care and custody of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office while being treated for a medical condition at Sutter Roseville Medical Center in Placer County, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Lauren Berlinn. Berlinn said the sheriff’s office activated the critical incident protocol and has begun an investigation into Ray’s…

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CA: Terminating Sex Offender Registration

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Source:  California Attorneys For Criminal Justice By Pat Ford, Esq.   Effective January 1st, 2021, Senate Bill 384 restructured the sex offender registration requirements, establishing three tiers of registration, primarily based on the offense of conviction, for periods of at least 10 years (tier one), 20 years (tier two) or life (tier three).  (See Penal Code section 290(d).) Section 290.5(a)-(c) provides the procedure for a person to seek termination from the sex-offender registry if the person has completed the mandated minimum period.  Once the termination request is made, the prosecution…

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CA: San Diego County Supervisors Call on Nathan Fletcher to Resign Immediately

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Source: msn.com 4/12/23 The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday calling for the immediate resignation of Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, rather than waiting for his planned May 15 departure date. Fletcher announced his resignation on March 29 after admitting to an affair with a Metropolitan Transit System employee who is suing him for alleged sexual assault and harassment. He has denied the allegations. Chairwoman Nora Vargas introduced a non-binding resolution of no confidence in Fletcher for Tuesday’s special meeting and requested that Fletcher immediately resign. The…

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CA: San Diego County Board of Supervisors Call Emergency Meeting Urging Nathan Fletcher’s Immediate Resignation

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UPDATE: San Diego County Supervisors Call on Nathan Fletcher to Resign Immediately 4/12/23   Source: nbcsandiego.com 4/9/23 The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday morning calling for Nathan Fletcher’s immediate resignation from office and pass a resolution of no confidence him, according to a release from Supervisor Jim Desmond’s office Sunday night. Desmond’s office reminded constituents that while the board does not have the ultimate power to remove Fletcher, the resolution would serve as a powerful statement for him to resign. Read the…

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UPDATED on 4/24: Support CA SB 809 by calling in today or tomorrow or showing up

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UPDATE 4/26/23: CA Senate Judiciary Committee Approves SB 809 [ACSOL 4/26/23] UPDATE 4/24: The 4/25 hearing for SB 809 is still scheduled! However, when you click here to look at the schedule you will see there are 3 priority “special order” bills that will be heard starting at 9 AM. It is unlikely that they will be finished before the 12-1:30 lunch break, but when those 3 bills are completed then the committee will immediately start on the rest of the bills. As you can see in the list, SB…

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CA: San Diego MTS board launches independent probe into Fletcher sexual misconduct allegations

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Source: latimes.com 4/6/23 Elected leaders overseeing MTS call for public transparency with the inquiry into allegations that a former employee was sexually harassed by Nathan Fletcher and wrongfully fired. San Diego — Elected officials overseeing the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System announced Thursday they’re launching an independent investigation into legal allegations by a former employee that she was sexually assaulted by county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and then improperly fired by the agency. The oversight panel also directed MTS staff not to provide any legal defense for Fletcher, who recently stepped down as…

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CA: Over 300 Undercover L.A. Police Sue City over Leak to Watchdog

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Source: breitbart.com 4/5/23 Over 300 undercover Los Angeles Police Department officers are suing the city for leaking their photographs to a watchdog group. As the Los Angeles Times noted last month, Mayor Karen Bass expressed outrage when it was discovered that the city had accidentally leaked the images of hundreds of officers, jeopardizing their investigations — and their lives. Read the full article  

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CA: How Much Did San Diego Pay While Nathan Fletcher Allegedly Preyed on Staff?

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Source: nbcsandiego.com 4/5/23 It’s believed that Fletcher, a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, will be paid as much as $26,000 while on medical leave prior to his resignation date of May 15 The now-disgraced San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who announced last week that he had stepped down as chair of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and planned on resigning from the county board in mid-May, will have to make do without a very expensive security detail and a very healthy paycheck. To date,…

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