Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new bill Friday that will accelerate the process for expunging the felony records of formerly incarcerated volunteer firefighters. The new law is designed to make it far easier for them to earn an emergency medical technician certification, the first step in becoming a professional firefighter in most cities and counties. Full Article From AB 2147: 1203.4b. (a) (1) If a defendant successfully participated in the California Conservation Camp program as an incarcerated individual hand crew member, as determined by the Secretary of the Department of…
Read MoreTag: Employment
Kat’s Blog: Job Loss Due to the Registry
A recent USA Today inquiry cost a registrant and his company hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal contracts and who knows how many other jobs. The article in its entirety can be read on the ACSOL website “Sex Offender loses Covid-19 Contract at VA Hospital after USA Today ask questions.” The employee’s janitorial firm had had multiple government contracts over the years. There were never any issues with his employment record, he and his company were responsible employees and in good standing with the federal government’s vendor database. He…
Read MoreSex offender loses COVID-19 contract at VA hospital after USA TODAY asks questions
[usatoday.com – 8/11/20] Ezekiel Lopez is a registered child sexual predator in Illinois who spent more than three years in prison for sexually abusing two teenage girls under his care. The conviction was not a barrier between Lopez and more than $700,000 in federal contracts to provide cleaning and janitorial services to help fight COVID-19 at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital just outside Chicago. No rules specifically prevented it. Government contractors are supposed to indicate on their applications whether they’ve had any felony convictions within the past two years. But Lopez was convicted…
Read More9th Circuit Invalidates Employment Parole Condition
[ACSOL] 9th Circuit Invalidates Employment Parole Condition The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently invalidated a condition of parole which restricted a registrant from “engaging in any occupation, business, volunteer activity or profession” that had “the potential to be alone with children.” In its ruling, the Court agreed with the registrant that the parole condition at issue was overbroad. The Court noted in its decision that the condition “would leave only professions in industries that rigidly prohibit the presence of minors, such as a bar, casino, or adult-entertainment venue. The…
Read MoreCA: Sacramento-Area Reentry Network Free Expungement Clinic March 7, April 4
[arc.losrios.edu – 2/13/20] Trying to get a job & need your background cleared? Clear or reduce your criminal record (California arrests and convictions only) at the clinic. YOU ARE ELIGIBLE IF 1) you do not have any pending criminal cases, and 2) you are not currently on parole. REQUIREMENT: BRING A COPY OF YOUR CALIFORNIA RAP SHEET. Request at any Live Scan location. (2 weeks in advance) For more information on requesting them, go to: https://oag.ca.gov/fingerprints/record-review Clinic dates and times are: https://arc.losrios.edu/campus-life/calendar-and-events/free-expungement-clinic-x20100 Saturday, March 7, 2020 Saturday, April 4, 2020…
Read MoreEmployment Help for Registrants in LA County
“Friends Outside” has been awarded a grant from the State of California to help registrants succeed in job searching and conduct registrant research. For more information and contact info, please see the flyer.
Read MoreRI: After prison, more punishment
[washingtonpost.com – 9/3/19] PROVIDENCE, R.I. — He had spent 17 of his 46 years behind bars, locked in a pattern of addiction and crime that led to 16 prison terms. Now, Meko Lincoln pushed a cart of cleaning supplies at the reentry house to which he had been paroled in December, determined to provide for his grandchildren in a way he failed to do as a father. “Keep on movin’, don’t stop,” Lincoln sang, grooving to the British R&B group Soul II Soul on his headphones as he emptied trash…
Read MoreChina: Restrictions on child sex offenders
[shanghai.gov.cn – 5/30/19] Sex offenders will no longer be able to work for local enterprises, public institutions and social organizations that involve contact with children, the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate announced yesterday. It issued a document on an employment restriction system to cover all city enterprises, public institutions and social organizations which have special duties in regard to minors, such as guardianship, education, training and help, day care and medical care. They include kindergartens, primary and middle schools, nurseries for children under 3, children welfare institutions and training schools, medical institutions,…
Read MoreYou Just Discovered You Hired a Sex Offender. Now What?
A reader sent me the following question. I worked for a grocery store. Can a child molester be employed by the grocery store? I reported it to the manager, and showed proof and nothing was done about it. There’s a lot going on here. What does the law require an employer to do (if anything) under these circumstances? And what should an employer do when it discovers it is employing a sex offender? Legal Advice Column
Read MoreAK: Cyrano’s Theatre Co. will drop an actor who is a registered sex offender after social media backlash
[ktuu.com 12/11/18] A registered sex offender who performs with Cyrano’s Theatre Co. will no longer be acting with the company. Jenson Seifert lists Cyrano’s as his employer on the state’s sex offender registry. He is a former teacher at Birchwood Christian School who was charged, and later served time, for sexually abusing a minor. At the time, police accused him of molesting a 14-year-old boy repeatedly, including while he was a chaperoning a youth outing. Cyrano’s says Seifert has been a performer with the company for about a year and…
Read MoreDiscussion: How can registrants make a living?
This is an open discussion where you can share your ideas on how we registrants can find employment in a society that discriminates against us. For example: What regulations we are up against; Available job resources; Tips on the types of jobs that are most available to us; Your success story. If your information is specific to your state, please mention the state. We’d also like to hear your ideas on how registrants can start their own business—preferably without a major investment. What does it take? How can we avoid…
Read MoreMO: Proposed ordinance would keep sex offenders from serving liquor
To serve alcohol in Kansas City, you need a liquor card. The public safety committee is considering a new proposed ordinance that would change that, but some agencies are concerned. The Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, or MOCSA, is speaking out. Victoria Pickering, Director of Advocacy for MOCSA, said, “The goal is to prevent individuals who have a history of committing sexual offenses from being able to work with alcohol which is the number one drug that’s used to facilitate sexual assault.” Full Article
Read MoreCA: Sex Offenders working for Riverside County?
An audit from Riverside County’s Auditor-Controller, Paul Angulo, matches two registered sex offenders’ names to two employees working for Riverside County’s health care network. But other county officials say the audit names the wrong people, noting there are discrepancies in middle names and that the photographs don’t match. And a sentence within the audit says the employees could not be “positively confirmed” as registered sex offenders. Still, Angulo stands by his audit, noting that even the discrepancy highlights a flaw in the county’s vetting process. Full Article
Read MorePA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com – 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can’t be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge James Gardner Colins, upholds an arbitration ruling won on the prof’s behalf by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the professors’ union. University…
Read MoreChina: College pitcher with sex-offender past spurned in China, too
[nypost.com – 8/7/18] Former star collegiate pitcher Luke Heimlich’s status as a sex offender has once again derailed his professional baseball aspirations. The former Oregon State ace had agreed to sign with the Lamigo Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League on Monday night. But on Tuesday, the league declined to approve the contract, as the CPBL has a no-tolerance policy for players with criminal records. Read more
Read MoreKS: Salina art organization directors resign amid concern over sex offender volunteer
[kake.com – 8/3/18] SALINA, Kan. (KAKE) – The SPARK Artist Resource Exchange was supposed to be an organization of artists who worked on projects across Salina. Instead, it’s become a controversy after a Facebook posts about one of its directors who is also a sex offender. The resource center is in the heart of downtown Salina. In the last several days, posts on Facebook revealed that program director ______ is a convicted sex offender. Parents were worried that he had contact with children. ______ was convicted in 2012 of possessing…
Read MoreCA: Can You Fire Someone For Being A Sex Offender?
[jdsupra.com 4/30/18] It happens more often than you think. An employee in good standing is “outed” as being listed on a sex offender registry. His/her coworkers are up in arms. Now what? Can he/she be fired? Given California’s relatively new “ban the box” law, employers are limited in how they can use criminal history in employment decisions. For current employees, once a conviction is uncovered, you can’t automatically fire someone for it. Rather, employers must make an individualized assessment to determine if the conviction has a direct and adverse relationship…
Read MoreKS: Can letting ex-offenders work make us safer? One state wants to find out
[rstreet.org] Which of the last two presidents vowed to give ex-offenders a second chance in a State of the Union Address? You could hardly be blamed for guessing President Barack Obama, but the answer is President Trump. The quote made headlines due to its peculiarity coming from the “law and order” candidate, but it revealed that even hardliners like Trump are considering better ways to reintegrate former prisoners into society. In Kansas, both Democratic and Republican members of the legislature have acknowledged a substantial obstacle to offender reentry: the ability…
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