A federal district court judge today granted the government’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the International Megan’s Law. The law, passed by Congress in February, allows the federal government to notify foreign countries that a registrant whose offense involved a minor is traveling to that country and requires the federal government to add a conspicuous unique identifier to their passports. “Today’s decision is a travesty of justice,” stated ACSOL president Janice Bellucci. “As a result of this decision, registrants’ lives will be placed in danger and their ability to…
Read MoreTag: Federal Law Suit
CO: Three sex offenders lose round in court
U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore on Aug. 30 denied a motion for a temporary restraining order, meaning Englewood can continue to enforce its sex-offender residency restrictions for now. However, he did agree to hear evidence in a Sept. 28 court session on the request for a preliminary injunction that would halt enforcement of the residency restriction. Full Article
Read MoreAZ: Court rejects Cochise County man’s challenge of sex-offender registry
WASHINGTON – A federal court Friday upheld a Cochise County man’s conviction for failing to register as a sex offender, even though the state’s the sex-offender registry law was passed the year after his sexual misconduct conviction. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected David Bernard Clark’s argument that applying a law that passed after his crime was an improper ex post facto application. Full Article Decision Oral Argument Related MI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED] The 6th…
Read MoreThe 6th Circuit Finally Said The Magic Word: Punitive
Of the many legal fictions enjoyed by judges, few have done as much damage to as many people as calling sex offender registries “regulatory.” The trick is that if it’s characterized as regulatory, then it’s not punitive. And if it’s punitive, then it opens a whole slew of constitutional rights that would render the concept unlawful. But if legislators squint and write the “r” word instead of the “p” word, and judges squint and agree, problem solved! Full Editorial
Read MoreWI: Pleasant Prairie under legal fire for sex offender ordinance
A federal judge has been asked to order the village of Pleasant Prairie to notify residents that it is temporarily not enforcing an ordinance that effectively banishes registered sex offenders from living in the village. A preliminary injunction was filed Friday on behalf of 10 registered sex offenders who are challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance. Their attorney, Mark Weinberg, said he filed the injunction request after village officials lacked the “political will” to post notice on the village’s website that the ordinance would not be enforced under the lawsuit…
Read MoreIL: A chance to get sex offender laws right [Editorial]
When the 19-year-old son of ____ ____ of Downstate Fairview Heights had sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend, he was forced to register as a sex offender. He was a legal adult and she was a minor. Police told his employer to fire him, and when he found a job in a new town, the police there ran him off, too. Full Article Related IL: Sex offenders sue, saying registry laws keep them from church, living with family IL: Are Sex Offender Restrictions So Vague They’re Unconstitutional? — 2 efforts in Illinois…
Read MoreIL: Suit – sex offender statutes too vague, unconstitutional
Five sex offenders filed a lawsuit Monday asking a judge to halt the enforcement of several of Illinois’ sex offender registration statutes. Full Article
Read MoreRI: Federal judge orders temporary halt to enforcement of relocation law for R.I. sex offenders
PROVIDENCE — Enforcement of a newly revised state law that prohibits high-risk sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school has been temporarily blocked by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell. On Friday afternoon, McConnell granted a restraining order allowing Level III sex offenders who live within 1,000 feet of a school in Rhode Island to stay in their homes for at least a little longer. McConnell’s action bars the attorney general’s office and the Department of Correction from enforcing the law. Previously, they could not live…
Read MoreRI: ACLU sues to stop new sex offender residency law
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The new law forbidding Level 3 sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school in Rhode Island is not constitutional, the Rhode Island ACLU said in a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Providence. Full Article
Read MoreCDCR Withdraws Halloween Sign Requirement Statewide
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced in federal district court its decision to withdraw a statewide requirement that sex offender parolees post a sign on the front door of their residences on Halloween. Immediately following that announcement, CA RSOL withdrew its request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). “This is a significant victory for more than 10,000 registered citizens and their families,” stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. “They are no longer faced with the risk of significant injury.” CA RSOL and plaintiff John Doe were…
Read MoreCDCR Lawsuit Expanded, TRO Hearing Set October 26
A lawsuit challenging CDCR’s requirement that registered citizens post signs on the front door of their residences on Halloween has been expanded to include an individual in Los Angeles. Similar to the original plaintiff in the case who lives in San Diego County, the man in L.A. was told by his parole officer that he must post a sign on the front door of his home. “Both plaintiffs believe their lives will be in danger if they post a sign on the front door of their homes,” stated CA RSOL…
Read MoreLawsuit challenges Halloween sex offender requirement [update 3 with more media links]
This story has been picked up by Reuters News Service and was on the main page of US msn.com (screenshot). http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-sex-offender-sues-over-halloween-sign-and-rules/ SAN DIEGO — The group California Reform Sex Offender Laws and a sex offender on parole filed a lawsuit in San Diego federal court Wednesday challenging a requirement that sex offenders on parole post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween, as required by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Full Article Related Media http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Registered-Sex-Offender-Sues-Halloween-Safety-Program-333742971.html http://www.kogo.com/onair/demaio-report-56776/demaio-report-commentary-lawsuit-seeks-to-14038184 Carl DeMaio asks tough questions of the attorney…
Read MoreCA RSOL Challenges Halloween Sign Requirement in Federal Court [updated with complaint]
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) and a registrant on parole filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging a requirement that registrants on parole post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The requirement is levied by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as a blanket restriction on all registrant parolees in San Diego. “CDCR’s requirement that all registrant parolees post a sign on the front door of their residence violates the First Amendment because it compels speech,” stated Janice Bellucci, attorney…
Read MoreMurrieta Residency Restrictions Challenged in Federal Court
A registrant wishing to relocate to the City of Murrieta is challenging the residency restrictions adopted by the City of Murrieta, located in Riverside County. The restrictions prohibit most registrants from living within 2,000 feet of a child day care center, park, or school. CA Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit on October 6 on behalf of plaintiff Frank Lindsay. “Murrieta’s residency restrictions effectively banish most registrants from residing in that city,” stated Bellucci. “The restrictions prohibit registrants from living in at least 90…
Read MoreSex Offender Sues Arcadia Over Residency Restrictions
Despite revisions last year to an ordinance that severely limits housing options for potential residents convicted of sex crimes, a registered sex offender has filed a lawsuit against the city of Arcadia that seeks to repeal the law entirely. Recent state court decisions have challenged similar ordinances in other California municipalities, as advocates for sex offenders’ constitutional rights have over the last several years filed lawsuits aimed at rolling back what they claim are unfairly restrictive and discriminatory enforcement actions by Arcadia and a number of other locales statewide. Full…
Read MoreValidity of sex offender residency restrictions under fire again
Suit against Arcadia says exclusion zones made it impossible for plaintiff to find housing The constitutionality of sex offender residency restrictions is under further scrutiny in Arcadia following a lawsuit filed Monday by attorney Janice Bellucci, president of California Reform Sex Offender Laws. The suit, which comes months after the state Supreme Court ruled that blanket residency restrictions in San Diego County were unconstitutional, is the first in what Bellucci promised to be a “series” against Los Angeles County. “They have terrible residency restrictions which we’ve estimated prohibit registered citizens…
Read MoreIN: 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 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
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