In my personal opinion, We have another state senator who has no concept of the Constitution and the fact that it is designed to protect individual rights , not the rights of the majority and not the rights of the popular or powerful people and most definitely not the rights of the government. The Declaration of Independence the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are designed to protect individuals, and this includes people that others distrust of or dislike. Apparently this senator has no concept of Voltaire’s comment on freedom…
Read MoreTag: Proposition 35
IL: Sex offender rule unconstitutional
BLOOMINGTON — A requirement that Illinois sex offenders report all Internet sites they use to police is unconstitutional because it violates the offenders’ free speech rights, according to a ruling by a McLean County judge. Judge Robert Freitag agreed with arguments from the defense lawyer for _____ ____, 22, of Normal, that state law is overly broad in its mandate that all email addresses and sites a sex offender uses or plans to use, including Facebook, must be registered with police. Full Article Related Internet Identifier Bill to be Heard…
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 MoreState AG won’t appeal sex offender provision struck down by court (Prop 35)
Attorney General Kamala Harris says she will not ask the Supreme Court to let California enforce a voter-approved law that would require more than 70,000 sex offenders to disclose their Internet identities to police, a decision that apparently means the law will not take effect. Full Article
Read MoreProp. 35 belongs in scrap heap of flawed initiatives (Editorial)
California voters could not resist the chance to condemn human trafficking and sex offenders who prowl the Internet. In 2012, they approved Proposition 35, the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, with 81.3 percent of ballots cast. The vote was as predictable as it was unfortunate. Powerful though it was politically, the initiative is a prime example of why, with rare exceptions, criminal law should not be written by initiative promoters. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made that clear last week by striking down the Proposition 35 requirement that…
Read MoreOnline rights restored to sex offenders as Prop 35 is struck down (Radio)
The United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down part of California’s Proposition 35, citing an infringement on free speech that is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Prop 35, a bill put on the ballot via initiated state statute, increased prison terms for human traffickers, required sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, and mandated that all registered sex offenders disclose their internet accounts, among other restrictions. Having been approved by 81% of the state’s electorate, the proposition passed with the highest success rate of any item on…
Read MoreAppellate Court Affirms Decision to Block Enforcement of Prop. 35 Requirements
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the decision of a federal district court to block enforcement of Proposition 35 requirements that all registered citizens provide a list of any and all Internet identifiers as well as any and all Internet service providers to law enforcement. California RSOL is a plaintiff in this case and was represented by the San Francisco ACLU as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. According to the decision, the requirements violate the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in at least three ways: (1)…
Read MoreHow a Law Aimed at Sex Offenders Could Feed into the Growing Surveillance State
Last November, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 35, the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act. Like “tough on crime” anti-trafficking legislation around the country, Proposition 35 was presented as bolstering law enforcement’s ability to fight human trafficking by introducing a bundle of new laws that, most prominently, increased penalties for those convicted of trafficking human labor, made prostitution a sex crime, and with less public attention, created a new requirement for registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read More