ACSOL Demands Removal of Registrants from CA Megan’s Law Website

ACSOL demanded today that the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) remove from the state’s Megan’s Law website the profiles of every individual that lack two important pieces of information — year of conviction and year of release. The demand was sent to Attorney General Rob Bonta, who leads that agency, by email and U.S. mail. “We believe that the California Megan’s Law website is in violation of state law which requires that profiles on that website include the year in which a person was convicted as well as the…

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SD: House Judiciary Pass Sex Offender Petition Registry Removal Bill

Source: mykxlg.com 2/27/23 Some sex offenders who committed their crimes out of state could petition to get off the South Dakota state sex offenders list under a bill passed Friday morning by the House Judiciary Committee. SB 176 would allow an individual taken off an out-of-state sex offender list to petition to be removed from the South Dakota sex offender registry. It would also allow a person who committed a crime in the other state that was not an offense that would land them on the South Dakota registry to petition…

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SC: Bill sets parameters for South Carolina sex offenders to get off registry [create new three-tier registry]

Source: wspa.com 2/25/22 COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — A proposed bill in the South Carolina Senate would set out guidelines for convicted rapists to petition a court to be removed from the sex offender registry. The bill is in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling last year stating that it’s unconstitutional for the state to not have a process that would allow sex offenders to be removed from the registry. The bill was proposed by Sen. Greg Hembree (R-Horry County) on Feb. 16 and remains in the Senate Committee…

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TN: To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry

Source: washingtonnewsday.com 12/4/21 To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry. To stop their retroactive sanctions, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ordered the removal of eight individuals from the sex offender list. In her order on Friday, Trauger said, “Tennessee officials continue to defy the Constitution’s guarantees.” “The same analysis applies… to Tennessee’s own, very comparable scheme and practices, according to federal district courts in this state. Officials in Tennessee have continued to apply the state’s long-held-to-be-illegal policy on others…

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CA: Number of Petitions Granted Continues to Grow

Source: ACSOL Contra Costa County today granted the first petition under its consideration.  The petition was submitted on behalf of a registrant convicted of PC 288(a) about 25 years ago who had successfully registered for more than 20 years.  Prior to today’s hearing, the relevant registration office determined that the registrant was eligible to submit his petition.  During today’s hearing, the District Attorney’s office stated it had no objection to the petition being granted. “Today was a great day not only for the registrant whose requirement to register has been…

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Los Angeles Courts Grant Two Petitions

Source: ACSOL Two superior courts in Los Angeles county have granted petitions submitted on behalf of two different registrants.  The first petition was granted on Nov. 5 in the San Fernando Valley court house to a registrant convicted of Penal Code section 243.4 whose tier had not yet been determined.  This registrant was represented by ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. The second petition was granted today in the downtown Los Angeles courthouse to a registrant convicted of Penal Code section 288(a) and assigned to Tier 2.  This registrant was represented by…

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Placer County Grants Registrant’s Petition for Removal from Registry

Placer County Superior Court today granted a registrant’s petition for removal from the registry.  It is believed to be the first petition granted in that court and possibly in all of northern California.  The registrant was convicted of a federal child pornography offense (18 USC 2252(a)(4)(B)) in 2004. The petition was granted after the registrant received a letter assigning him to Tier 1 under the Tiered Registry Law.  He filed a petition on his own behalf and the Placer County District Attorney did not object to that petition.  The final step…

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NY: Man in Fishkill Suing to be Removed From Sex Offender Registry

Source: wpdh.com 11/10/21  A man in Dutchess County who’s been forced to register as a sex offender says the registry is unconstitutional and he’s suing to be removed from it. According to Inner City Press, Karl Pennington was arrested two decades ago for kidnapping a 17-year-old. Currently residing at the Fishkill Correctional Facility, Pennington says he was forced to register as a sex offender because the child was under 18 and he was not their parent or guardian. The crime was part of gang activity and, according to Pennington, is now causing…

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NY: Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty sues to have his name removed from New York’s Sex Offender Registry

Source: the-sun.com 8/19/21 NICKI MINAJ’S husband Kenneth Petty is suing to nix his name off New York’s Sex Offender Registry and reportedly arguing that some imposter signed the documents while he was imprisoned. Petty filed papers against the state’s Criminal Justice Services division to clear his name from the registry because he claims he wasn’t able to plea his case back in October 2004 while he was serving out a prison sentence. The 43-year-old is hoping that he can delete his name off the humiliating and costly registry because he…

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NJ: Sex Offenders Lose in Attempt to Remove Names From Registry

[usnews.com – 3/18/20] TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Supreme Court this week rejected an attempt by two sex offenders to have their names removed from a public registry. Two offenders identified only as H.D. and J.M. pleaded guilty to sexual offenses in the 1990s and guilty in 2001 to other offenses, one for computer-related theft and one for failure to register as a sex offender, and were sentenced to probation. State law imposes lifetime registration requirements on offenders but allows those on the registry to apply for removal…

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AK: Without guidance, Alaska judges to ‘muddle through’ sex offender registry removal decisions

[ktuu.com – 8/9/19] ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – Without guidance, Alaska Superior Court judges will have to “muddle their way through” decisions over how a person can apply to be removed from the sex offender registry, says John Skidmore, the director of the criminal division with the Department of Law. In June, the Alaska Supreme Court determined that people on the sex offender registry had a right to due process, effectively meaning they could apply to be removed from the registry if they can prove they are no longer dangerous. Currently, there…

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AZ: Stringer fallout halts sex offender registry reform

[eacourier.com – 4/11/19]   Legislation that would make more people eligible to have their names removed from Arizona’s sex offender registry may end up being an inadvertent casualty of the recent revelations of decades-old sex crime allegations that led David Stringer to resign from the Arizona House of Representatives. House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, sponsored House Bill 2613, which he crafted with assistance from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The bill would expand the list of crimes for which sex offenders could petition to be removed from the registry, while…

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