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 MoreTag: Residency Restrictions
Can We Please Stop Being Stupid and Cruel “For the Sake of the Children”?
A new law in Rhode Island will make sex offenders living beyond 300 feet of a school move to a place at least 1000 feet from a school. They have 30 days to uproot their lives. Guess who thinks this will make children safer? Only the R.I. Brotherhood of Correction Officers, which sponsored the bill. No one else. Not even law enforcers. Full Article Lenore Skenazy writes on her blog “Free Range Kids“, a commonsense approach to parenting in these overprotective times. She was the keynote speaker [video] at the 2014…
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade Homeless Sex Offender Encampment Surpasses 200 People
The torture started in 2006. The cities of Miami-Beach and Miami got into a war of sex offenders because Miami Beach’s ordinance drove registrants without anyplace to live over to the mainland. Miami countered by passing their own ordinance to drive them back. The result, sex offenders couldn’t find anyplace to live and were living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway; the bridge that connects Miami Beach to Miami. Full Article
Read MoreRI: Outcasts – Level III sex offenders in R.I. can’t live within 1,000 ft. of schools
Most of them knew what was coming, but the words still left them shocked and dismayed. Dozens of Providence men, all convicted of sex crimes, learned Wednesday from the Providence police that they had 30 days to find a new place to live. Full Article
Read MoreFL: FAC Sues Seminole County, Florida over Sex Offender Exclusion Zones Ordinance
The Florida Action Committee (FAC) has sued Seminole County and its Sheriff over the County’s proximity ordinance, which prohibits certain registered sexual offenders and predators from traveling through or being present within “exclusion zones” that encompass most of the County. The problem is that the zones are so broad and so vague that law abiding registered citizens cannot comply with the ordinance. Full Article
Read MoreState Courts Strike Down Overbroad Residence Restrictions for People Convicted of Sex Offenses
After two decades of imposing increasingly harsh residence restrictions on people convicted of sex offenses, several key states are rejecting blanket restrictions. Full Article
Read MoreGROVER BEACH REPEALS RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS FOLLOWING LAWSUIT CHALLENGE
The City Council of Grover Beach, in a vote of 5 to 0, voted on September 8 to repeal a city ordinance that prohibited California sex offenders (“registrants”) from living within 2,000 feet of any school, park, or day care center. The action follows a lawsuit filed on June 17 by California Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci on behalf of registrant Frank Lindsay who has resided in Grover Beach for 18 years. “This decision is important because it recognizes that residency restrictions do not increase public…
Read MoreMA: High court shoots down city’s residency restrictions on sex offenders
BOSTON – In a ruling that could affect dozens of Massachusetts communities, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court on Friday agreed an ordinance limiting where sex offenders can live in the city of Lynn cannot stand. Several registered sex offenders sued the city after local officials enacted an ordinance in 2011 that prevented Level 2 and 3 offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or park. A level 3 offender has been deemed the most likely to commit another crime, according to the state Sex Offender Registry. Full Article…
Read MoreCollateral damage: Harsh sex offender laws may put whole families at risk
Research says that registries and residency bans leave children of sex offenders vulnerable to bullying, homelessness. When ____ ____, 38, bolts from his desk around 5:30 most weeknights, he’s up against his most important deadline of the day. ____ is an audiovisual editor and social media manager at a Christian television studio in St. Petersburg, Florida. By the time he gets home, he and ____ , his wife of nine years, have just over three hours to make dinner for their three children, squeeze in a half-hour of playtime, get…
Read MoreJudge Denies TRO, Schedules New Hearing on October 1 [updated with media]
An Orange County Superior Court judge denied a temporary restraining order (TRO) requested by Richard Linington, a registered citizen, and Michelle Moreno, his fiancée, during a hearing on August 19 that would have prevented the enforcement of new residency restrictions in the City of Cypress. Also during the hearing, the judge recommended that the City refrain from enforcing the restrictions until an October 1 hearing on a preliminary injunction. “The City of Cypress has an opportunity to maintain the status quo by choosing not to enforce the new ordinance until…
Read MoreREGISTERED CITIZEN SUES CITY OF CYPRESS IN ORDER TO CONTINUE LIVING WITH FIANCEE [updated with media]
A lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on August 13 challenges a new sex offender (“registrant”) ordinance in the City of Cypress that would force registrant Richard Linington to leave the home of his fiancée where he has been living since 2011. The ordinance, which is scheduled to become effective on August 26, 2015, prohibits registrants from living within 1,000 feet of any school, park, or day care center. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would maintain the status quo by preventing the ordinance from taking…
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 MoreFolsom registered sex offenders live near elementary school
FOLSOM, Calif. (KCRA) —While researching nearby schools in Folsom for his 5-year-old daughter, Simon Varley also checked the Megan’s Law website to see where the nearest sex offenders live. Full Article
Read MoreOK: Mobile home park offers residence for sex offenders
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – David Nichols drives through his trailer park on the southeast side of Oklahoma City surveying the seemingly constant buzz of activity. Men toil under the blazing summer sun, patching the leaky roofs of trailers, while others try to fix an old car parked in a makeshift garage. Full Article
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 MoreDems Kill Safety Bill (Commentary by Sen. Sharon Runner)
Earlier this year, I introduced legislation to make the sex offender residency restrictions in voter-approved Jessica’s Law more workable, while still keeping the integrity of the law intact. Senate Bill 54 was designed to clarify any confusion caused by In Re Taylor, the recent decision of the California Supreme Court regarding the California Department of Corrections’ enforcement of sex offenders in San Diego County. Full Commentary Related Janice’s Journal: Senate Bill 54 – Is the Battle Over? Maybe, Maybe Not
Read MoreCORONA: Sex offender ordinance may change
Long-standing housing restrictions for convicted sex offenders in Corona could be amended Wednesday, July 15, bringing the city into compliance with a state law passed in March. Full Article What: The Corona City Council may change city rules to allow sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of a school or park. When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 15 Where: City Council chambers, 400 S. Vicentia Ave., Corona
Read MoreSex offender sues city of Grover Beach
A Grover Beach man is suing the city, claiming its restrictions limiting where registered sex offenders can live are unconstitutional. The city attorney says the city will fight the lawsuit. … Bellucci and Lindsay filed the lawsuit against the city of Grover Beach on June 16. The city originally had until Thursday to file its official response to the suit but requested and was granted an extension to July 23. Full Article
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