Was homicide victim attacked because of his alleged history as sex offender? Detectives looking into the possibility

1-9-18 California:

A Los Angeles man who was stabbed more than 50 times and whose body was dumped near Rosamond may have been targeted in the belief that he was a sex offender, according to a search warrant.

The slaying of Roderick White may be connected to comments found on his Facebook page ALLEGING that the 32-year-old was a child molester, Kern County sheriff's Detective Daniel Perez wrote in the warrant. In the years he's worked in law enforcement, the detective wrote, he is aware that convicted or accused sex offenders are sometimes assaulted or killed because of their criminal history.

Perez found a Facebook page that had selfies of White, and he noted comments made in March and April of last year alleging that White was a child molester and listing possible addresses for him in Los Angeles and New York, the warrant states. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Simi Valley City Council may repeal Halloween sex offender ordinance

UPDATE 10-17: Simi Valley Repeals Law Barring Sex Offenders From Opening Their Doors to Trick-or-Treaters

10-15-17 California:

With two weeks until Halloween, the Simi Valley City Council on Monday night may repeal a controversial law that says registered sex offenders listed on the Megan's Law website can't open their doors to trick-or-treating children.

Simi Valley Police Chief Dave Livingstone says the city has never enforced the 2012 ordinance.

Even so, Simi Valley City Attorney Lonnie Eldridge is recommending the council consider rescinding the law in response to the latest federal lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. The suit was filed Sept. 18, naming as defendants the city and Livingstone. City Manager Eric Levitt goes a step further, recommending the council simply repeal the law. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

California Is Right to Curb the Sex Offender Registry

10-11-17 California:

It's overly applied, unintentionally harsh and ultimately self-defeating.

Say what you want about Governor Jerry Brown, but never say he’s not brave. He just signed a law that could eventually purge 90 percent of the names off of California’s lifetime registry for sex offenders.

I expect that he, and the legislators who passed it, will be subjected to the withering outrage that accompanies any action or statement, however mild or correct, that seems “soft” on sex offenders. I once wrote a column suggesting that pedophiles who are attracted to children but do not act on their impulses need more support from society to help keep them on the straight and narrow. Of course I was roundly scorned as being, at best, a woolly-headed liberal with a permanently broken moral compass, and at worst, probably a pedophile myself.

This is how we have ended up with the absurdities of the sex offender registries. In which teenaged boys who slept with their underage girlfriends can be required to spend years of their life (perhaps all the years of their life), fending off revolted stares from neighbors who think they’re child molesters. In which men have to sleep under bridges because there is no abode in the county that is far enough from a child for them to legally take residence. In which work, marriage, travel or even a roof over your head become near-impossible dreams for anyone ever convicted of any sexual offense -- and you may even be liable for these penalties if you are accused of exploiting … yourself.

The results can occasionally be not only absurd, but also tragic. At 19, William Elliott had sex with his then-girlfriend, who was a few weeks shy of her 16th birthday. Five years later he was shot to death by a pedophile-hunting Canadian gunman who found his name on Maine’s sex offender registry.

In this context, California’s step back is rather modest; they are allowing sex offenders to be removed from the registry 10 or 20 years after they serve their sentence, provided they haven’t committed another serious crime in the meantime. What’s remarkable about the legislation is that it happened at all; it stalled for years, because lawmakers were afraid of being seen as soft on crime. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Sex offender housing restrictions: where the law, common sense and politics collide

8-13-17 California:

It seemed simple enough.

A law on the city of San Diego’s books to restrict where registered sex offenders can live has provisions deemed unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court.

City Attorney Mara Elliott wanted the City Council to repeal the ordinance because San Diego could still be sued with it in place, even though the law hasn’t been enforced for years.

But on Aug. 1, a majority of council members balked. It seems nothing is actually simple in politics when it comes to doing anything that could be distorted as going easy on sex offenders, no matter the logic or law.

By a 5-4 vote, council members earlier this month rejected the repeal and days later the city was sued, according to the Union-Tribune’s Karen Kucher.

So, unless something changes, the city will spend money going to court for a dead-letter law that doesn’t do anything to protect children and others from sexual predators.

Elliott suggested that winning such a case is beyond unlikely. She further told the council that San Diego police do things other things to protect children from sexual abuse.

“She said the police department was there to explain further,” wrote Andrew Bowen of KPBS, “but no council member invited the police department’s representative to speak.”

Some members made comments about the need to protect children, but no one suggested that the city start trying to enforce the law. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

City begins repeal of sex-offender residency rules

7-28-17 California:

SAN MARCOS — The City Council has voted to start the process of repealing its sex-offender residency and loitering restrictions after receiving a letter threatening a lawsuit if it didn’t repeal the rules, which courts have ruled unconstitutional elsewhere.

The San Marcos City Council’s July 25 vote for the first reading of the repeal was unanimous.

Voters in 2006 approved Proposition 83, better known as Jessica’s Law, which prohibited registered sex offenders on parole from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. San Marcos, following the lead of a number of cities, in 2007 enacted its own local ordinance that prohibited all registered sex offenders, not just parolees, from loitering within 300 feet of where children congregate.

But in the years following the ordinances, a number of studies and reports have shown that the restrictions have negative effects, including isolating and increasing homelessness among sex offenders, which makes it harder for law enforcement to monitor them.

Courts have ruled that the 2,000-foot residency restriction was unconstitutional in San Diego County and the 300-foot loitering prohibition, adopted by a number of cities, was unconstitutional overall. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Two Barstow Men Arrested for Threatening Rumored Child Molester

6-9-17 California:

BARSTOW – Two Barstow men were arrested for threatening a man who they believed was a sexual predator from Las Vegas, Nevada who was attempting to lure children into his car.

On the evening of Tuesday, June 6, 2017, Barstow Police responded to Del Mar Avenue and Young Street regarding an assault. When they arrived the victim told them that he was at the AMPM gas station located in the 100 block of Montara Road when two males, later identified as Joshua Morton, 30, and Kyle Ray Axe, 31. The victim reported that one of the males pointed a silver handgun at him and the second told him to “leave town”.

“The victim told officers that the allegation is based on a Facebook post that had been made about him when he arrived in town,” Barstow Police officials said. “The allegation had been investigated by the police department prior to this contact, and was found to be unsubstantiated.” The victim followed the males to a home in the 300 block of Del Mar Avenue. Officers arrived at the location, made contact with the males and the victim positively identified them as the two males who pointed a gun at him and threatened him.

A loaded silver handgun and rifle were located during a search of Morton and Axe’s home. The victim said that the silver handgun in the home was the same one used in the assault. Both Morton and Axe were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal conspiracy, and criminal threats. Both are being held at the High Desert Detention Center in lieu of $50,000 bail. Morton and Axe are scheduled to appear at the Victorville Superior Court on Thursday afternoon. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Debate over sex offenders moves to court as California undertakes prison parole overhaul

5-22-17 California:

A Los Angeles-based nonprofit is claiming California prison officials have undermined last fall’s ballot measure to overhaul the state’s parole process by excluding sex offenders from consideration for early release.

The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws, which advocates for the rights of those convicted of sex crimes and their families, says the exemption — written into newly released guidelines to implement Proposition 57 — “impermissibly restricts and impairs the scope” of the initiative.

Those regulations were released in March and won initial approval from state regulators a month later. But the original ballot measure did not exclude inmates convicted of sex crimes from the chance of getting an earlier hearing before the state parole board.

The group filed the lawsuit in late April against the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its director, Scott Kernan. It argues the new rules are unconstitutional and it asks a judge to order corrections officials to withdraw and repeal them, according to the complaint filed in Sacramento County.

“We want the benefits of Proposition 57 to be provided to people who have been convicted of ‘non-violent’ sex offenses,” said attorney Janice Bellucci, who is representing the alliance and an inmate who brought the case forward. “It is a basic rule of law that regulations cannot be broader than the law that they are implementing.”

A spokesperson for the corrections agency said neither Kernan nor the department could comment on the pending litigation.

Debate over the treatment of sex offenders under Proposition 57 has simmered since last fall’s campaign season. But at that point, the outcry came from law enforcement officials and prosecutors who argued they did not want to see the ballot measure’s benefits extended to rapists and child molesters.

The sweeping initiative, approved by 65% of voters, gave new power to the State Board of Parole Hearings to grant early release to prisoners whose primary sentences are for crimes not designated as “violent” under California law. It also provided new ways for all inmates to earn time credits toward their sentences for good behavior and for enrolling in certain career, rehabilitation and education programs.

Opponents of Proposition 57 warned that the list of crimes under the violent felony penal code was short and porous, inspiring efforts in the Legislature this session to expand the definition of what constitutes a violent crime under state law. ..Continued.. by Jazmine Ulloa Contact Reporter

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

California prisons to free 9,500 inmates in 4 years

3-24-17 California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Corrections officials adopted new criminal sentencing rules on Friday that aim to trim California’s prison population by 9,500 inmates after four years.

They include steps like reducing inmates’ sentences up to six months for earning a college degree and by up to a month each year for participating in self-help programs such as alcohol and substance abuse support groups and counseling, anger management, life skills, victim awareness, restorative justice, and parenting classes.

Virtually any inmate except those on death row or those serving life-without-parole sentences is eligible to earn the credits and lower the sentence.

It’s the latest step in a years-long drive to dramatically lower the state’s prison population in response to federal court orders stemming from lawsuits by prison advocates and pressure to turn away from mass incarceration.

The changes follow voters’ approval of Proposition 57 in November. The initiative lets certain felons seek parole more quickly and gave corrections officials broad discretion to grant early release credits.

“I think that it’s a monumental change for the organization and I think across the state, across the nation, I don’t think that anybody has altered how they are incarcerating offenders as much as what Prop 57 does,” Corrections Secretary Scott Kernan told The Associated Press.

The goal, he said, is to encourage inmates to start “doing something with their incarceration and not just sitting on their bunks.”

The changes in parole eligibility will take effect April 12 if they win initial approval from state regulators, with final approval by October after a public comment period. The earlier release credits and earlier parole consideration will be phased in starting May 1 while the public review is underway.

Police and particularly prosecutors fought the ballot initiative, arguing that it will release dangerous offenders sometimes years earlier than called for in their sentences. It also will put convicts more quickly into county probation systems that already are stretched.

Kernan said he took some of their objections into account, for instance by barring sex offenders and third-strike career criminals from seeking earlier parole.

The changes are projected to eventually lower California’s prison population by about 7 percent and keep the state below the federal court-ordered population of about 116,000 inmates in the 34 adult prisons. The changes also will let the state phase out a long-running program that currently keeps nearly 4,300 inmates in private prisons in other states.

The administration predicts that earlier paroles will reduce the prison population by more than 500 inmates during the fiscal year that starts July 1.

But the bulk of the reductions would come from steps like doubling the credits inmates receive for completing education and training programs, to a maximum of three months in any 12-month period, and expanding them to include violent offenders.

Inmates would also start getting expanded credits for not violating prison rules starting May 1. That would typically reduce a violent offender’s sentence by 19 days each year, Kernan said, calling the reduction “relatively modest.” ..Source.. by DON THOMPSON

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Software results in mistaken arrests, jail time? No fix needed, says judge

See also: Court’s new multimillion computer system creates trouble for inmates, staff and When a system upgrade gets you arrested

3-11-17 California:

"Clerical errors… will occur regardless of the case management system used by the court."

OAKLAND, Calif.—A local judge has ruled against the Alameda County Public Defender’s demands to revise, and possibly even halt, usage of a flawed case management software that is in use here and in many other counties nationwide.

As Ars reported in December 2016, the Alameda County Superior Court switched from a decades-old courtroom management software to a much more modern one on August 1, 2016. Known as Odyssey Court Manager, the new management software is made by Tyler Technologies.

However, since then, the public defender’s office has filed approximately 2,000 motions informing the court that, due to its reportedly imperfect software, many of its clients have been forced to serve unnecessary jail time, be improperly arrested, or even wrongly registered as sex offenders. As recently as this month, the Portland Press Herald reported that courts in Maine had recently hired Tyler amidst similar complaints nationwide.

In a 13-page ruling issued last week, which Ars was only made aware of on Thursday, Judge Morris Jacobson denied the public defender’s office's insistence that the court provide accurate records within 24 hours and accurately mark, by the end of the business day, whether someone should be arrested. If the court was unable to meet those requirements, Public Defender Brendon Woods argued, it should halt its use of Odyssey entirely and return to its old system. ..Continued.. by Cyrus Farivar

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Bill Would Ban Adults Without Kids from Playgrounds

See also: Editorial L.A.'s proposed ban on single adults near playgrounds is fear-based policy making at its worst

12-29-2016 California:

A City Councilman in Los Angeles, Mitch O’Farrell, has proposed a bill to keep playgrounds “free of creepy activity” by not allowing anyone unaccompanied by kids to enter one.

Shamefully, that is already the rule here in my burg, New York City. This has lead to the arrest of two women who dared to eat donuts on a playground bench in Brooklyn (exposing kids to potential predators AND processed food!), and to the ticketing of seven guys who were playing on chess tables too close to a Mahattan playground (tables placed there by the city, but whatevs). The fact that the guys had been playing chess there for years and even taught some kids the game was of zero import to the authorities determined to see only potential evil, not actual good.

Kudos, then, to the Los Angeles Times for objecting to this grandstanding law. As the paper put it in an editorial titled, “L.A.’s proposed ban on single adults near playgrounds is fear-based policy making at its worst“: ..Continued.. by Free Range Kids

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

State Sen. Connie Levya intends to file legislation to keep sex offenders from entering California schools

See: Fontana School District’s “No Registrants” Policy Challenged in Court

11-17-16 California:

When the California State Senate convenes next month, Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) says that she plans to introduce legislation to ban all registered sex offenders from school campuses without exception.

Levya said the proposal comes in response to increased concerns from parents in recent months, particularly in Fontana, where the school district approved a September 2016 policy that seeks to address the issue.

State laws keep registered sex offenders from living near schools. But those who have not been convicted of having sex with a minor under age 16 can visit or volunteer with groups or organizations that work with children if they give proper notice, are granted permission. They cannot work directly with children.

“The safety of students should always remain a top priority, so I look forward to introducing legislation in the near future that will tighten the loopholes that sex offenders could use to gain access to school campuses in California," Levya said.

5:00 p.m.: This article was updated with information on state laws regarding sex offenders. ..Souce.. by Jazmine Ulloa

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

California Settles Sex-Offender Lawsuit Over Halloween Signs

10-5-16 California:

California's corrections department has agreed not to require sex offenders to post do-not-disturb signs on their doors during Halloween.

A sex offender from Chula Vista sued the state last year, saying he'd been ordered to post a warning that he doesn't participate in trick-or-treating.

The lawsuit argued such warnings violate offenders' due process and free speech rights and could make them targets for vigilantes.

Corrections officials say the signs were never a statewide policy. But on Tuesday officials said they agreed not to require the signs and to pay $14,000 in attorney's fees to a lawyer who filed the lawsuit.

The agreement affects California's Operation Boo, which aims to protect young trick-and-treaters from pedophiles by imposing a Halloween curfew on sex offenders. ,,Source.. by ABC News

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

California: Sex offenders will have to disclose email addresses, user names under new law

9-28-16 California:

Sex offenders will soon have to report their email addresses, user names and other Internet identifiers to police under a bill Governor Jerry Brown signed Wednesday.

The bill, authored by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), will apply to people convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2017 of Internet-related sex crimes.

Law enforcement can use the information only to investigate a sex crime, kidnapping or human trafficking. Offenders will have 30 days to report new or modified addresses and usernames.

The bill amends parts of California law enacted in 2012 when voters passed Proposition 35, an anti sex-trafficking law.

Proposition 35 passed by statewide ballot with more than 80% of the vote. It increased punishments for human traffickers and expanded the definition of human trafficking to include the creation and distribution of child pornography.

In 2014, a federal court sided with a challenge to the law that argued parts of Proposition 35 violated sex offenders’ constitutional rights. The court gave California until the end of this year to fix flaws it found in the law.

"We have learned that the internet has become extremely popular for sex crimes," Hueso said in a statement last month when the Legislature passed the bill. "We must take action to protect our children and take this growing problem very seriously." ..Source.. by LATimes.com

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Human-Trafficking Victims Get Help in Calif.

9-28-16 California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday approved a series of bills aimed at protecting victims of human trafficking and exempting minors from prostitution penalties.

The flurry of human trafficking-related bills increase protections for victims of California's sex industry and allows law enforcement to place exploited minors into temporary custody. Brown also approved laws allowing certain trafficking witnesses to testify through closed-circuit television and to give courts the authority to vacate minors' prior prostitution convictions.

Slowing California's underground industry of human trafficking and child prostitution was a major focus for lawmakers this legislative session. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center statistics, more than 711 cases of human trafficking were reported in California in 2015, and more than 3,800 cases since 2007.

Brown approved seven separate trafficking bills on Monday, including Senate Bill 1322 by state Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles.

Mitchell's proposal bars law enforcement from arresting minors for soliciting or loitering. She argued that SB 1322 was necessary because current laws don't go far enough to protect child victims.

"The law is supposed to protect vulnerable children from adult abuse, yet we brand kids enmeshed in sex-for-pay with a scarlet 'P' and leave them subject to shame and prosecution," Mitchell said in a statement. "This is our opportunity to do what we say is right in cases of sex trafficking: stop the exploiters and help the exploited."

Mitchell has now authored four different bills dealing with human trafficking during her stint in the state Senate.

Senate Bill 1129, by state Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for prostitution crimes. Current laws call for repeat offenders to be sentenced to a minimum of 45 days in county jail.

The trafficking bills overcame opposition from lawmakers who questioned whether the state's overburdened social services programs could handle a potential influx of young trafficking victims.

Meanwhile, some law enforcement groups warned that removing and lessening prostitution penalties could have the unintended impact of sending victims quickly back to their traffickers.

Brown did veto a bill by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, to create safe houses for exploited children. Assembly Bill 1730 proposed a pilot program in four counties to provide rehabilitative services for youth sex trafficking victims.

In a veto message, Brown noted that the state included $19 million for trafficking prevention and intervention in the state budget, and that Atkins' pilot program should be dealt with during the budget process. ..Source.. by NICK CAHILL

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Lifetime on sex-offender registry questioned

9-11-16 California:

Critics ask whether those convicted of one assault should have a chance to get off the list eventually

SAN FRANCISCO — When ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner became a registered sex offender for life last Tuesday, he joined a nationwide list of registered sex criminals that has grown dramatically in recent years to more than 800,000.

Even some who have denounced Turner’s six-month jail sentence as too lenient for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman question whether he should spend his life with the stigma and onerous restrictions of a registered sex offender.

They join a growing number of defense attorneys, advocates and judges who are questioning the fairness of applying lifetime, blanket restrictions to expanding definitions of sex crimes that frequently treat first-time offenders the same as serial rapists.

In California, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama it’s impossible for people convicted of any sex crime to be removed from the online registries showing their pictures, addresses, convictions and probation details.

Offenders have been turned into victims themselves when they are targeted in vigilante attacks or can’t find jobs or places to live, critics say.

Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, who lambasted Turner’s sentence as too lenient and is leading a campaign to oust the judge who imposed it, said requiring the 21-year-old man to be registered as a sex offender until he dies may be too harsh.

“No one should be defined by their worst decision for the rest of their life,” Dauber said in an interview. “Deciding who should be removed, which cases or crimes should qualify would require thoughtful legislation, a fair process and, of course, an unbiased judge.”

Dauber stressed there are many criminals who deserve lifetime registration, but said at some point after at least 10 years on the registry Turner should be given a chance to get off it by proving he has successfully rehabilitated himself.

Turner was released from jail Sept. 2 and moved to his parents’ home in Bellbrook, Ohio, registering as a sex offender at the Greene County sheriff’s office four days after his release from a California jail for good behavior after serving half his sentence. Protesters demonstrated in front of the home before and after his arrival and Turner’s parents told police eggs were thrown at the house.

Advocates for sex crime victims insist that lifetime registries make the public safer by preventing offender recidivism and giving citizens and police access to crucial information on the whereabouts of sex offenders and where they are prohibited from going – like schools and other areas frequented by children.

Access to that information in 50 state registries plus a federal government registry, they say, far outweighs complaints about the registry burdens for criminals who have served their prison sentences. “Sex offender registries are an important part of the criminal justice system,” said Staca Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “Registries assist law enforcement – and the public – to keep track of the locations of convicted sex offenders.”

But some defense attorneys say registration has turned into such a harsh punishment that they now negotiate longer jail terms for their clients in return for prosecutors dropping sex offender registry requirements, trading incarceration for pleading guilty to charges that don’t require registration.

Most states allow peeping toms and people convicted of crimes like indecent exposure to have their names removed from registries after 10 to 30 years of good behavior. ..Source.. by PAUL ELIAS

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

California Assembly Passes Bill to Eliminate Statute of Limitations for Felony Sex Crimes

8-26-16 California:

The California Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for prosecuting rape and other felony sex crimes. The bill is expected to easily pass the senate and will then head to the governor’s desk for signature.

Currently, California law sets a 10 year limit for prosecuting sexual assault cases unless DNA evidence emerges after that time, and sexual abuse committed against minors must be tried before the victim turns 40. This new bill would eliminate those restrictions, giving survivors more time to report.

“Currently, California has no time limit on prosecuting murder or the embezzlement of public money,” said Ivy Bottini and Caroline Heldman, co-chairs of the End Rape Statute of Limitations Campaign. “Surely rape should be treated as seriously as embezzlement.”

“To some extent, the call to eliminate the statute of limitations on rape is a call for social recognition that rape is a very serious crime,” Robert Weisberg, professor of law at Stanford University told The Daily Beast.

The bill was inspired by the more than 50 women who have come forward with accusations of rape against Bill Cosby, alleging they were assaulted by the comedian in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, too long ago to press charges now. Unfortunately, the bill will not apply retroactively in compliance with the Constitution’s ex post facto clause, though advocates say, it is still a step forward.

34 states currently have laws that set statutes of limitations ranging from three to thirty years for sexual assault. It is estimated that only three percent of rapists ever serve jail time for their crimes. ..Source.. by New York Magazine

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Sex offenders would have to disclose email addresses and usernames under bill sent to governor

8-26-16 California:

Sex offenders would be required to report their email addresses, usernames and other Internet identifiers to law enforcement under a bill California state senators sent to the governor Wednesday.

The bill, SB 448, would amend parts of California law enacted when voters passed anti sex-trafficking law Proposition 35 that have since been challenged in court. The bill now goes to the governor.

SB 448 would apply to offenders convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2017 who used the Internet to carry out sex crimes.

Proposition 35 passed by statewide ballot in 2012 with more than 80 percent of the vote. It increased punishments for human traffickers and expanded the definition of human trafficking to include the creation and distribution of child pornography.

In 2014, a federal court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had challenged that parts of Prop. 35 violated sex offenders’ constitutional rights. The judge in the case gave California until the end of this year to fix flaws the court found in the law. ..Source.. by LATimes

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Sharon Runner Introduces Legislation Requiring Department of Corrections to Obey Jessica's Law

2-14-16 California:

SACRAMENTO – Senator Sharon Runner (R-Antelope Valley) announced today she is authoring legislation that will stop the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from allowing convicted sex offenders to live near parks and grade schools. Senate Bill 1021 will require CDCR to enforce the voter approved sex offender residency restriction under Jessica’s Law in all counties except San Diego.

Last year the California Supreme Court held that the restriction preventing registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park could not be upheld in San Diego County because of a severe lack of compliant housing. While the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that the ruling applied only in San Diego County, CDCR immediately refused to enforce the law in any of the other 57 counties.

“The Corrections Department’s sweeping decision to allow convicted sex offenders to live next to where our children learn and play is unacceptable,” said Runner. “Under the department’s new policy, only 24% of sex offenders are still required to live within the limits set by Jessica’s Law. This means that 76% of paroled registered sex offenders are free to live next door to parks and grade schools, even before they complete parole.”

Equally as disturbing, the Department justifies its refusal to enforce Jessica’s Law upon the advice of the California Attorney General, but has refused to release the Attorney General opinion, despite repeated requests from legislators and the press. ..Continued..

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

What's Next for the Sex Offender Treatment Clinic Chased Out of Duboce Triangle?

2-12-16 California:

They’ve got to go somewhere.

Nobody wants Sharper Future, the California-based rehab center for sex offenders, on their block. This week, clinic owners abandoned a bid to move into the vacant space at 100 Church St. citing the neighborhood’s unrestrained (if unsurprising) anger after Hoodline tipped everyone off about it.

But no amount of angry emails or petitions can run Sharper Future clear out of town. The clinic’s clients, all registered sex offenders, are required by law to get regular psychological treatment, many of them for the rest of their lives. Much the same way we can’t legally (or practically) relocate sex offenders to a desert island, we can’t kick out the institutions that service them.

Nor should we really want to, since the idea of sex offenders not getting therapy is a clear net loss for community safety. This has the makings of an intractable problem.

“I’ve been trying to find a place for these people for seven months,” says Ken Colwell, a real estate broker with Paragon Commercial Brokerage. “We looked at maybe 30 sites, and considered 100 others. We did everything we were supposed to with this building, got the green light from the city, and now it’s been taken away at the last minute.”

Colwell is clearly steamed on his clients’ behalf. Sharper Future is actually the perfect tenant in most ways, a successful nonprofit with sound financials, federal funding, and owners (doctors Mary-Perry Miller and Tom Tobin) whom Colwell calls “two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”

But it’s hard to overcome that PR problem.

Sharper Future has been at their current location at 1540 Market Street for nine years. A completely unscientific phone survey of their immediate neighbors revealed no complaints about the clinic or its clients. In fact, most nearby business owners say they had no idea Sharper Future was even there.

But the building will soon be demolished to make way for a 37-story condo tower designed by SCB and Snohetta. Sharper Future has worked out an extension of their current lease through the end of the year—this being San Francisco, construction on the new building isn’t going to start soon anyway — but after that they can’t afford to stay in the neighborhood. The block around Van Ness was a no-man’s land when they first moved in, but now companies like Uber and Caviar are just up the street, and property values are soaring.

Yes, the tech boom is even displacing San Francisco’s sex offenders — or at least those that help them.

It’s already hard enough to find a space with sufficient square footage (8,000 feet or so) and properly zoned for medical treatment for the right price, says Colwell. Throw in neighborhood activism and the hot potato has very few places to land.

Readers of San Francisco’s various news outlets have some suggestions: ..Continued.. by Adam Brinklow

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...

Most Sex Offender Parolees Exempt From Ban

12-14-15 California:

Three-quarters of California's paroled sex offenders previously banned from living near parks, schools and other places where children congregate now face no housing restrictions after the state changed its policy in response to a court ruling that said the prohibition only applies to child molesters, according to data compiled at the request of The Associated Press.

The rate is far higher than officials initially predicted. The state expected half of the 5,900 parolees would have restrictions on where they can live or sleep lifted when the corrections department changed its policy following the March ruling. Instead, data shows that 76 percent of offenders no longer are subject to the voter-approved restrictions.

Corrections officials said last spring that about half of the convicted sex offenders are considered child molesters who would still be subject to the housing ban.

But even some whose offense involved a child no longer face the 2,000-foot residency restriction, officials disclosed in explaining the higher number. That's because the department's new policy requires a direct connection between where a parolee lives and the offender's crime or potential to reoffend. Only rarely is the assailant a stranger to the victim, the type of offender whose behavior might be affected by where he lives.

"A parole agent cannot simply prevent a parolee from living near a school or park because the offender committed a crime against a child," Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Jeffrey Callison said in a statement.

The decision largely reverses a blanket housing ban imposed by California voters nine years ago. Many states impose a variety of residency restrictions on sex offenders, though states including Iowa, Georgia and Oklahoma rescinded or changed their residency restrictions and some now also tailor restrictions to individual sex offenders.

As a result of California's policy change, more than 4,200 of the state's 5,900 offenders no longer qualify for the residency restrictions, according to data compiled by the corrections department at the AP's request. However, their whereabouts still are monitored with tracking devices and they must still tell local law enforcement agencies where they live.

One in five sex offenders who used to be transient have been able to find permanent housing because they are no longer subject to the rule, the department said.

"These numbers are absolutely astounding," said state Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, who co-authored the original ballot initiative. "Kids in kindergarten living across the street from a sex offender is not what the people voted for in Jessica's Law. Seventy percent of the people voted to keep them away from schools and parks."

The department spent months reviewing offenders' criminal backgrounds before deciding that the ban should continue to apply to about 1,400 offenders. The department couldn't provide the status of nearly 300 other offenders. ..Continued.. by Don Thompson

Read More of Article...

Article Summary only...