Californians can petition to be removed from the sex offender registry
Prior to 2021, California was one of just four states with a lifetime sex offender registry. The others were South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
SB 384 is the legislation responsible for the tier system. It was passed in 2017 and signed into law by former governor Jerry Brown. It was co-authored by State Senator Scott Wiener who explained why change was necessary.
“It made the sex offender registry so massive, like 120,000 people in California, that law enforcement couldn’t even use it for its intended purpose, which is to monitor dangerous people,” Wiener said.
He said the bill was lauded by many disparate groups.
“We had a lot of support in passing this law, including from law enforcement, because law enforcement doesn’t want low level offenders clogging up the sex offender registry. They want to focus on the real bad actors, so we had a lot of support. But any time you’re talking about sex offenders, there’s going to be controversy because people jump to conclusions,” Wiener said.
They always add a “but” to everything. So they gave themselves an “Out” by saying Low level offenders can petition to get off. So someone who peed behind a tree can maybe get removed but someone who had an under aged girl/boy friend will be told, sorry, try again.
I am afraid if Florida ever does this, that will happen as well. I am not listed a predator but since they “Milked” the charges to make it look like I was the Boston strangler, not much hope here for me and others in a similar situation.
AND, nothing changed on my end. I never committed another offense, however with each new law I went from being on the registry to being a scary monster. And I am not alone.
Having said that, some progress is better than no progress. My fear again is that backwoods Florida will hold out until God reveals Himself and demands “Let my people go”.
It is totally based on the tiered system and Level 3 are not allowed to petition. I’m in Oregon and was just taken off the registry. By the way, Oregon also is a lifetime registry state !
Hey Barry i was convicted back in 2003 in Florida moved to Seattle in 2015 and I’m a level 1 here and don’t appear anywhere on the registry here aside from Florida. I’m thinking of petitioning to get off here in Washington even though its extremely lax here (they come to my door once a year knock I sign a piece of paper and its over since I’ve moved here I’ve maybe dealt with the police for a few minutes tops its so nice compared to Florida). How much did the petition cost you?
I don’t know the law for the petition but It probaly reads something like this. Anyone is eligible to file a petition for removal unless convicted of a sex offence..
Sarcasm Heavily Implied here.. Probaly next to impossible to be removed. I can only imagine all the carve outs and exceptions it has in it.
If the out of state challenge is successful maybe Florida will be forced to take people off their registry who currently live in there and have been law abiding. Doesn’t save any children or communities, it causes more harm than the Devil himself. Every year that passes and Florida continues with their blindness than the state should be fined per registrant, per year, or lose federal funding.
it doesn’t help everyone on the registry and they will continue to harass the one still left on it but it is a right step in the right direction
You forgot to mention Texas.
Florida does have a removal process. Its just not likely most of us will live long enough to actually get have a chance to petition..
Yes, Florida has a petition for removal after 25 years.
But for a great many of us, there is a carveout. Many of us can never petition for removal – ever.
The registry is wrong – plain and simple. It must go away in its entirety.
I am 100% against this type of law.
There is strength in numbers. This will erode our numbers and, consequently, our political voice.
Furthermore, these registration laws are Jim Crow.
As long as Jim Crow still lives for some US citizens, then it lives on for all US citizens!
The registry must be abolished for ALL. Half measures are anathema.
Just to inform those who do not live in California, non-contact CP has been made a tier three offense. Sen. Wiener allowed this to happen to the bill. Of course law enforcement approves the bill. Internet Crimes Against Children is the new “marijuana” and their cash cow.
It is ludicrous to group non-contact offenders with those who are considered the most dangerous!
Kathleen, with all due respect, we are all in this together.
Even the “worst of the worst” like me can change and grow and heal and move on as a peaceful, law-abiding citizen. I am proof of that.
There is no such thing as a “better” crime.
We are ALL on the registry, and the registry must end.
If Jim Crow laws (banishment, public shaming, crimes that are only crimes for a certain hated class, for instance) exist for any single person then they exist for all of us.
Do you remember author George Orwell’s lesson painted on the end of the barn?
It said, “All animals are equal (but some animals are more equal than other animals).”
JJJJ
Farm animals equal? Ok on the farm there are Cows(steak) and pigs(bacon). That is a toss up for me LOL
To make them equal I would need a porter house steak wrapped in bacon 🙂
Hey CherokeeJack. Nice to hear from ya.
For those who have no idea what we are joking about, I offer the following:
George Orwell (Pen name) wrote a dystopian novel about a socialist political revolution of animals on an English farm who rose up to overthrow their masters and take over the farm. At first all of the animals had equal rights, and those rights were clearly written on the end of the barn in big letters for all to see and read.
As time went on, the (rather intelligent) pigs took over until a tyrant boar rose up.
One of the 10 commandments on the end of the barn said, “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL!”
By the end of the novel, one of the dismayed and saddened horses again reads this commandment on the end of the barn, but is pretty sure that it used to be different somehow.
The commandment now reads, “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL! (BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS)”
Jeff
(Moral of the story, let’s not throw others under the bus in order to acheive our political aims)
I agree with you. Non-contact CP should not be classified as a Tier III offense. In Floriduh it is a 3rd degree felony. We have no Tier system, but the SMART Office in DC, in their implementation review, classifies it as Tier I offense.
https://smart.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh231/files/media/document/florida.pdf
Here’s Californication’s implementation review
https://smart.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh231/files/media/document/california-hny_0.pdf
Or, you can register in 6 states at once! When the police 👮 start looking for you, you are compliant in one of the other states. Just be sure to let your local police department know of your never-ending travel plans as a travelling consultant, with homes in the midwest and east coast but working in neighboring states. There ARE advantages to the decentralized registry! Accountability to all means accountability to none!
Once again, more good news from another state. When will we in Floriduh get any good news?
I live in Florida and I’d love to purchase some land near Tampa where a few of us could put our rvs on. Would anyone be interested in joining together to buy up some land? Or can anyone refer me to a place that would take a sex offender?