KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The Santa Clarita City Council is considering repealing restrictions Tuesday which currently limit registered sex offenders from living near schools or parks after it was ruled unconstitutional, officials said.
In November 2006, Proposition 82, known as “Jessica’s Law,” was passed by California voters to restrict the residency of sex offenders, but was later ruled unconstitutional in 2015 by the California Supreme Court, according to the agenda of the May 14 meeting.
After the passage of Jessica’s Law, the City of Santa Clarita adopted an ordinance to prohibit any registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a school, park, library or child care center. The City’s ordinance also restricted sex offenders from living with each other in the same residence, or unit of a multi-unit building.
In March 2015, the California Supreme Court decided the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) enforcement of the residency restrictions against sex offender parolees as unconstitutional.
The California Supreme Court found the restrictions to be unconstitutional due to being too restrictive in terms of where the sex offenders could live, and thus violated the basic constitutional liberty rights of the sex offenders, according to city officials.
Santa Clarita’s current ordinance is even more restrictive than the laws that the California Supreme Court found to be too restrictive, city officials said in a statement.
This conclusion was based in part on studies and reports released after the passage of Jessica’s Law indicating that such residency restrictions have not improved public safety, according to court documents.
See Related: Santa Clarita Megan’s Law Sex Offender Map 2018 KHTS Update
The residency restrictions, “hampered efforts to monitor, supervise, and rehabilitate such parolees in the interests of public safety, and as such, bears no rational relationship to advancing the state’s legitimate goal of protecting children from sexual predators,” according to the court ruling.
In one such report issued by the California Sex Offender Management Board, the evidence suggests that residency restrictions have the unintended consequences of increasing homelessness among registered sex offenders, thereby actually threatening public safety, according to the agenda report.
In March 2019, the City of Santa Clarita was served with a lawsuit by the Law Office of Janice M. Bellucci challenging the city’s residency restrictions for sex offenders based on the same issues raised in the California Supreme Court case.
Bellucci has sued 24 cities and one county throughout California, seeking to repeal local ordinances limiting residency, she said.
“These restrictions have been ruled unconstitutional,” Bellucci said. “There is a conditional settlement on the table with the city.”
If the city repeals the ordinance, the lawsuit will be lifted, according to Bellucci.
The California Department of Corrections supervises sex offenders during the parole period after release from prison, officials said.
Based upon case law, the California Department of Corrections is no longer enforcing the residency restriction limitations of Jessica’s Law during the parole period for registered sex offenders, according to the agenda report.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is no longer enforcing the residency restrictions of Jessica’s Law or Los Angeles County’s local residency restriction ordinance based upon case law, according to city officials.
In light of the California Supreme Court’s determination that restrictions similar to the city’s ordinance are unconstitutional, the pending lawsuit and the fact that the residency restrictions are not being enforced by either the Department of Corrections or the Sheriff’s Department, city staff recommends that the City Council repeal its sex offender residency restrictions, according to City Hall documents.
In the event the law changes, such that residency restrictions are again permitted, the City Council can consider implementing those in the future, officials said.
In addition, California’s Sex Offender Registration Act, also known as Megan’s Law, is still in effect. Under Megan’s Law anyone who lives in California after being convicted of a sex crime to register with the police of the city or county where they live, according to city officials.
The Santa Clarita City Council is expecting to discuss the ordinance on sex offender residence on May 14 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
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Alarming. In twenty years sexual predators will be held in high esteem and will be in elected office. Perverts will be a protected class just as homosexuals are today. No more pedophiles just loving people who want to copulate with very young persons. Hopefully, the end is near.
You almost had me until that homophobic slur. Btw, sexual predators are already elected to high offices… Look at the president.
You had me until you zeroed in on only one person. They exist on both sides of the isle. They live in every neighborhood in this country. These are those caught and convicted. I don’t think you’ll find him listed as a sexual predator. He may be morally corrupt but his were willing adults. No crime here.
I know… look at President Bill Clinton !
Look at our churches.
When you say Homosexuals, are you referring to our church leaders
Why is this attorney not suing for millions? The City of Santa Clarita has had 4 (four) years to repeal an unconstitutional ordinance. If they don’t learn in that time frame, a hit to the pocketbook certainly is in order. Let them explain it to their constituents.
Completely agree. But really, these criminal regimes don’t even care about losing our money. The only thing that I think might affect these criminal regimes is if the individuals in them start getting put into prison every time they do some “$EX offender” witch hunt thing. Every time they even say “$EX offender” they ought to be put in prison. Because, obviously to anyone with a brain, NONE of this is about public safety, protecting children, or any of the rest of their lies. If it were, they would have included Gun Offenders in their harassment.
Sickening. That lawyer is a disgrace to society. She belongs in Dante’s Inferno in the ninth stage. What outcome do you think will come of this? Kids may need to carry pepper spray on the way to school.
This lawyer is a patriot and American hero for making sure the Constitution is no longer trampled upon. If you want to “arm” your child with pepper spray, go right ahead. That is your right in a free country. This lawyer makes sure it stays that.
Are you kidding me? Obviously you are not a victim of sexual abuse! If their crime was on a child, they shouldn’t be near children!
Not kidding in the slightest. If you do not want your kid to be near certain people, keep them away from them. Otherwise I suggest you get in line with the Constitution, on the basis of which this lawyer will win this lawsuit.
Belluci is a Patriotic Hero for upholding the rights of a pedo? This is an individual who is filing as many lawsuits anywhere to get a judgement for herself. It seems she is focused on liberal jurisdictions so her outcome for settlement is more favourable. Nothing more than that.
Some children are not dropped off at school by a guardian, so they are walking in neighborhoods potentially passing the domiciles of known perpetrators.
Some perps have been known to drive around schools looking for a potential victim. How easy is it to snatch an 8 year old off the street?
Maybe you need a refresher on civics. Eighth grade level, start with the fundamental principles. Check if hateful or vulgar speech is protected by the constitution.
Sorry, “Kristina an American”, you are not an American. No American supports the idiotic, anti-factual, anti-reality, thoroughly and completely proven to be worse-than-merely-worthless residency “restrictions”. The only “people” who do are people who are more concerned with feeling good than they are with actual public safety safety or protecting children. Cold, hard, sad fact.
Belluci is a hero and in fact, if our entire country were filled with only people just like her, we’d have a decent country for once in our history. For once. We need people like her to protect ALL of us from people like you.
Maybe you need a refresher on civics? You could learn to stop calling people names, for starters. Then focus on the actual U.S. Constitution and how it truly is not acceptable that big government keep a hit list of people who completed legal criminal sentences years and decades ago, and yet big government and their harassing supporters (i.e. you) think it is just fine to add or change “restrictions” for those people at any time that their tiny little brains get a whim. Think?
In the meantime, try to mind your own business, stop harassing other families, and pay more taxes for your nanny big government.
Nope. What is actually sickening is that anyone who would dare call themselves an American ever thought this was acceptable in the first place. THAT is sickening. I’d love to get you un-Americans out of my country.
And BTW, if you think these “restrictions” would ever make any difference at all then you really do need to start trying to use your brain. Doesn’t take much thinking to see them for the stupidity that they are.
How does making sex offenders homeless help keep children safe? If they have a place to live, then you will know where they are living and can help your children avoid them. Also with a physical address, the police can keep better track of them. Presence restrictions didn’t protect kids, so why do you want them? Sex offenders are allowed to travel anywhere, so what good does this law do? This was just a law that falsely made people feel safe and helped politicians look like they are tough on crime. Laws should be based on facts, not emotions.
How does knowing where someone lives make anyone safe? And if it did, why not require all convicted criminals to register likewise? Are you suggesting our legislators and civic leaders are not interested in reducing crime of any kind? Seriously – you equate “keeping track” of someone because you know their place of residence? C’mon!
Laws should be based on facts AND logic, not emotions or what gets politicians (re) elected or what gets a hysteric reaction out of Sally Soccermom.
Wake up America, our kids have more to fear from the armed, angry social outcast sitting next to them in class than these despicable excuses for human beings. More kids are harmed and/or killed by the illegal use of firearms in schools and in their homes than anything else. Where’s the outrage on this? My god, we’ve had two school shootings in less than a week, and the crickets from our nation’s leaders is deafening.
Clearly it is much worse and life crippling to be touched in an intimate area than, say, run over and put in a the hospital, a wheelchair or the grave by a (repeat) drunk driver or shot and killed at school.
Let’s say that is the case…. the cold hard fact remains that your child is likely to be more likely to be sexually abused by someone in your family photo album, your school or church directory as opposed to some stranger on this government web site by a factor that is statistically comparable to winning the lottery while being hit by lightening.
If they did it once they will do it again. Sex offenders in my opinion should stay incarcerated. Why give the chance of another person another victim. Some study show, people who were sexually molested as a young person or a child. Later on in life become the same thing, they will become a child molester an abuser etc.
It is never ending cycle for most youngest victims.
This was just todays news. It is a great example of why they should stay Incarcerated… Our laws on defending innocent children and keeping them safe from any one need to change.
https://www.foxla.com/amp/news/local-news/lapd-detectives-seeking-additional-victims-of-a-sexual-predator
“If they did it once they will do it again.” – This is empirically false. Those convicted of sex offenses re-offend at rates lower than all those convicted of other crimes, save murderers. Study after study supports this.
“Sex offenders in my opinion should stay incarcerated.” – Currently there are over 900,000 individuals required to register as sex offenders. Including many convicted of misdemeanors, including those who at 19 years had 17 year old girlfriends whom they later married. You want these people locked up for life? Not in my country, not on my dime.
“Some study show, people who were sexually molested as a young person or a child. Later on in life become the same thing, they will become a child molester an abuser etc.” – Please provide a link to that study as your claim is nonsense. The overwhelming majority of sex abuse victims is female, while the overwhelming majority of sex offense convicts are male.
Lastly – the link you provide has nothing to do with this unconstitutional ordinance in the City of Santa Clarita. Since these people will NOT be incarcerated for life, as you wish, your link shows how nonsensical this whole thing is. (Repeat) sex offending has nothing to do with the proximity of one’s residence to a school or park, and if someone wants to reoffend the last thing that will stop him is this sex offender registry. Why do we have it again?
Good job perpetuating lies. I hope that it is the children of people like you that we imprison for life. Karma.
Wow, you need to stop using your brain. We’ve got a witch hunt to run.
It is obvious that Registries are not needed or beneficial in any moral way. There are literally no legitimate or moral excuses to have them. We have them because of hate. That’s all. Shocking there are no Gun Offender Registries.
We all need to stop pretending that Registries are acceptable. Especially to actual Americans.