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Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- Hundreds of California sex offenders who face tough new restrictions on where they can live are declaring themselves homeless — truthfully or not — and that's making it difficult for the state to track them. Jessica's Law, approved by 70 percent of California voters a year ago, bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children gather. That leaves few places where offenders can live legally. Some who have had trouble finding a place to live are avoiding re-arrest by reporting — falsely, in some cases — that they...

California Orders 2,700 Sex Offenders to Move Within 45 Days Saturday, September 08, 2007 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 2,700 recently paroled sex offenders in California have been told they have to move because they are violating a new law that bars them from living near schools and parks. On Friday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation finished notifying 2,741 sex offenders that they have 45 days to find legal housing, or they will be sent back to prison for violating their parole, said spokesman Bill Sessa. The department previously estimated no more than 2,100 parolees were violating the...

SYLMAR - Concerned that their community has become a dumping ground for sex offenders, residents Thursday applauded a proposed law that would evenly distribute the state's most despised parolees across Assembly districts. Stating that 124 registered sex offenders live in Sylmar and just six reside in Beverly Hills, Assemblyman Richard Alarcón, D-San Fernando, said it is unfair that some communities - often in lower-income areas - shoulder more responsibility than others. "If it was equal up and down the state, I guess Sylmar would have to accept their fair share," he said. "But this is not equal. This is not...

Proposition 83, approved by 71% of voters, requires felony registered sex offenders to be tracked for the rest of their lives with Global Positioning System devices. It also prohibits all registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park. Prison terms and parole periods also are lengthened. Among the many questions: Who will pay for the GPS devices, estimated to cost up to $10 a day per device, plus staffing and computer costs? Another major question: Do the laws apply retroactively? If so, every one of the state's 90,000 registered sex offenders — including 3,453 in...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should convene a statewide summit to help decide what to do with sexually violent predators who are shunned by communities after their release from state mental hospitals, a panel appointed by the governor said Friday. The High Risk Sex Offender and Sexually Violent Predator Task Force agreed with the administration that the League of Cities and the California State Association of Counties should join law enforcement in finding a solution. Panel members said that after consulting with top administration officials, they decided not to recommend options like state-sponsored housing for high risk sex offenders. Schwarzenegger spokesman...

Judge to rule on new interpretation of Prop. 83 -- SAN FRANCISCO -- The state abruptly changed its position today on the meaning of a voter-approved law that restricts where sex criminals may live, telling a federal judge that the law would bar any of California's more than 90,000 registered sex offenders from moving to a home within 2,000 feet of a park or school. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said he felt "a little bit ambushed'' by the shift by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who had stated in writing less than two weeks ago that Proposition 83 would not...

SACRAMENTO - County prosecutors and state lawyers further narrowed their interpretation of a voter-approved crackdown on sexual offenders Friday, saying the initiative's lifetime restrictions don't apply to criminals who are currently on parole. Proposition 83, overwhelmingly approved by voters last week, applies only to offenders who are released from prison in the future, the lawyers said in fending off two attempts to temporarily block portions of the new law. The sweeping measure known as Jessica's Law passed with 70 percent support in last week's election. It bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park,...

SAN FRANCISCO - A lawsuit challenging the voter-approved measure that toughens restrictions on where registered sex offenders may live should be dismissed because it does not specify any penalties for violators, California's attorney general says. Proposition 83 prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. A day after the measure passed Nov. 7, an unidentified California registered sex offender who lives within the 2,000 boundary filed the lawsuit, arguing, among other things, that it punishes him for a crime he's already paid for. Attorney General Bill Lockyer moved late Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit,...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge on Wednesday blocked enforcement of key provisions of a ballot measure designed to crack down on sex offenders, ruling the law was unconstitutional just a day after voters overwhelmingly approved it. The so-called Jessica's Law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, effectively banning parolees from many California communities. It also requires lifetime satellite tracking for some paroled sex criminals upon their release from prison. More than 70 percent of voters approved the initiative Tuesday. Hours later, an unidentified sex offender filed the lawsuit, arguing that the...

Breaking now on Roger's radio show in San Diego, Federal Judge Susan Illston has issued a temporary restraining order against Jessica's Law, Prop 83. Lawsuit brought in SF by a "John Doe" sex offender claiming the law is retroactive. The order applies in SF, Alameda, Marin and Sonoma. A hearing will be held on Nov 27. The plaintiff's lawyer is Dennis Riordan.

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

So, without any further words, here is the Voter Guide:BALLOT MEASURES NOVEMBER 2006 - SUMMARYThe FR and Bill Leonard recommend: Proposition 1A = YESProposition 1B = NOProposition 1C = NOProposition 1D = NOProposition 1E = NOProposition 83 = YESProposition 84 = NOProposition 85 = YESProposition 86 = NOProposition 87 = NOProposition 88 = NOProposition 89 = NOProposition 90 = YES

Yes on 85 PARENTS’ RIGHT TO KNOW & CHILD PROTECTION INITIATIVE 1703 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101 // Toll-free (866) 828-8355 // email: Janet@ParentsRight2Know.org NEWS RELEASE October 23, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Albin Rhomberg at (866) 828-8355 Sponsors of Jessica’s Law urge Californians to vote yes on Proposition 85, too 1.2 million California households get phone calls asking: “Vote yes on 83 and 85” The authors of Jessica’s Law are urging those who support strengthening laws against child predators in California to vote yes on a companion ballot measure – Proposition 85, the Parents’ Right to Know &...

Everyone wants to protect potential victims of rape and child molestation, and a package of recently enacted laws helps move California in that direction. It provides for: Longer sentences and parole terms for convicted offenders. Scientific risk assessment of all sex offenders prior to release from prison, leading to differential post-release supervision with more attention to the most dangerous individuals, including GPS monitoring of high risk parolees. Prohibiting registered sex offenders from loitering around schools and other places where vulnerable populations congregate. Risk-level information on the Megan's Law Web site. The creation of school-based education programs addressing child personal safety....

SYLMAR - After learning that 25 registered sex offenders were living in a local motel, Sylmar residents took to the streets, protesting with handmade signs and booming megaphones until state officials relocated the parolees. Now, some say a proposed measure on the Nov. 7 ballot would create similar clusters of sex offenders in communities around California. Proposition 83 - also known as Jessica's Law - would prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and similar locations. With communities now striving to make themselves as family-friendly as possible, officials say offenders will find themselves limited to...

Proposition 83, or "Jessica's Law," covers 29 pages stuffed with stiffer punishment, longer parole terms and tighter monitoring for future sex criminals. But the passage that raises the thickest skepticism -- and the part that some legal scholars call ripe for attack -- runs just a few dozen words. Anyone required to register as a sex offender, it says, could not live "within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or park where children regularly gather." To legal scholars and critics, including some sex-crime detectives and prosecutors, those words present serious concerns. Among them: • Whether Prop. 83 would...

His friends, the folks at his church in San Jose -- they know what "Alan" did in 1999 to that 11-year-old boy. The boy had a troubled home life. Alan, then in his 40s, became a father figure. Then came the oral sex, a confession and five years at a men's colony. That they know doesn't bother him, he said. It shields him. "That's my best defense. I'm being held accountable. Where am I going to go without anybody knowing about it?" said Alan, who insisted on anonymity. "Let's say I've got to move to Morgan Hill. My social circle...

Our view: Prop. 83 based on fear, not fact about sex offenders Protecting children from sexual predators is a good idea, and that's the intent of Proposition 83, or Jessica's Law. But beneath the emotionally charged rhetoric, Prop. 83 is a prime example of why Californians should reject unwise initiatives and instead focus our efforts on passing thoughtful, effective laws. Prop. 83 is too vague, redundant, costly and ineffective. Prop. 83 would widen the protective circle we draw around our children, prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks. Pushing sex offenders farther away from...

The cast of characters at Monday's press conference was unusual, to say the least. The participants represented each of the major factions in last year's special election: the drug companies, big-business Schwarzenegger allies and unions. But this time they were all on the same side. They all opposed Proposition 89, which would create publicly financed campaigns in California. "It's a murderers' row of political spenders in California," says Common Cause's Ned Wigglesworth, who supports Proposition 89. If, as the saying goes, politics makes for strange bedfellows, then California's 2006 elections are one giant slumber party. Held in the twelfth-floor suite...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed a package of bills that will increase prison terms for many sex offenders and bar them from loitering near schools and parks once released. The measures, signed just seven weeks before voters face a ballot initiative containing many similar provisions, also require sex offenders considered ''high risk" by authorities to wear electronic tracking devices while on parole. Backers said the new laws give California the nation's toughest restrictions on sex offenders, a group of convicts targeted in a growing national crackdown spawned by a series of high-profile crimes against children. Under one of...