Registered Sex Offender Group Sues, Cites COVID-19 To Avoid Mandated Appearances
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A civil rights group for registered sex offenders is going to court over a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department requirement that they appear in person at sheriff's stations across the county during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws filed the suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking a court order suspending the requirements to appear in person until the threat of the pandemic is over.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Murrietta, San Diego and Sacramento. All three lawsuits included a plaintiff who has one or more high-risk COVID-19 factors, including asthma, according to the
suit.
Some of the registrants under California law are designated "sexually violent predators" and must update their registration every 90 days.
But the law "does not require registrants to play Russian roulette with their lives in order to provide the information required for their periodic updates," the suit states.
According to the group, the LAPD has placed signs outside its police stations "confirming that the LAPD's registration policy is currently modified to accommodate the COVID-19 emergency measures."
"Requiring people to register in person is dangerous, perhaps, deadly for law enforcement officials as well as registrants and their families," stated ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. "And, as the Los Angeles Police Department has proven, registration can be accomplished in a safe manner using the telephone."
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Sheriff's Department.
Click here to read the lawsuit.
