California RSOL Meeting in Los Angeles – March 16
California RSOL will return to Los Angeles on March 16 for a regular monthly meeting. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and be held at the ACLU Building, 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles.
The meeting is open to registrants, family members and supporters only. No media or government officials are allowed to attend. As usual, the meeting will focus upon issues of importance to registrants, such as residency restrictions and conditions of parole/probation, as well as family members. There is no charge to attend the meeting.
This Post Has 16 Comments
Commenting Rules
We welcome all input but ask that you stay civil and on-topic. Comments on this site are moderated - one of our volunteer moderators will review your comment as soon as possible. Thank you.
Count us in!
Like or Dislike:
+2
Because of the dedication of Janice Bellucci and the Board of Directors of California RSOL, I have found the hope and strength to strive to become so much more than the man that politicians and the media portray of registered sex offenders.
I enrolled at the University of California, Irvine in their American Bar Association accredited Paralegal Certificate program. I maintain a straight A+ average, and my professor has endorsed me to attend Law School. I entered this program fully funded through the federal government’s WIA funding program. I pay nothing for my education.
I practice as a lawfully recognized paralegal today; writing briefs on behalf of Janice’s clients to secure their rights. I also write legal content for a criminal defense attorney, who has publicly recommended me on LinkedIn. Yes, he knows I am an RSO. And he doesn’t give a s***.
2 years ago, I had nothing: no money, no job, nowhere to live, and most discouragingly, no future.
Today, I have a leased apartment in my name and more work than I can hardly keep up with. Along with other benefits from the county, state and federal government. My bills are paid! It can be done.
I pay all of this forward to you: to help everyone I can in my position to overcome the optionlessness of sex offender registration.
I’d like to share how I did this with you at the next California RSOL meeting on March 16 at the ACLU headquarters in Los Angeles.
I can show parolees how to find a lawful way around residency restrictions. I can show you how to qualify for free money to pay for your training in a new career. So you have new skills to present to potential employers. I can show you the power of speaking up and speaking out.
Ask Janice to allow me to talk with you about what opportunities do exist, and how you can qualify for them, at the next meeting.
Experience. Strength. Hope. I pay it forward, so I can keep it.
“Do not go gentle into that goodnight…Rage. Rage against the dying of the light”
~Dylan Thomas
Jeffrey McBride, B.A. UCLA 1990
Senior Paralegal
Law Offices of Janice M. Bellucci
State Director, California RSOL
Like or Dislike:
+20
@Jeffrey McBride
Congratulations on your hard work and success. Your comment will give some hope and light to others in a dark situation. I hope that you can share your experience with others.
Like or Dislike:
+4
Jeffrey,
Thank you for posting that summary of your life, it was a great inspiration for me. In these hard times it’s good to see that others in the same situation have learned to overcome the obstacles that are put in front of them.
Like or Dislike:
+4
Hello Jeffrey,
Congratulations on your achievements. Reading your post this evening gave me hope for my son who is 28 and in his second year of a 9 year sentence. He was a psych tech for 3 years before turning himself in. I’ve been reaching out on behalf of my son since then. In the process, I’ve met Janice, Frank Lindsey, Jon Cordeiro and others. My “mustard seed” faith, this organization and the people in it are what give me hope which I’m able to share with my son. I will be telling him your story the next time I see him. I hope to meet you in LA on the 16th.
Sincerely,
Valerie Evangelho
Like or Dislike:
+4
Valerie,
My heart goes out to you, your family and especially your son. I am so sorry to hear of his long prison sentence. I’ve been there myself…it’s an extremely hard way to have to live. But he will survive, and he will come home. I highly recommend that he immerse himself in the prison law library. I learned all my basic skills of case law research and brief writing in a prison law library. I learned how to be of invaluable service to other inmates as a “jailhouse lawyer.” My efforts bought me the protection I needed to be able to make it through without getting hurt. As the “legal begal” I courted favor with the all the shot-callers, doing simple legal work such as divorces, child-custody matters and credit restorations, not to mention dozens of administrative appeals and many, many habeas corpus petitions to get other PC290′s a stay of enforcement of Jessica’s Law residency restrictions.
The big, tattooed skinhead gang leaders made it perfectly clear:
Don’t. Mess. With. The. Lawyer.
Your son will come home. He will put his life back together, and so will you and your family. If you ever need someone to talk to who’s been there, done that, contact me. I have a mother who loves me very much. Without her unwavering, unconditional support I would never have made it to where I am now.
I’d be honored to meet you on the 16th. Jeffrey
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy…”
~Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II
Like or Dislike:
+5
Jeffrey thank you for your open honesty. We all would do well to follow your example. I too have just gone through a WIA program for my class A drivers license. I don’t feel comfortable doing women hair any longer. All it takes is an accusation. I hope others within our ranks follow your example. Please say law school is an option for you, but either way you will do well whatever you do.
Like or Dislike:
+2
I sit here today in amazement due to the fact that somebody out really gives a s***!! I truly felt, so far too long, that I was all alone in this self-imprisoned situation. The reason I call it self-imprisonment is because I do take responsibility for my actions. So I feel that I placed myself in this situation. However the action, of which I was sentenced to, were not exactly true. The D.A. presented a tottally differant picture. Nonetheless I served eleven years and eight months of “HELL”. Now you give me some hope that at the age of sixty-years-young I can get on with the rest of my life. I have lost sooo much. My wife, my three beautiful children, that no longer want anything to do with me, thanks to the brainwashing of their mother. So all I pray for is forgiveness from all and to be a better person in society with absolutly no intentions of ever doing any harm to anyone! As the good Lord is my wittness, I stand by what I say. Thank you all and may God Bless you in all you do. Please God, all I ask for is another chance. Amen.
Like or Dislike:
+5
California RSOL is here to help you and every other registrant in the state of California. One tragic side effect of being a registrant is living in isolation which you have described well. You are now seeing the light that is shining on truth. Those who live in the darkness will see that light as well….eventually. They can only keep their eyes close for so long.
Like or Dislike:
+7
I would like to encourage every registrant and their families in the SoCal area to attend this meeting. We’ve been to the last three, very safe, and safer once inside. Please, you will find commonality in those that attend. It’s an AA of sorts, really. You will no longer feel alone. March 16 … This coming Saturday! Breathe … And know you are not alone in this fight/struggle …
Like or Dislike:
+2
While we welcome all registrants (and family members) to monthly meetings, like this meeting in L.A., we remind those on parole or probation to be sure to stay in compliance. That could mean checking with your parole/probation officer before you attend the meeting. It’s important for you to be compliant so that you can be free. Join us when you can…and until then you can read about the meetings here on the website.
Like or Dislike:
+2
Recently, I watched a documentary on Netflix entitled: George Washington: American Revolutionary.
I am absolutely fascinated by the struggle that the colonies went through to create this country. George Washington lost his father at age 11, his older half-brother Lawrence (from whom he inherited Mount Vernon)and married Martha for money…so he could achieve his goal of becoming high society in the mid 18th century, He was refused a commission as an officer in the British Army due to his second-class citizenship at the time, which fueled his determination to lead the Continental Army in the American Revolution.
He won the war against the most powerful army in the world at the time…and was eventually elected the first President of the United States. Because he was revered by the people, yet refused to accept lifetime appointment.He thought everyman should be willing to relinquish command at some point, making him even more popular for his selfishlessness.He was, at the time, the most revered man in America.
I consider George Washington one of my mentors. Because I believe deeply in the cause for which so many continental soldiers died for: liberty…and justice for all. I wish our current political body could appreciate the sacrifice these men died for, when voting for laws that say where a person can and cannot go. I wonder, often, what George Washington would say about our current culture…
Like or Dislike:
+3
He would say of our culture that we are lucky to have brave Americans like you and Janice who still be believe in/fight for the principles upon which he and others founded this nation.
Like or Dislike:
+2
Laying the groundwork for debate over half a dozen bills that would send parole violators back to prison, Assembly Democrats on a public safety committee Tuesday shot down a bill that would require prison for paroled sex offenders who fail to register their addresses with authorities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/political/la-me-pc-ff-sex-offender-bill-dies-in-house-committee-20130312,0,2025033.story
** shortened and link to article added. Moderator
Like or Dislike:
0
Thank you for this information and the link to the L.A. Times article. We thank Assembly Member Ammiano for stopping a bill that would have harmed registrants. The article also refers to Senate Bill (SB) 57 which would make it a felony for anyone to remove a GPS ankle bracelet. California RSOL opposes SB 57.
Like or Dislike:
+3
Hello Everyone:
To those of you who showed up to today’s meeting at the ACLU, thank you for coming. Your attendance builds a coalition. A coalition builds momentum. Momentum brings about change.
We Are All In This Together.
I want to talk about the Workforce Investment Act (“WIA”). WIA provides federal funding to dislocated workers who are in need of retraining into a new vocation so they can get back to work. I successfully applied for WIA funding in 2012, which provided the money I needed to attend Paralegal Certification courses at the University of California, Irvine.
Please visit this link for more information:
http://edd.ca.gov/Jobs_and_Training/Workforce_Investment_Act.htm
Applying for WIA funding is easy: simply go to your local One-Stop Center (google it) and inquire about WIA funding. A counselor should be able to walk you through a relatively easy process. WIA provides up to $6500.00 towards an approved training program. In my case, UCI picked up the tab for any remaining balance I would have had to pay. As a result, I pay nothing for my education.
I am currently maintaining a straight A+ average and have been endorsed to Law School by one of my professors. I can also practice as a professional Paralegal and Legal Document Assistant (“LDA”)right now; which means I can lawfully write court petitions to help others with relief from residency restrictions, parole conditions, and perhaps even a Certificate of Rehabilitation to get a registrant off the registry. And much, much more…
Google the Workforce Investment Act. If you’re looking for a new career, WIA can help you to get there. It’s free. And it is available to ex-offenders.
“I once was lost, but now am found…was blind, but now I see.”
~Amazing Grace
Like or Dislike:
+7