California is facing a 2009 deadline to comply with a federal law passed by Congress that require states comply with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act or receive a penalty in the form of a 10 percent cut to their share of money from a Federal Grant for crime fighting purposes. The law was signed into law by President Bush in 2006. Under current California state juvenile law, a minor convicted of a sex offense does not have to register unless that child is committed to the California Youth Authority. However, under this new federal law, some juveniles as young as 14 will be listed on states’ online sex-offender registries. States that refuse or fail to comply will lose a 10-percent reduction in criminal justice funding provided by the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. California currently uses the Byrne grants to pay for drug task forces, police overtime, and other crime enforcement and prevent programs.

“It’s an outrage when you consider the purpose of juvenile court is rehabilitation of a child,” stated Los Angeles Juvenile Attorney George Kita. “When you consider the fact that juveniles are not afforded the right to a jury trial in juvenile court, kids are handicapped in fighting their cases, he added. “If a child is required to be listed on a national registry, you are talking about a life time of harassment as well as not being able to hold down a meaningful job.”

The American Bar Association has also come out opposed to the Adam Walsh Act as it applies to juvenile offenders.

In a letter  written by the American Bar Association,  Denise Cardman writes,” On behalf of the American Bar Association, I am writing to express our opposition to the proposed captioned interim regulations that would apply SORNA retroactively to juvenile offenders.

ABA juvenile justice policy is set forth in 20 volumes of IJA-Juvenile Justice Standards (“Standards”) developed by the Association in conjunction with the Institute of Judicial Administration. The Standards call for individualized treatment that is fair in purpose, scope and not arbitrary. These goals are set forth in the

Standard Relating to Disposition:
The purpose of the juvenile correctional system is to reduce juvenile crime by maintaining the integrity of the substantive law proscribing certain behavior and by developing individual responsibility for lawful behavior. This purpose should be pursued through means that are fair and just, that recognize the unique characteristics and needs of juveniles, and that give juveniles access to opportunities for personal and social growth.

The Standards set forth clear parameters for juvenile justice sanctions: the definition and application of sanctions should address public safety; give fair warning about prohibited conduct; and recognize “the unique physical, psychological, and social features of young persons.”1 The Standards, as well as accepted research in developmental science, recognize that juveniles are generally less culpable than adults, and that their patterns of offending are different from those of adults.2 Thus, ABA policy supports sanctions that vary in restrictiveness and intensity, and are developmentally appropriate and limited in duration.

Given the goals of the juvenile justice system and the transitory characteristics of juvenile offenders, ABA policy also limits the way juvenile records are compiled and disseminated. The Standards frown on “labeling” offenders, require very careful control of records, and prohibit making juvenile records public. In addition, “[a]ccess to and the use of juvenile records should be strictly controlled to limit the risk that disclosure will result in the misuse or misinterpretation of information, the unnecessary denial of opportunities and benefits to juveniles, or an interference with the purposes of official intervention.”3 This is so because most adolescent anti-social behavior is not predictive of future criminal activity.

Most importantly, ABA policy prohibits collateral consequences for delinquent behavior: “No collateral disabilities extending beyond the term of the disposition should be imposed by the court, by operation of law, or by any person or agency exercising authority over the juvenile.” 4 Lifetime registration violates this Standard and is detrimental to both rehabilitation and crime prevention.

The ABA opposed those provisions of the Adam Walsh Act that apply to juvenile offenders. A large percentage of “sex offenses” occur within families and do not rise to the level of sexual predation that is the target of the Act. The “Lifetime Registration” provisions of the Act are likely to have a chilling effect on the reporting of these crimes and will reduce admissions (guilty pleas) to the charges in the cases that do get reported. Concerns about the prospects of the retroactive application of the Walsh registration provisions already are having an adverse effect across the country with respect to admissions and delinquency adjudications in sex offense cases. As a consequence of its “Lifetime Registration” provisions, the ultimate impact of the Walsh Act here will be far more contested proceedings in these cases; far fewer delinquency adjudications; and far fewer juveniles getting the treatment they need. In addition, the fact-finding and guilty plea (admission of guilt) processes in most juvenile courts have fewer safeguards than in the adult system. Adjudications for sex offenses tend to lack the precision required by ABA policy (See Standards Relating to Adjudication). Furthermore, sex offending in adolescence has limited correlation to adult sex offending (the number of false positives close to 90 percent).5

Because the Adam Walsh Act is inconsistent with ABA juvenile justice policy and because we believe the statute is overbroad in this respect, we urge you to draft the regulations so as to not further broaden the reach of the act and to minimize the harm that will result from application of the statute. The clearest way to accomplish this is to reject retroactive application of the Act to those who were under 18 at the time of their offenses. To the extent possible, the regulations should also provide a reasonable method for low-risk offenders to petition to be removed from federal and state sex offender registries. Finally, the ABA also suggests that the Department of Justice urge Congress to reconsider whether the Act should apply to juvenile offenders.  Sincerely, Denise A. Cardman.”

The law defines and requires a three-tier classification system for sex offenders, on which other requirements are based. The tier levels are established as:

• Tier I are those other than a tier II or tier III.
• Tier II are those other than Tier I with an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and comparable to or more severe than the following federal offenses involving a minor: sex trafficking; coercion and enticement; transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; abusive sexual contact. Also includes any offense involving use of a minor in a sexual performance, solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution, or production or distribution of child pornography.
• Tier III are sex offenses punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and comparable to or more severe than the following federal offenses: sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse; abusive sexual contact against a minor less than 13 years old; offense involving kidnapping of a minor (parent or guardian excepted); or any offense that occurs after one has been designated a tier II sex offender.

Regarding juveniles, the Adam Walsh Act defines a conviction for purposes of registration and classification to include juvenile adjudications if the juvenile offender is at least (1) 14 years of age at the time of the offense and (2) the offense adjudicated is comparable to or more severe than the federal offense aggravated sexual abuse.

The Adam Walsh Act sets requirements on duration of the registration requirement, according to the classification system. Tier 1 sex offenders are required to register for 15 years; tier II for 25 years and tier III offenders must register for life. Registration periods may be reduced, also according to the tier system, for completing certain programs or having a clean record for specified periods of time.

Six states have already jumped on the bandwagon including Delaware, Louisiana, Ohio, Mississippi, Nevada and Florida.

California can apply for an extension under the act if they fail to comply by next year’s deadline.

Steve is preparing for the Los Angeles Marathon. At age 52, he has been preparing since the middle of August 2007. He estimates he has run over 500 miles since then. Last week Saturday he ran 26.2 miles as part of his training. He walked on Monday two miles and he has experienced soreness in his upper thighs. He jogged five miles on Thursday. He runs a 10 minute per mile pace. His projected race finish time is four hours and 20 minutes. He is scheduled to run 13 miles tomorrow. This will be Steve’s first Marathon.

In California, it is quite common that police are parked nearby restaurants and bars near closing. In one case, the driver was leaving old town Pasadena and was about to make a right turn against a one way street. Before that happend, the California Highway Patrolman had ordered the client to make a left turn and pull over. The driver was ordered to exit the vehicle and ordered to take a field sobriety test. His blood alcohol was a .15 level. In court, one Los Angeles DUI Attorney was able to show that the officer had actually fabricated his testimony. As a result, the case was ordered dismissed by the Pasadena Superior Court. Therefore if you are ever stopped for a DUI, it is very important to have someone evaluate whether the traffic stopped was justified.

On March 2, 2008, many world class marathon runners will participate in the Los Angeles Marathon. Its 26.2 miles. I have never run a marathon before but hope to complete one this year. Notice I said the word, complete one. That means just to finish. Not sure the time. It could be night time when I come the finish line area. Hopefully nobody will be asleep yet. The race starts at 8:00 a.m. So lets see, it took me 3 hours to complete a half marathon so a full marathon will take maybe 6 to 7 hours? I guess I will be coming thru the tape around 3 p.m. The slowest people are always on T.V. They are the folks coming in 15 hours later pushing some shopping basket. The organizers can’t leave the finish line until the very last folks come in.

While reading about the different specialties within criminal law, I ran across an interesting website on juvenile law. The site notes that when your children are in trouble with the law, it is very important to hire a experienced juvenile attorney. Most criminal defense lawyers primarily handle adult cases and therefore lack the necessary experience and training to handle matters in juvenile court. It notes the difference between juvenile and adult court and among the distinctions are that there is no right to a jury trial in juvenile court and no right to bail. The goal of juvenile court is rehabilitation but more and more judges and DA’s are locking up kids in prisons. California Juvenile Attorney George Kita has the qualifications to represent kids in juvenile court. While I hope that our kids never get into trouble, we know who to call if the need ever arises. I guess raising kids is not what it used to be.

As mentioned previously in an article on this blog MLS listings are now starting to be offerred by agents on a flat fee basis effectively giving owners access to the MLS through the back door. One such service is operating in Georgia. Flat fee Georgia MLS listings mean that it you were thinking of selling your property as FSBO but want to list it on the MLS…now you can.

The Agent is basically selling a 1 point service giving you access to what used to be the bastion of the Real Estate Agent. Whether this is a case of hard times influencing the market or a move in trends due to a fluid expansion of the ever-changing market is yet to be seen.

If more MLS offers start to pop up then there could be a rush for market position.

As you probably have read, we like to keep you up-to-date with things in the Spanish Property market. 2007 was not a good year for a lot of agents and many have fallen by the wayside in the flat property sales market.

As we start 2008 there are signs for optimism as AMLA, The MLS dealing with Spanish property for sale has announced record visitors for the first two weeks of the year.

Costa Blanca Property and especially Moraira property and Javea property have shown double-digit increases in visitors.

The proff of the pudding though is whether these visitors or ‘browsers will turn into buyers. It was confidence in the global mortgage market that made purchasers wary in the second half of 2007. Many came to look but left without purchasing. With interest rates in both the USA and possibly UK on the decline there may now be confidence returning to investors looking to cash in on purchases at the perveived ‘bottom’ of the market cycle. 

It had to happen at sometime. Maybe it was the downturn in the Real Estate Market that has shown that the power of the internet is starting to usurp the value of the Real Estate Agent service. Whichever is true, the Flat Fee MLS has emerged and is here to stay.

The Flat Fee MLS is a merger of ideas, taking the ability to list on a property on the MLS with the FSBO method of an individual property owner selling their house without a Real Estate Agent. MLS listings have  in recent years always been the bastion of the agents. The increase in internet use has meant that to get good exposure for a property then an MLS listing was almost essential.

Now we are seeing the emergence of brokers ’selling their birthright’ for a flat fee, allowing the individual the access to the MLS through their brokerage but not offering any other service.

In hard times  it is something that may spread!

The holiday industry in Spain provides the majority of income to the coastal areas of the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol etc. A good chunk of this goes to private villa owners who rent their properties to holiday makers through the summer months

Spain Rentals are big business. So its no surprise that the Estate Agent Association AMLA is getting in on the act. The Spanish Property MLS is set to launch a sub domain for villa rentals Spain. The site differs from most because it has the ability for property Agents and Owners to market their holiday vill using video as well as the normal photo layout.

AMLA, who recently also launched their community & property forum and video sub-domains intends to market heavily to attract Costa Blanca villas owners and Costa del Sol Properties where video production facilities are available at low rates,    

Leading on from the last post regarding how to repair your credit yourself, I though I would give another bit of info that I found regarding self credit repair 

Once you get into doing a bit of research regarding self credit repair you will find that there are some good and some bad sites. Some will promise the world saying that you can get a clean credit repair….but it will cost $x. What you end up with is $x worth of more debt and nothing gets done about your credit rating.

It may take a bit longer to achieve with doing it yourself, but look at it like a learning curve. Self credit repair will at least give you peace of mind for the future that you know how do deal with these institutions.

So dint get taken in by promises of things you know cant happen….not without the help of an illegal hacker and opt for the self credit repair route