The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) is dedicated to protecting the Constitution by restoring the civil rights of registrants and their families. In order to achieve that objective, ACSOL will educate and litigate as well as support or oppose legislation. The ACSOL website and recordings are provided as a service to registrants, registrants’ families, and others for general information only. The information on the website and in the recordings are not designed to provide legal or other advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. You should not take, or refrain from taking, action based on their content. Prior results and case studies do not guarantee a similar outcome in future representations. ACSOL accepts no responsibility for any loss or damages that may result from accessing or reliance on content on the ACSOL website and recordings and disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all liability with respect to acts or omissions made by registrants, registrants’ families and others on the basis of content on the ACSOL website.
Important News / Announcements
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
Birthright citizenship case at Supreme Court reveals deeper questions about judicial authority to halt unlawful policies
Source: theconversation.com 5/15/25 When one judge blocks a president’s policies nationwide, alarm bells ring. Should a single judge wield this much power? Can they halt policies across the entire country after just a quick first look at whether they might be illegal? The Supreme Court now faces these critical questions. In a lively session on May 15, 2025, filled with justices’ questions that at times...
CA: CASOMB Approves Point Paper Opposing Bill That Could Add 30,000 People to Registry
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) today approved a point paper opposing Senate Bill 680, a bill that could add 30,000 people to the California sex offender registry. Specifically, the bill could require individuals convicted of illegal intercourse (Penal Code Section 261.5), also known as statutory rape, to register for the first time if the difference between the age of the perpetrator and...
CA: CASOMB 5/15/25 Reports Show Increase in Petitions Filed and Granted, Decrease in Registrants in Violation
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) met today and during that meeting, several state agency reports were presented. The reports reflect increases both in the number of petitions filed as well as the number of petitions granted. In addition, the reports reflect a decrease in the number of registrants in violation due to failure to register. Below is a chart listing those and...
The Federal Government’s 175,000 Pages of Regulations Turn the Rule of Law Into a Cruel Joke
Source: reason.com 5/14/25 [ACSOL is posting this because, although not specific to registrants, registrants as well as members of their families would likely agree with its contents] After mountain runner Michelino Sunseri ascended and descended Grand Teton in record time last fall, his corporate sponsor, The North Face, heralded his achievement as "an impossible dream—come true." Then came the nightmare: Federal prosecutors charged Sunseri with a misdemeanor punishable...
Bias in Sentencing Men for Sexual Offenses Against Minors: Male Victims Bring More Punitive Sentences Than Female Victims
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com 5/24/25 ABSTRACT Prior theoretical and empirical research examining the influence of sex on sentencing has been primarily concerned with the sex of the offender, as opposed to the victim. The present study drew on a convenience sample of males (n = 1190) in state and federal correctional facilities across the country, examining minimum sentences in relation to crime type. The analysis focused on individuals...
Airport Human-Trafficking Posters Are Overstating the Risks to Young People
Source: reason.com 5/13/25 "That guy isn't being trafficked by anyone," says sociologist Emily Horowitz. If you've recently been to a U.S. airport, you might have seen posters depicting an attractive, unsmiling young person. These posters are accompanied by sensationalist, hyperbolic claims that young people are at risk of predation from human traffickers. They include a contact number to report suspected trafficking. The posters are...
FL: Florida Ban on “Depict[ing] or Simulat[ing] … Lewd Conduct” in Performances Where Children Are Present Struck Down
Source: reason.com 5/13/25 A short excerpt from the long opinion today in HM Florida-ORL, LLC v. Governor, decided by Judge Robin Rosenbaum, joined by Judge Nancy Abudu: Justice Potter Stewart famously offered a non-definition of obscenity: "I know it when I see it." Jacobellis v. Ohio (Stewart, J., concurring). Many know Justice Stewart's quip. But it's not, in fact, the law. The Constitution demands specificity when the...
Indian student arrested in US, conned elderly couple of $50K with child-porn ruse
Source: indiatoday.in 5/13/25 An Indian student in the US who scammed a Michigan couple of $50,000 by claiming their credit card was used to purchase child pornography, was arrested. The police suspect the money has been routed to India. This is the fourth such arrest in three weeks, as Indian students have been arrested for targeting elderly Americans in fraud schemes. Read the full...
WI: Lake Geneva repeals sex offender ordinance that has been deemed unconstitutional
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, City Council members have repealed an ordinance which prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a child safety zone because it was found to be unconstitutional. No link to available free news exists
Operation Restore Justice: 205 Child Sex Abuse Offenders Arrested in FBI-led Nationwide Crackdown
Source: justice.gov 5/12/25 May 12, 2025 – Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days...
GOP Senator Introduces Bill to Make All Porn a Federal Crime, Following Project 2025 Playbook
Source: gizmodo.com 5/12/25 'Mike Lee wants to deliver a death knell to PornHub. Last year, the rightwing think-tank the Heritage Foundation launched Project 2025, which laid out much of the policy blueprint for the current Trump administration. One of the project’s espoused goals was to permanently criminalize all pornography. Now, a Republican senator with kind words for Trump has introduced a bill that would do just that. Senator Mike...
Which U.S. ZIP Codes Have the Most Registered Prior Sex Offenders per Capita?
Source gelmanlawfirm.com Public discussion about registered prior sex offenders often sparks strong opinions, but the reality is more complex than many people realize. The United States maintains one of the most stringent registry systems in the world, with an estimated 800,000 individuals. While the registry is intended to support law enforcement and promote transparency, it is important to understand the legal, social, and economic context behind...
CO: Longmont weighs ‘arbitrary’ sex offender residency restrictions
Source: boulderweekly.com 5/7/25 Data shows little efficacy for an approach that could open the door to lawsuits A weeks-long effort to create legislation that will limit where — and with whom — registered sex offenders can live in the city of Longmont came to a head Tuesday night. City council voted 6-1 to move a bill forward that would prohibit registered sex offenders...
WA: Catholic Church To Excommunicate Priests for Following New State Law
The Catholic Church has issued a warning to its clergy in Washington state: Any priest who complies with a new law requiring the reporting of child abuse confessions to authorities will be excommunicated. The new law, which will take effect on July 27, eliminates the long-standing confidentiality of the confessional, forcing Catholic leaders and lawmakers into a highly charged standoff over religious liberty and...
I Saw a Neighbor on the Sex-Offense Registry. Should I Tell Others?
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on whether to disclose information about a neighbor on the sex-offense registry. I recently reneged on an offer to buy a house because I discovered that a registered person lived across the street. I found this information on a public website that is available for our state and county. This discovery raised many questions for me. First, the sales contract...
Former teacher of the year sentenced for sex crimes with students
CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A San Diego judge sentenced former ‘teacher of the year’ ____ to 30 years to life of prison Friday. ____ broke down in tears as she read a prepared statement in a Chula Vista courtroom, admitting to sex crimes against two former students at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City “I shamed the title of teacher,” she said, sobbing...
Explaining Male Sex Offender Recidivism: Accounting for Differences in Correctional Supervision
Abstract Purpose: Contrary to public opinion, empirical studies have consistently shown that persons convicted of a sexual offense (PCSO) are less likely to recidivate with a general offense. While researchers often point toward the surreptitiousness of sexual offending to explain low rates of recidivism, this paper tests a novel explanation: SOs recidivate at lower rates than persons convicted of a non-sexual offense (PCNSO) because...
CA: The Financial Fallout Over Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits in California
Source: nytimes.com 5/9/25 The law set off a wave of child sex abuse litigation that has pushed some public institutions to the brink of financial crisis. School districts face up to $3 billion in claims. In 2018, an anonymous tip led the authorities in California to Eric Uller, who for decades had volunteered at an after-school program associated with the Santa Monica Police Department....
Survey Responses Suggest Few U.S. Jails Use Screenings and Assessments for Behavioral Health Diversion
Just 33% of facilities queried said they deploy these tools to divert people with substance use and mental health issues to non-jail settings By: Alexandra Duncan & Julie Wertheimer A survey of administrators at U.S. jails shows that only about one-third of facilities use information from behavioral health screening and assessment tools to divert people from jail. Most facilities do conduct screenings and assessments, but few use...
A Critical Assessment of the First Step Act’s Recidivism-Reduction Measures
ABSTRACT The First Step Act of 2018 ("FSA") is the most impactful federal sentencing reform of the past 40 years. While the Act represents a partial resurgence of the rehabilitative model of imprisonment, which had fallen out of favor decades before, it also represents a missed opportunity to fully integrate evidence-based rehabilitation programs for those offenders who pose the greatest risks to public safety....