You are invited to attend ACSOL’s in-person meeting in San Diego, CA on Saturday, November 14, 2026 starting at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at: California Western School of Law Room LH-1 225 Cedar Street San Diego The meeting will include discussions regarding topics of interest to both registrants and their loved ones, including the status of proposed changes to the Tiered Registry Law such as the reduction of tier assignment for those convicted of an offense involving child pornography. The meeting is free and will include refreshments.…
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MA: MIT Scientist Wins $6 Million in Sexual Misconduct Defamation Suit Following Accusations from Younger Female Colleague
Source: people.com 10/17/26 NEED TO KNOW Former MIT scientist David Sabatini was awarded $6 million in damages after a jury sided with him in a legal battle involving sexual misconduct allegations by former colleague Kristin Knouse Knouse alleged Sabatini pressured her into a relationship and fostered a hostile workplace, while Sabatini maintained their relationship was consensual Sabatini’s attorney celebrated the verdict as “a moment of sweet justice,” while Knouse’s attorney called it “disappointing” and said she plans to appeal A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist who lost his…
Read MoreACSOL Online Meeting November 21, 2026
You are invited to join ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci and President attorney Elie Miller to our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, November 21, online on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. There is no registration needed for this meeting. No government officials are allowed to attend the meetings. This meeting will be recorded and posted within a couple of days. To listen, click on the Recordings link at the top of all our…
Read MoreOH: Hysteria Alert: Vivek Ramaswamy Features Sex Offender in Campaign Ad
Source: yahoo.com for The New Republic 10/14/26 In September, Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy posted (and quickly deleted) a video on social media featuring himself shaking hands with a registered sex offender. He again featured that same man in a television campaign ad a month later, according to reporting from The Bulwark. In 2006, Amherst, Ohio, resident Vernon Edwards pleaded guilty to “gross sexual imposition,” which according to Ohio law involves sexual contact with a minor. He was charged in a case involving a 13-year-old girl, though he faced…
Read MoreIL: Vigilante Millstone the Klown targets people on the sex offender registry and those he believes support them
Source: illinoistimes.com 10/15/26 Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, says he is protecting children. His online following has brought scrutiny to people on the sex offender registry – and fear and lost work to people around them. Lucy Reid took down the signs in broad daylight. They had been posted around Winchester for weeks, calling attention to a child sexual abuse case. Reid understood the anger behind them. But the signs seemed to be everywhere, and she had grown weary of seeing her hometown defined…
Read MoreNew Report Reveals People with Felony Convictions Face Significant Restrictions When Running For Elected Office
Source: sentencingproject.org 10/15/26 A new report released by The Sentencing Project finds that far too often, people with felony convictions are excluded from representing their communities in state legislatures, city councils, school boards, and neighborhood commissions. [Washington, DC]- A new report released by The Sentencing Project today finds that far too often, people with felony convictions are excluded from representing their communities in state legislatures, city councils, school boards, and neighborhood commissions. Running with Conviction: Eligibility for Elected Office with a Felony Conviction examines the legal barriers that people…
Read MoreCA: Elderly parole law AB 2727 could cost taxpayers millions to keep sex offenders in prison
Source: sjvsun.com 10/14/26 The new law raises the age threshold for elderly parole eligibility for convicted sex offenders, costing taxpayers millions more each year to keep them incarcerated longer. A new law taking effect in 2027 will cost taxpayers millions of dollars annually to keep convicted sex offenders incarcerated longer. The law is Assembly Bill 2727, which was introduced in the California Legislature this year after two convicted sex offenders over age 50 – but younger than 65 – became eligible for the state’s elderly parole. Under state law…
Read MoreCA: ‘Shame on you’: Manteca residents fume over city contract with business co-owned by registered sex offender
Source: stocktonia.org 10/14/26 A controversial contract with a cleanup company in Manteca has residents incensed that the city would do business with a registered sex offender. Manteca Property Services began working for the city in 2023, and the Manteca City Council approved its most recent agreement in March. The junk removal and trash hauling company has cleared illegal homeless encampments and provided citywide cleanup services. The business is co-owned by Robert Wolfe, a registered sex offender in California. Screenshots of Wolfe’s profile on California’s Megan’s Law database and text messages…
Read MoreCA: Fresno seeks stricter regulations on group homes housing sex offenders
Source: abc30.com 10/13/26 FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Close to 1,300 sex offenders are living in Fresno, and city leaders are fighting to keep that number down. Earlier this year, a convicted child molester was nearly released from prison and sent to Fresno. “This man here is probably one of the most dangerous child predators that the state of California has ever seen,” said Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp during a news conference held by city and county leaders Tuesday. Smittcamp was referring to David Allen Funston, a convicted child…
Read MoreFREE Course: From Reaction to Response Starting Oct 14 (7 sessions)
[Thanks to FAC for this info] Explore how thoughts influence emotions, decisions, relationships, and conflict, while learning practical strategies for responding more effectively to challenges in everyday life. Wilfredo Laracuente is a Group Facilitator with the Fortune Society, where he facilitates Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI), Career Development Workshops, and programming focused on personal growth, decision-making, and successful community reintegration. A recipient of the Brian Fischer Humanitarian Award, he also serves on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Reentry Advisory Council and has worked as a Teaching Assistant with the Columbia University Prison…
Read MoreA New Supreme Court Case Tests the Limits of Judicial Deference to Federal Agencies
Source: reason.com 10/13/26 The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments today in an important case that asks how much judicial deference is owed to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s commentary on the federal sentencing guidelines when a judge is applying those guidelines during the sentencing of a federal criminal defendant. That may sound like a somewhat dry legal dispute, but the ramifications are big not only in the realm of criminal law, but also for the broader legal battle over statutory interpretation, the role of the courts, and…
Read MoreEurope stopped stamping your passport. It scans your fingers now, and it’s keeping score.
Source: msn.com 10/8/26 The passport stamp, that smudgy bit of ink that quietly covered for a lot of sloppy day-counting, is on its way out of Europe. In its place: a camera, a fingerprint scanner, and a system that never forgets a date. Since 10 April 2026, the EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully operational across 29 European countries. If your travel plans involve more than a long weekend on the Schengen side of the map, this changes more than you’d think. What happens at the border now Instead of…
Read MoreOK: Advocates for Registrants (including ACSOL) Testify in Support of Changes to Oklahoma Registry
Source: ACSOL Three leading advocates for registrants testified this week before a legislative committee in Oklahoma in support of proposed changes to that state’s registry. The changes, if adopted, would eliminate registration requirements for registrants who are physically or mentally impaired. ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci provided the committee with information regarding the history of sex offender registries beginning with the creation of the first registry in the City of Los Angeles. That registry was focused solely upon tracking and monitoring gay men. Restorative Action Alliance Executive Director Amber Vlangas…
Read MoreFederal court rules registration is not punishment
A federal district court in Idaho issued a decision recently in which it agreed with the U.S. Supreme Court that the requirement to register is not punishment. Therefore, governments may retroactively apply new collateral consequences after a registrant is convicted. “This federal court ignored the significant harm caused to registrants and their families in its decision,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. In the decision, the court stated that SORNA requirements are “time-consuming, burdensome and inconvenient.” The court also acknowledged that “there are some negative implications, assumptions, or stigmatizations” due…
Read MoreCA: California Law Helps Former Prison Firefighters Get Fire Department Jobs
Source: goodnewsinstead.com For many people in California’s prisons, fighting wildfires offers more than a chance to serve their communities. The work pays better than other prison jobs and can bring purpose and variety to daily life. Incarcerated crews account for roughly half of the state’s firefighters. A new state law aims to help those firefighters turn their experience into careers after release. Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, AB 2483 establishes standardized ways to certify their training and gives qualified former fire-camp workers priority for certain entry-level jobs with Cal Fire. …
Read MoreRemembering Michael McGuire. The Registrant Who Never Stopped Fighting
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 10/6/26 On August 22, 2025, Michael A. McGuire filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The case is McGuire v. Richardson, No. 2:25-cv-00681. It was the latest step in a fight he had carried on for more than a decade against the way Alabama treats people on its sex offender registry. The defendants are Montgomery Police Officer Jadarius Charles Richardson, his supervisor Heather Williams, the Montgomery Police Department, and the City of Montgomery. McGuire alleged that he was…
Read MoreMO: Eighth Circuit rebuffs ‘cruel and unusual’ label for Missouri sex offender list
Source: courthousenews.com 10/5/26 Spouses and children of offenders had argued their homes’ inclusion on the registry left them socially ostracized. ST. LOUIS (CN) — An Eighth Circuit panel on Monday found Missouri’s public sex offender registry does not create “a permanent, inescapable badge of stigma” as argued by a group of convicted offenders and their families. In affirming a lower court’s ruling, the three-judge panel refused to revive claims that the registry — also known as SORA — is broadly punitive and violates their constitutional rights. “In their brief…
Read MoreHastert, who spearheaded legislative initiatives to punish offenders while he was one himself, is ding-dong dead at 84
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 10/5/26 Former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, who backed laws such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Amendments of 1996, the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2000, the PROTECT Act of 2003, and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 died this past weekend at 84. Hastert, was one of the biggest hypocrites in modern politics. While he was promoting himself as a crusader against the sexual abuse of children, it turns out he was… Read the full article
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