Source: Florida Action Committee 4/2/26 The sex offender registry is supposed to keep kids safe, right? That’s the idea. In reality, across the United States the registry has grown into a massive database with nearly a million names, photos, vehicle descriptions, and an ever-growing list of details the public is expected to somehow sift through and memorize in the name of “safety.” On top of that, there are laws that restrict registrants from living near or even going to places like schools, parks, and other so-called “places where children congregate.”…
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The stakes of the elderly parole debate
Source: themarshallproject.org On Wednesday, the California Board of Parole Hearings voted to reevaluate its earlier decision to grant “elderly parole” to Gregory Vogelsang. The 57-year-old has served 27 years of what is essentially a life sentence for sexually assaulting young children. The move comes amid a broader political backlash over a state law that allows some incarcerated people to become eligible for parole based on age and time served. The controversy first ignited last month around David Allen Funston, a 64-year-old convicted of sexual abuse of children. He was scheduled for release on elderly parole…
Read MoreBeyond “Monsters”: The Collective Failure to End the Sexual Violence Epidemic
Source: ampersandsrj.substack.com 3/12/26 I sat in a prison for men convicted of sexual offenses. The cinderblock walls closed in around me, and the fluorescent lights hummed just loud enough to make silence uncomfortable. I had come as a researcher. I had my armor, my research guide, and my pen. A man in a blue jumpsuit mopped the floor. Others milled around, wondering what I was doing. As I read their files, I realized that they reduced men to categories based on the statute they violated or their level of risk.…
Read MoreClose to 20% of Children Suffer Sexual Misconduct by Gov’t School Staff
Source: libertysentinel.substack.com 3/10/26 An estimated 17 percent of students in government schools—about 8 million children—are sexually abused in some way by teachers or staff, revealing a far larger epidemic than previously recognized. The epidemic of sexual misconduct targeting children in government schools is back in the headlines, and it is even worse than previously known. According to the latest estimates, a shocking 17 percent of students in government schools will be victims of some sort of sexual abuse or misconduct at the hands of teachers and faculty. That represents…
Read MoreWhen All Files Count the Same: The Problem of Undifferentiated Images in Child Pornography Sentencing
Source: harvardlawreview.org Our society generally agrees that possessing, producing, and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM)1 is morally reprehensible.2 This societal judgment is represented in sentencing outcomes for those convicted of federal child pornography offenses. Of the individuals who were sentenced in 2023 for child pornography–related offenses, ninety-nine percent were sentenced to prison, with an average sentence of 114 months.3 But, despite the severity of these crimes, sentencing fails to consider certain forensic evidence that could help distinguish more and less culpable offenders. Judges have discretion over sentencing outcomes but…
Read MoreWhy laws named after tragedies win public support
Source: phys.org 2/23/26 When lawmakers name bills after victims of tragedy—such as Megan’s Law or the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993—public support surges, but this emotional boost may come at the expense of sound policymaking, according to research published in the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. Experiments testing victim-named legislation The study examined whether eponymous bills—those named for victims—receive more public backing than identical bills without a name or story. Across three experiments, the answer was clear: They do. “Our research shows that adding a victim’s name and story…
Read MoreNon-Punitive in Name Only: How Ellingburg v. United States Threatens Florida’s “Civil” Registry Model
Source: thewillardreport.substack.com 2/1/26 The Doctrine of Finality is the bedrock of the American criminal justice system—the silent promise that once a citizen pays their debt, the ledger is closed. But in Florida, that ledger is written in disappearing ink. For nearly thirty years, Tallahassee has perfected a system where the rules of the Florida sex offender registry change every legislative session, effectively re-litigating over 30,000 “closed” cases every January. Since 1997, the state has tightened the screws over 20 times, transforming this supposedly “civil” administrative tool into what the nation’s…
Read MoreDoes the Ellingburg decision open the door to revisiting Ex Post Facto as it relates to sex offender laws?
Source: Florida Action Committee 1/21/26 [ACSOL note: This is well written and invites other organizations to come together to plan a way forward.] Related article: Non-Punitive in Name Only: How Ellingburg v. United States Threatens Florida’s “Civil” Registry Model The Supreme Court’s decision in Holsey Ellingburg v. United States (No. 24-482) should reopen a long-overdue conversation about the constitutional foundations of modern sex offender laws. In Ellingburg, the Court made clear that labels do not control constitutional analysis: when a legal consequence operates like punishment, is imposed as part of a criminal…
Read MoreEffectiveness of sex offender registration policies in the United States
Source: grokipedia.com [ACSOL’s note: This document was generated by AI, but it does have useful information. It also has extensive references at the end. Take what you find useful, and leave the rest] [Wikipedia’s description of Grokipedia: Grokipedia an AI-generated online encyclopedia operated by the American company xAI. The site was launched on October 27, 2025. Some entries are generated by Grok, a large language model owned by the same company, while others are forked from Wikipedia, with some altered and some copied nearly verbatim.] Sex offender registration policies in…
Read MoreHoliday Message from One Registrant
I am writing to you with humility, clarity, and purpose. I am a Tier 3 Registered Sex Offender. That is a fact of my life, and I do not hide from it. What I write to you about today is not denial, but meaning, what comes after a sentence, after punishment, and after society decides whether a human being is allowed to exist again as more than a label. Since July 7, 2015, I have worked every day to prove, to myself first, and then to the world, that a…
Read MoreConstitution Civil Due Process Civil Rights Speech and Religion Judicial Interpretation Torts and Liability State High Courts Split on Laws Letting Survivors of Sexual Abuse Sue After Expiration of Statutes of Limitations
Source: statecourtreport.org 11/24/25 State supreme courts have emphasized different constitutional provisions to decide whether bills reviving time-barred civil causes of action for child sexual abuse claims are constitutional. In recent years, several state legislatures have passed statutes making it easier for survivors of sexual abuse to bring civil suits against their abusers and related non-perpetrator defendants. On one hand, these laws have given many survivors the chance to seek justice after decades with no recompense for their suffering. On the other hand, they have exposed institutions like public school districts…
Read MoreTim Ballard’s Reputation is in Shambles. The Americans He Helped Arrest Want Answers.
Source: theappeal.org 12/9/25 Tim Ballard, the disgraced “anti-sex-trafficking” expert, was the subject of a hit 2023 biographical film and serial sexual misconduct allegations in the same year. After Ballard’s fall, the people he helped arrest in Washington want to know why no one seems willing to take a second look at their cases. Back in 2014, a Washington State Patrol sergeant named Carlos Rodriguez was hunting for money. His unit, the Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, faced a budget shortfall, and legislators were of little help—they were in…
Read MoreArrest Mark Zuckerberg for Child Endangerment
Source: newrepublic.com 12/3/25 Shocking new revelations about Instagram in a lawsuit against social media companies should pave the way for an ambitious prosecutor to file criminal charges. Should Mark Zuckerberg be handcuffed—literally—for the threat his products pose to millions of children? That’s the inescapable question raised by a legal brief filed last month in a civil case against major social media companies. The litigation, which alleges that social media platforms have been purposefully cultivating addiction among adolescents, has been working its way through the courts since 2022. But the details laid…
Read MoreDOJ Says Violent Stalker Used ChatGPT to Encourage Him to Find the ‘Wife Type’
Source: 404media.co 12/3/25 [ACSOL is posting this as a warning] A newly filed indictment claims a wannabe influencer used ChatGPT as his “therapist” and “best friend” in his pursuit of the “wife type,” while harassing women so aggressively they had to miss work and relocate from their homes. A Pittsburgh man who allegedly made 11 women’s lives hell across more than five states used ChatGPT as his “therapist” and “best friend” that encouraged him to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the “haters,” and to visit more gyms…
Read MoreLawmakers To Consider 19 Bills for Childproofing the Internet
Source: reason.com 12/1/25 KOSA is back, along with more than a dozen other bills that will erode free speech and privacy in the name of protecting kids. Can you judge the heat of a moral panic by the number of bills purporting to solve it? At the height of human trafficking hysteria in the 2010s, every week seemed to bring some new measure meant to help the government tackle the problem (or at least get good press for the bill’s sponsor). Now lawmakers have moved on from sex trafficking to social…
Read MoreSmarter Federal Supervision: Cut Costs And Improve Fairness
Source: forbes.com 11/11/25 A Growing Focus on Post-Prison Supervision In recent discussions on criminal justice reform, attention has shifted from sentencing laws to what happens after prison. The federal supervised release system, originally intended to help people transition successfully back into the community, has become a major point of debate among policymakers, researchers, and reform advocates. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently wrote in a Fox News commentary that improving how the United States manages supervision after incarceration could be “the next frontier in criminal justice reform.” His statement aligns with recent reports from…
Read MoreIs the Federal Prohibition on Felon Firearm Possession Constitutional?
Source: reason.com 11/16/25 Judge Willett thinks that some federal statutes have been interpreted and applied in ways that conflict with the notion that the federal government only has limited and enumerated powers. Arnett Jackson Bonner has multiple felony convictions. This means he cannot possess a firearm. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), convicted felons may not “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.” Because almost all firearms have been shipped…
Read MoreAgainst moral panic: Or, dolls aren’t real kids
Source: wilsontimes.com 11/4/25 On Monday, The Washington Post reports, “fast-fashion” retailer Shein banned sales of sex dolls on its site after a government regulatory agency threatened to bar the company from operating in France and referred it to prosecutors. Some of the dolls sold on Shein’s online platform were, it seems, too “childlike” in appearance. I consider it lazy to assert, as many opinionators do, that “no one” supports, or “everyone” wants, this or that particular thing, but if there’s a subject that commands anything close to societal unanimity, it’s…
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