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
General News Feed
28
Jul
2017
Roughly two weeks ago the Pennsylvania Supreme Court deemed the state’s current sex offender registration law to be punishment and ultimately barred by both the state and federal constitutions when applied retroactively. That decision may now end up under review from the highest court in the country. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said Friday his office would ask the Supreme Court of the...
SAN MARCOS — The City Council has voted to start the process of repealing its sex-offender residency and loitering restrictions after receiving a letter threatening a lawsuit if it didn’t repeal the rules, which courts have ruled unconstitutional elsewhere. The San Marcos City Council’s July 25 vote for the first reading of the repeal was unanimous. Full Article
FAIRFIELD — A Fairfield child molester’s victory Monday in the California Supreme Court will “further burden our overworked and under-resourced superior courts while adding little to the fair determination of (certain criminal) proceedings,” according to a lower court. Read article
Previous source of cash has run dry, so the state charges registrants for every change of status. A new Wyoming law means sex offenders must now pay to register or make changes to their registration. If they ignore the new law, they’re subject to criminal charges. It’s a big change for both offenders and law enforcement. In Teton County, where many residents are transient,...
When I received shift report for my very ill, bed-bound patient, the RN giving report pointed out the tracker affixed to his anklet. She had admitted him a few hours earlier and did not know the details and there was nothing noted in his chart. Before she left, she looked online and he is a convicted sex offender (lewd and lascivious with a minor...
Jennifer Storm, Pennsylvania’s victim advocate, said her office currently keeps more than 3,900 victims notified about the status of Megan’s Law sex registry offenders, including changes in their jobs or where they live. Understandably, she told the Associated Press, it’s a matter of safety and “piece of mind.” Full Article
A 36-year-old teacher convicted of having sex with a person under the legal age of consent in California is suing the student she slept with for defamation. Tara Stumph, who is currently serving a 180 day sentence for having sex with a 16-year-old student, says that statements made by the young man Source: Teacher convicted of having sex with her student suing teenage boy...
I’ve just learned that being a Registered Sex Offender in Virginia with a sick child who needs specialized hospitalization is another humiliating and punitive road to walk. Read more
Changes are coming to Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry as a result of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision issued this week, but experts say it’s unclear exactly how they will play out. Full Article
23
Jul
2017
Philadelphia resident ____ ____ became a registered sex offender in Pennsylvania last year after pleading guilty to interfering with the custody of her daughter. But if prosecutors had let the 49-year-old noncustodial parent plead guilty to a different crime for signing her daughter out of school without the consent of the girl’s legal guardian in 2015, ____ wouldn't find her photo and personal information...
There's an old adage in politics that says "it's always better to do something than nothing." One look at emotionally charged legislation like Kate's Law, however, and that hackneyed phrase gets turned on its head. Link to Article
Inmates in White County, Tennessee have been given credit for their jail time if they voluntarily agree to have a vasectomy or birth control implant, a popular new program that is being called “unconstitutional” by the ACLU. On May 15, 2017 General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield signed a standing order that allows inmates to receive 30 days credit toward jail time if they...
Counties are implementing a new law dealing with juvenile sexual assault cases, the latest effort in the state to legislate such crimes after the passage of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Full Article
Including inmates, 616 registered sex offenders live in New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties, but opinions vary among legal professionals about whether the registry protects the community or if the punishment goes too far. Full Article
Though it’s unclear if a woman knew before police told her that the man she married is a convicted sex offender wanted for allegedly not registering his whereabouts as the law requires, police charged her Wednesday with knowing and not revealing his whereabouts. Full Article
20
Jul
2017
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Kansas sex offenders who are confined indefinitely in a state program for post-prison mental health treatment, saying they didn’t do enough to substantiate their claims. Full Article
Schenectady A city employee recently hired to be a housing inspector was promptly fired after city officials discovered he is a registered sex offender in New York. "He's no longer employed with the city," said Mayor Gary McCarthy on Tuesday. Full article
California’s cluttered sex offender registry is too large to be effective and must be reformed if it is to be of any use to law enforcement. Full Article
In a big opinion today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided its state's sex offender registration law, though civil in design, was punitive in practice and thus cannot be applied retroactively. Full Article
“The Supreme Court’s Mixed Signals in Packingham” is the title of a thoughtful comment by Bidish Sarma analyzing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Packingham v. North Carolina, recently published on the American Constitution Society website. (An early analysis of the Packingham decision by Wayne Logan appeared on this site on June 20.) Mr. Sarma proposes that “the time has come to ask whether society’s ‘war’ on sex offenders who...