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
COLUMBIA — A South Carolina lawmaker is on a mission to change the way the state treats juvenile sex offenders. House Minority Leader Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, has introduced a bill that would allow teens who have been convicted of any sex offense and have been placed on the offenders registry to petition the courts to remove their names once they turn 21. ......
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May
2015
When Joan Dayton, head of Freedom Christian Academy, was told she could not allow a registered sex offender on campus and keep it quiet, a former staff member said she "exploded," according to court documents. Full Article
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May
2015
New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio today announced that the State Senate has taken significant and important action in adopting a tougher stance against violent crime by enacting the "Domestic Violence Prevention Act-Brittany's Law." This legislation, Senate Bill 513, sponsored by Nozzolio, will create a publically accessible registry of convicted violent felons. Full Article
Sex offenders in Granite City will soon have to start paying a $100 fee to register with police, as required by law. In 2010, the state increased the annual fee for sex offender registration from $10 to $100 a year. But even before that action, the fee largely wasn’t being collected in the majority of Illinois municipalities, according to news reports, because most of...
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May
2015
As a legislator, one of the biggest concerns I have is public safety. Keeping the public safe from the many dangers that are prevalent in today's society is a challenge. One area of work I have spent a great deal of time on is keeping children safe from sex abuse. And unfortunately, I have found that there are too many things that are a...
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May
2015
We are excited to announce that our seventh annual conference will be held in Dallas Texas, June 25-27. Cost of the conference is $100. You can get a discounted rate of $80 if you sign up before June 1. Texas residents also get a discounted rate of $75, and RSOL members can sign up for $70. So don’t delay – Sign up TODAY! Seasoned advocates...
Maine - It’s hard to fault the Biddeford City Council for wanting to do something, anything, to help assuage the fears and frustrations related to the sexual abuse allegations that have come to light in recent months. The stories of abuse and the subsequent shame, anger and depression are enough to make your heart ache and blood boil, and to compel you to do...
As we’ve noted before at The Watch, local news tends to sensationalize and fearmonger, especially when it comes to issues involving crime, sex, kids, drugs or some combination of the four. So it’s worth pointing out when a local news reporter does great work. Here’s some praise for Dan Hanger, a reporter for Fox 21 in Duluth, Minn., for his recent provocative and challenging...
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May
2015
Because I walk around the house naked way more than my wife would prefer, she recently played a joke on me. As I sometimes like to do, I donned only flip-flops to enter our garage and get something from my tool shelf. I was a full 20 feet inside when I heard the garage door rumble open. Full Article
BALTIMORE — A class-action lawsuit claims the rights of at least 800 people listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry have been violated. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, says the state retroactively increased the length of time certain sex offenders had to remain on the registry. The Maryland Declaration of Rights prohibits laws that retroactively criminalize an act or impose...
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May
2015
Last month a federal judge ruled that certain aspects of Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) are unconstitutionally vague. Sex offenders, for example, are forbidden to live, work, or "loiter" within 1,000 feet of "school property." U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland noted that such "school safety zones" are not clearly defined, making it difficult to comply with the law. He said the term loiter...
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May
2015
Studies show that while public sex offender registries sound like a good way to keep a community safe, the numbers tell a different story. And widely held beliefs turn out to be myths — among the more prevalent is that most sex offenders are pedophiles who might snatch a child from a park or bus stop. Here are the myths, and the research that...
Here's a day-brightener: Omaha's Lifegate Church hired as a pastor a man who used to be on the Iowa sex offender registry. [The pastor] didn't serve any jail time and his name has been removed from Iowa’s sex offender registry after 10 years. In a news release, Lifegate Church said, "In considering Mike and Sharla for our Lifegate team, we fully informed ourselves through...
The American Law Institute is the most important and most prestigious organization of legal scholars and prominent attorneys in the United States. The ALI drafts model laws that become statutes and Restatements of the Law that are widely cited as authority in judicial opinions. Full Article
It has been 10 years since ____ ____, a married father and caretaker at an Oakland County Catholic church, was convicted of groping a teenage girl over her sweater, a claim ____ vehemently denies. ____ , then-37 with a clean criminal record, was convicted of misdemeanor sexual assault and sent to jail for seven months. Though a misdemeanor, state law demanded ____ be listed...
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May
2015
(2012) There is an interesting ruling out of Mobile, Alabama where former child sex crimes prosecutor, ____ ____, was charged with solicitation of a minor over the computer. Special Judge Gaines McCorquodale dismissed the charge on a key missing element under the statute: an actual victim. Since ____ was speaking with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, McCorquodale ruled that there was...
HELENA — Certain sex offenders employed near children in Montana must find new jobs, get special permission to work or face arrest. A state law that took effect last week prohibits high-risk sex offenders who victimized a child from residing or working within 300 feet of a facility that primarily serves people under age 18. Full Article
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes urged Congress on Thursday to get tougher on human trafficking worldwide, particularly by passing an international Megan's Law to protect children from predators. Human trafficking, he said, is one of the most insidious but least understood and recognized crimes. "As a father of six children, I want to change that," Reyes told the House Foreign...
We have prepared a new 50-state chart detailing the provisions for termination of the obligation to register as a sex offender in each state and under federal law. This project was inspired by Wayne Logan’s recent article in the Wisconsin Law Review titled “Database Infamia: Exit from the Sex Offender Registries,” discussed on this site on April 15. The original idea of the project...
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May
2015
We did it! We stopped Senate Bill 267!! And now for the rest of the story. Prior to the hearing on SB 267, California RSOL was invited for the first time to join two like minded organizations for meetings in the offices of all seven members of the Public Safety Committee. We didn't have appointments. We just stopped by. The reception we received from...