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.
Important News / Announcements
General News Feed
A 77-year-old man says he's been forced out of his home, had to move out of state and can't visit his daughter's family because of a crime he committed long ago. Full Article
The state Supreme Court has ruled that housing officials improperly removed a man from Connecticut's rental assistance program because his name was on the state's sex offender registry. The state Department of Housing issued a regulation in 2012 that made those on the registry ineligible for housing assistance. But the court ruled Thursday that the regulation cannot be applied retroactively to those who already were...
A federal judge made a wise and brave decision on Friday. She granted a TRO which temporarily prohibits the City of Murrieta from evicting a registrant, who suffers from both medical and financial challenges, from the home of his sister, the only person willing and able to care for him. This judge’s decision is important because it is the first decision by a federal...
Federal judge Virginia Phillips issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) today that prohibits the City of Murrieta from enforcing its residency restrictions against a registrant who moved to his sister's home earlier this month. The TRO will remain in effect until August 15 when a hearing will be held to determine whether the judge will grant additional injunctive relief. "This is a great victory...
Starting in July 2017, Indiana will become the first state in the nation maintaining a child abuse offender registry, The new law tracks anyone who has ever been convicted in Indiana of child neglect – or physical or sexual abuse of a child. The Offender Registry will be maintained by the Division of State Court Administration. Full Article
OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court took steps Thursday to bring the law up to speed to protect children in the rapidly evolving realm of cyberspace in a ruling allowing judges to ban convicted sexual predators from using the Internet. The case turned on one narrow legal issue -- whether a new law can be retroactively applied to case that predated it. As a matter...
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina has banned some sex offenders from places children gather while a similar state law from 2009 remains under federal review. Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill Thursday that would prohibit sex offenders who have been identified as threats to minors from places like arcades, parks, libraries and the State Fairgrounds during the fair. It takes effect in September....
ROWLETT (CBSDFW.COM) – A Rowlett couple fear for their safety after police mistakenly listed their address as belonging to a sex offender. The Texas Department of Public Safety sent postcards to neighbors within four blocks of the house on Kirby Road, alerting them a “high risk” offender, ____ ____, lives there. “It’s been a nightmare, and I want it to be over,” said Michelle Swindle. Full...
21
Jul
2016
An “independent federal public defender office charged with representing poor defendants before the United States Supreme Court” is necessary to fill gaps in legal services to the poor and “better balance the scales of justice between the government and the defendants,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said earlier this month. Full Article
20
Jul
2016
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- Parents are relieved after two sex offenders are moved from a group home in North Buffalo. “I’m thrilled that they’re out of our neighborhood,” said Andy Bus, who lives down the road from the home. Full Article
Six convicted sex offenders living in Pleasant Prairie allege the village’s restrictions on where offenders can live are so broad, they effectively banish them from the village in violation of their constitutional rights. A federal lawsuit filed in June alleges the ordinance violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it retroactively applies the restrictions to offenders who committed qualifying crimes...
Emotional Support Group meetings for registrants and their loved ones will resume in Los Angeles on August 6 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at the ACLU building, 1313 W. 8th Street, and free underground parking is available. There is no charge for attending the meeting. Participants are urged to arrive before 10 a.m. because access to the meeting will close at...
Today we are conducting hand-to-hand combat with cities throughout the state of California in order to challenge their residency restrictions. There are more than 100 cities that have such restrictions and thusfar we have filed nine lawsuits. The series of lawsuits began last year when we challenged residency restriction in the City of Grover Beach that prohibited registered citizens from moving into most of...
Jason Vukovich, 41, waived his appearance at a court hearing Thursday in an unusual criminal case: the hammer attack he's charged with carrying out against a man on a sex-offender list. While police and prosecutors won't go into details, the victim of the attack, ____ ____, said Vukovich is the man who broke into his Anchorage home in late June and, wielding a hammer,...
BAY CITY, Mich. — A man convicted of sex crimes and ordered to register as a sex offender wants to be Bay County’s sheriff — and under Michigan elections law it’s legal for him to seek the office. Full Article
Recent research has challenged long-held assumptions that convicted sex offenders are very likely to commit new sex crimes and questioned how those assumptions were reached in the first place. Prior to that, though, one Texas legislator’s words were particularly influential on sex offender laws across the country. (Italics added for clarity.) July 1997: State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, a former schoolteacher and proponent of...
... In 2011, Texas began a so-called deregistration process. The intent was to remove those who were unlikely to re-offend from the list and, in so doing, save taxpayers money. By focusing police attention on truly dangerous offenders, it would also improve public safety. By that measure, however, the program has been a bust. In the 5 1/2 years it has been in existence,...
Albany, NY -- New York's top court this month delivered a big victory to state prosecutors who want to remove some of the worst sex offenders from society -- possibly forever. It dealt a blow to those who fear that the state is expanding a controversial confinement program beyond its Constitutional grounds. Full Article
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The addictive cellphone game "Pokemon Go" has led people to unlikely places to collect digital monsters - including the gates of a central California ranch that houses alcoholics and sex offenders. ... But De Vaul, 72, told the Los Angeles Times that he was upset. "I have no idea what Pokemon is," he said. "I have no idea who put the...
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A state court in Las Vegas won't hear arguments about a sex offender registry until the Nevada Supreme Court considers constitutional questions raised by lawyers representing 17 unnamed plaintiffs. Court officials said Monday the Tuesday hearing in Clark County District Court was canceled. Full Article