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
On Thursday, Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times reported that “Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live.” In short, since 2005, sex offenders in the state can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, and a...
It's been 20 years since New Jersey's Legislature passed Megan's Law. The two decades since have been filled with legal challenges and disappointment it didn't accomplish what many thought it would. It's what happens when politics and emotion team to shortcut the legislative process. Full Opinion Piece
MANKATO — As an attorney for dozens of sex offenders and a member of a high-profile panel to guide lawmakers and the courts, Ryan Magnus has a unique view of Minnesota’s sex offender quandary. When Magnus, a defense attorney with Mankato-based Jones and Magnus, looks at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, he doesn’t only see the worst of the worst. He sees people who...
25
Aug
2014
This project is a free of charge treatment offer which underlies confidentiality*. It is directed at people seeking therapeutic help because they feel sexually attracted to children and adolescents and/or who use child abusive images. Within the course of therapy, the person concerned is offered support concerning the prevention of child sexual abuse in the form of hands-on contact or ‘online abuse’ by using...
25
Aug
2014
In Montana, sex offenders are supposed to receive a 1, 2 or 3 tier designation, effectively telling the public how dangerous they are. An offender's designation also affects how they're supervised on the registry. It affects how often they have to check in and verify their address, how long they have to register and the amount of information that's made available to the public. But...
23
Aug
2014
HESPERIA — Since this week’s council meeting and its late continuation of closed session to discuss pending litigation, an agreement was reached Thursday to settle a registered sex offender’s lawsuit against the city. Full Article Related REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SUES CITY OF HESPERIA; 15thLAWSUIT FILED IN 4 MONTHS [Upated with Media Link]
DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. — A Dinwiddie mother got a nasty shock when she went through her daughter’s cell phone and tablet. The pictures she discovered were so disturbing that she turned the girl in to sheriff’s deputies. The parents discovered their 13-year-old daughter, who is about to enter the eighth-grade, had been sending and receiving naked pictures of other teens using her tablet. ......
The state may initiate civil management proceedings against a sex offender who, while on supervised release, committed a non-sex crime, a state appeals panel has held. Full Article
PACIFIC CITY -- The white-stenciled lettering on the side of the maroon minivan advertised ____ ____'s business, the only cab in this tiny tourist town. He shuttled people home from watering holes late at night, drove surfers and fishermen to the beach and delivered locals to doctor's appointments in nearby Lincoln City. Full Article
Locals charged with crimes involving drugs, guns or sex abuse could be due relief at sentencing, according to a high-court ruling. A Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion has deemed mandatory minimum sentences “unconstitutional,” a ruling which could have major impact on countless cases here and across the state. Full Article
Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live. The law, which has been in effect since 2005, restricts many sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Those unable to find such accommodations...
OKLAHOMA CITY – Sex offender. The phrase conjures pariahs living under bridges. Adults "grooming" children for devastating abuse. Violent men who take what is not freely given. Broken people. And yet, here comes Tyler, bounding down the hall with his dusty blonde Justin Bieber haircut and chunky sneakers. He turned 16 today. He and his family have just come from Chuck E. Cheese. Tyler’s...
(Los Angeles, California, August 20, 2014) — A coalition of nonprofits alarmed about the gutting of patient confidentiality urges California Governor Jerry Brown to veto pending legislation that requires mental health practitioners to police their patients and report a growing list of statements to law enforcement—or face prosecution and potential jail time. Full Article
People change. This is an incontrovertible truth in life. Yet, this concept seems to be lacking in the wonderful state that has become my home – at least it’s MIA in the New Hampshire state prison system. (Fortunately, it hasn’t hit our schools yet.) The money to be made by an opposite view – people don’t change – is real. The flawed anthropology that...
Editor’s Note: Although this article is clearly editorial in nature, it contains a substantial amount of fact and data that have direct bearing on the subject. It’s also a long article, and I hope you’ll have the patience to read it through to the end. The article is in five sections: The History of Sex Offender Registries in the US, Sex Offender Registries are Manifestly Unjust, Sex Offender...
The Dallas City Council has expressed interest in prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools, parks and other kid-friendly areas. The idea, which is being pushed by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and is backed by the Dallas Police Department, would create a buffer zone, though specifics have not been determined. There are more than 3,300 registered sex offenders living in Dallas. Full Article
BALTIMORE —The list of sex offenders on Maryland's sex offender registry is shrinking because of a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling in June. The ruling said corrections officials are legally required to remove the names of offenders who committed their crimes before 1995, when the state registry was created. The court ruled that Maryland can't make those offenders register after the fact. Full Article
15
Aug
2014
Sonora, CA — The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department can no longer provide a sex offender watch list or alert residents when an offender moves into their neighborhood. The Sheriff’s Office has been forced by California’s Department of Justice to drop the “Offender Watch” online service which allowed residents to go on line, enter their address and be alerted via email if a sex offender...
15
Aug
2014
A suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, has been under a dramatic siege since Saturday, when a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. In the wake of the killing, protests have engulfed the community — drawing a heavy-handed police crackdown with St. Louis County police officers armed with assault weapons and outfitted with military equipment. Many of the striking...
15
Aug
2014
Since 1994, when Congress first ordered states to create sex offender registries, the laws in the United States about sex crimes have steadily ratcheted up. We now have what experts say is the most draconian regime in the world. As we’ve tried to show in Slate this week, legislators have repeatedly expanded the definition of a sex offender, extended the periods of time for...