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
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
ACSOL Book Offers Insight, Identifies Trends in Registrant Community
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Law (ACSOL) and the registrant community is the focus of a newly published book by ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. The book, Show Up - Stand Up - Speak, offers insights and identifies trends in the registrant community. "The purpose of the book is to educate the public regarding the daily challenges faced by registrants and their loved...
NY: After 25 Years, It Is Past Time To Reform New York’s Sex Offender Risk Assessment System: Part I
[law.com - 1/5/21] In this article, the author outlines the significant flaws of the sex offender risk assessment instrument. A second article to be published later will explain why these deficiencies are not adequately corrected by court departure determinations. Convicted sex offenders under New York law must have their risk of reoffense assessed by courts under the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA” or “Megan’s...
MN: Third COVID death at Moose Lake sex offender facility
A client housed in a Minnesota sex offender treatment facility has died from COVID-19, state officials said Monday. Friday's death at the Moose Lake facility is the third COVID-related fatality in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) since the pandemic surfaced early last year in Minnesota. "We mourn his passing and extend our deepest sympathy to those who loved him and called him friend,"...
ACSOL Phone Meeting Jan 16
Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next phone meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 16, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. This meeting will be recorded and then posted as an audio recording. A link to...
California Tiered Registry Experiences (EXPERIENCES ONLY)
As of January 1, 2021 the California Tiered Registry Law became effective. In order to share information about the new law and help others with the petitions, please document your experiences with the process in the comments below. Comments should pertain to actual experiences with the Tiered Registry only. In order to maximize the value to others, feel free to include as many details...
Banishing ‘Sex Offenders’: How Meaningless Language Makes Bad Law – Guy Hamilton-Smith
[Southwestern University Law Review - papers.ssrn.com - 12/3/20] Abstract: An essay on how the term "sex offender" is functionally meaningless, and invites policy responses that are out of step with the reality of sexual harm. These policy responses, in turn, hobble our efforts to reckon with sexual harm, foreclose accountability and redemption, and elide more effective approaches. View the download page
General Comments January 2021
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of January 2021. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
California Tiered Registry Law Now Effective [UPDATED 1/5/21]
[ACSOL] The Tiered Registry Law (formerly Senate Bill 384), passed by the California state legislature four years ago, is now effective. Some of its provisions, however, will not begin until July 1, 2021. The most important of those provisions is the petitioning process for removal from the registry. "The first step to take in the petitioning process is to go to the law enforcement...
The Outspoken Offender: Can You Shed The Sex Offender Stigma? [Podcast]
[radio.com - 12/29/20] "My hope is to encourage registered citizens, former inmates, and anyone facing stereotypes and social ostracism to move beyond society's labels" A positive podcast offering advice, tips, and general commentary on a variety of issues including - - Social ostracism - Sex offender issues - Living with a felony - Second chances - Empathy and compassion - Housing and employment rejection...
Taiwan: Justices urged to keep forced treatment of molesters [Updated 12/31]
[taipeitimes.com - 12/31/20] Victims’ rights groups and lawmakers yesterday urged the Council of Grand Justices to uphold the involuntary psychiatric treatment of sex offenders as the council is to hand down a ruling on the practice today. ... Should the council rule against involuntary treatment, the government would have to set free 68 sex offenders — 57 at the Pei Teh Hospital and 11...
How Thousands of American Laws Keep People ‘Imprisoned’ Long After They’re Released
[politico.com - 12/30/20] In the run-up to the election in November, there was a pervasive belief that the fate of the nation could hinge on Florida because of its 2018 passage of Amendment 4, which reversed a permanent voting ban for 1.4 million Floridians with felony records. Then, in September, an appellate court ruled that people with felony convictions must pay all their court...
It Could Be You – Vicky Henry with Women Against Registry – Recorded Dec 16, 2020
[womenagainstregistry.org - 12/16/20] Listen to Vicky Henry with Women Against Registry The program is courtesy of “It Could Be You”, and KABF 88.3 FM Community Radio, The Voice of the People, Little Rock, Arkansas. www.kabf.org
MI: Whitmer signs bill with long-awaited changes to sex offender law
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a bill that would eliminate school safety zones and certain appearance requirements in Michigan's Sex Offender Registration Act. Full ArticleFull Article
LA Times Editorial: End irrational sentencing
[latimes.com - 12/30/20] The explosion in California’s prison population can be traced to first-term Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976, a bill that was supposed to remove racism and irrationality from prison terms but in the end did the opposite. Fourth-term Gov. Brown, who left office last year, understood the problem well. He presided over a prison system...
UK: ‘Black Panther of Oxford’ calls for racists to be put on sex offenders-style ‘race offence register’
[thesun.co.uk - 12/30/20] A LEADER of a new political party inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement has called for people accused of racism to be put on a sex offenders-style "race offenders register". Sasha Johnson, the self-styled "Black Panther of Oxford", said anyone added to the proposed list would be stopped from doing certain jobs or living in certain areas. Johnson, 26, a...
Janice’s Journal: The Year of Perfect Vision, Part 2
When this year began, I wrote a column called “20/20: The Year of Perfect Vision.” In that column, I expressed a long list of hopes for the year 2020 including the hope that the civil rights of registrants would be restored. As the end of the year 2020 approaches, it is time to reflect upon what progress has been made toward that important goal....
CA Supreme Court Decision Overturns CDCR’s Prop. 57 Regulations [UPDATED 1/6/21]
[Updated 1/6/21 with new link] The California Supreme Court today issued a unanimous decision that overturned regulations issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that prohibited all registrants from benefiting from the benefits of Proposition 57. The primary benefit at issue is early consideration for parole. In today's decision, In re Gadlin (S254599), the Court ruled that CDCR's current regulations prohibited...
NV: How Public Defenders Rocked Las Vegas Judge Elections
[theappeal.org - 12/21/20] Community organizing in Nevada’s Clark County helped judicial candidates “flip the bench” to challenge cash bail and mass incarceration. When Christy Craig started working at the public defender’s office in Clark County, Nevada, in 1998, she didn’t plan to ever run for judge. “I knew that was my gig,” Craig said. “I couldn’t have been happier to be there.” Since then,...
Join the Virtual Florida Action Committee Holiday Party December 24 and 25
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 12/23/20] If you find yourself stranded for the holidays, no where to go….just pick up the phone and come to our FAC Virtual Holiday Party. TEN full hours of entertainment over TWO days! Pop-in anytime and stay as long as you want. Be part of the entertainment. if you have a special request or something you want to share, just let us...
NY: New York Issues First-In-Nation Moratorium On Facial Recognition In Schools
[forbes.com - 12/22/20] Topline New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Tuesday temporarily banning the use of facial recognition in schools, making it the first state to take such a step. Key Facts The law suspends facial recognition and other biometric technology in both public and private schools until July 2022, directing the state to conduct a study and issue recommendations about whether...