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
CA: Public Defender seeks removal of OC DA from sex offender parole violation cases
The Orange County Public Defender’s Office is seeking to have the Orange County District Attorney’s Office removed from prosecuting five sex offenders accused of violating parole after they were released early from local lockup. Full Article Related CA: 7 Sex Offenders Released Early Due to COVID-19 in Orange County Despite Parole Violations https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/12/six-sex-offenders-whose-early-release-was-criticized-by-orange-county-da-are-arrested-again/
UK: Vigilantes ‘set fire to home where paedophile lived’
[metro.co.uk - 5/20/20] A police search has been sparked after vigilantes in Liverpool reportedly torched a house days after a convicted paedophile was removed for his own safety. The sex offender was involved in a ‘dogging gang’ which groomed and ‘systematically’ sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in North Wales in 2005, it is understood. He was jailed for three years after admitting two counts...
Kat’s Blog: More Needs to Be Done to Help Registrants Re-Integrate
Upon graduation from a Sex Offender Treatment Group, a registrant made the comment that “some of the guys in the group will never graduate, they’re always afraid they’ll break some registry law, they seldom leave their homes or motel rooms. Most of them can’t find jobs, their PO’s “safety Plan” is for them to do their grocery shopping at 4AM. Every day for them...
CA Supreme Court Denies Review of Challenge to In-Person Registration
The California Supreme Court issued an order today denying ACSOL's challenge to in-person registration requirements by local law enforcement agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court's decision to deny review is based upon the fact that the Governor issued an Executive Order earlier this month that encourages, but does not require, local law enforcement agencies to remotely register individuals. In its short decision, the...
Action Alert: CA Legislation Would Significantly Increase Duration of Protective Orders [UPDATED 5/26]
[UPDATED 5/26 WITH NEW CALL-IN NUMBER FOR THE HEARING ON 5/27] [UPDATED 5/22 WITH LOCAL SENATOR OFFICE PHONE NUMBERS] The California Senate Public Safety Committee has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, May 27 at 9:00 AM during which Senate Bill 853 (SB 853) will be considered. If the bill is passed, the duration of Protective Orders issued in cases involving sex offenses and other...
Once Fallen: The murder of Mattieo Condoluci
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 5/20/'20] Many of you are aware that there was a vigilante killing in Omaha, Nebraska this past weekend, and the murderer turned himself into the police last night. The Omaha media, particularly the World-Herald, has all but canonized the murderer, making him a sympathetic character, while the registrant he killed was not a sympathetic character. This has led to an outpouring of...
NE: ‘We’re sitting ducks’: Concerns of copycat attacks following sex offender’s killing
[ketv.com - 5/19/20] OMAHA, Neb. —When "Jay" first heard the motive behind Mattieo Condoluci's death, he immediately feared for the safety of his family. "We're sitting ducks," he said. Prosecutors believe James Fairbanks sent KETV Newswatch 7 an anonymous email about killing Condoluci. The sender said he had been looking for an apartment in the area when he discovered Condoluci on the Nebraska Sex...
CA: Hollister PD to continue registering sex offenders in person
[sanbenito.com - 5/19/20] The Hollister Police Department will continue to register local sex offenders in person—with social distancing protocols in place—despite an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom allowing law enforcement to conduct such registration remotely. “The Hollister Police Department is aware of the seriousness and the need to monitor convicted sex offenders in our community,” reads a May 18 press release from Hollister...
CO: Divided state Supreme Court ruling allows convicted man to terminate sex offender registration
[coloradopolitics.com - 5/19/20] In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that a criminal defendant was entitled to his request to de-register as a sex offender because he completed the terms of his probationary sentence and therefore no longer had a conviction under the law. Brian Keith McCulley pleaded guilty in 2000 to two counts of sexual assault. One of the charges, a...
CA: Riverside County to Begin Remote Registration
[ACSOL] The Riverside County Sheriff has issued instructions in which he told the county's Station Commanders to "develop and immediately implement procedures allowing registrants to complete their registration remotely, telephonically or in ways that allow for social distancing." The instructions were issued on May 11 and are meant to implement the Executive Order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 8. According to the...
How the “Stranger Danger” Panic of the 1980s Helped Give Rise to Mass Incarceration
[jacobinmag.com - 5/18/20] The missing-child panic began with Etan Patz. Plenty of kids had gone missing before, but Etan’s case seemed specially designed to provoke a mass hysteria. In 1979, the six-year-old boy’s mother arranged for him to walk to the school bus stop on his own. She watched him depart from her Manhattan fire escape. Another mother was waiting two blocks away in...
Comments Sought for Draft California Tiered Registry Forms
[ACSOL] The Criminal Law Advisory Committee of the the Judicial Council of California has prepared and released four draft forms to be used when the petitioning process of the Tiered Registry Law becomes effective in July 2021. Comments regarding the draft forms is due to the Committee no later than June 9, 2020. The four draft forms include: Petition to Terminate Sex Offender Registration...
City of Oakland Agrees to Provide Remote Registration
[ACSOL] The City of Oakland has agreed to remotely register individuals as encouraged by Gov. Gavin Newsom in Executive Order N-63-20 which was issued on May 8. Those seeking remote registration should call (510) 238-2189 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. The City of Oakland is also willing to accommodate any individual who would prefer to register in person. In order...
Kat’s Blog: Wakulla County, Florida Discrimination Case
This news out of Florida is one of those David and Goliath type lawsuits, the little guy against the giant. City Walk Urban Mission in Wakulla County, Crawfordville, Florida, a small faith-based ministry whose motto is “every saint has a past, every sinner has a future” has come under fire by some of the town’s folk and law enforcement. Since 2013, this tiny non-profit...
NE: Suspend In-person Reporting During the Pandemic
[nebraskansunafraid.org - 5/14/20] he Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (NCDAA) and ReConnect, Inc., have teamed with Nebraskans Unafraid (NU) to call on Gov. Ricketts to temporarily suspend in-person reporting requirements for registered people during the pandemic. The request was made in a May 11, 2020 letter to the governor. The letter was signed by Joseph L. Howard, president of the NCDAA Executive Board; Jeanie...
CA: DOJ Executive Order N-63-20 Regarding Sex Offender Registration
[ACSOL] The California Department of Justice has issued an Information Bulletin directing law enforcement agencies how to remotely register individuals convicted of a sex offense. The information in the bulletin is being issued to provide guidance regarding implementation of the Governor's Executive Order issued on May 8. According to the Information Bulletin, law enforcement officials are to confirm all data fields on the registration...
CA: Oakland police suspend sex offender registrations during COVID-19 pandemic
Due to the threat from the coronavirus, the Oakland Police Department has closed its registry unit where many of the city’s sex offenders are required to check in every month, officials said. Now, the city of Oakland has no up-to-date addresses or other important information on hundreds of offenders – particularly transient sex offenders – raising concerns from victims' advocates and offenders who are...
NC: Registrants Win in North Carolina Court
[ACSOL] A federal trial court in North Carolina has ruled in favor of registrants whose out-of-state convictions were determined by law enforcement to be "substantially similar" to sex offenses in North Carolina. As a result of this decision, registrants who were convicted of an out-of-state sex offense prior to December 1, 2006, and who also moved to North Carolina prior to that date are no...
PA: Court Determines Annual Registration, Internet Publication Punishment
[ACSOL] The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an important decision on May 11, 2020, in which it determined that annual registration as well as publication of a registrant's personal information on the internet constitutes punishment. The petition in this case committed a sex offense prior to the effective date of these requirements. According to the Court, annual in-person registration "imposes affirmative restraints and probation-like...
Inside an innovative program helping sex offenders reintegrate into society – and why it works
[theconversation.com - 5/10/20] In recent years, the biggest increases in Australia’s prison population have come from people convicted of sexual offences. From 2017-18, this segment of the prison population increased by 10%. The following year, it was up again by 7%. As a corollary, more and more sexual offenders are being released from prisons back to our communities. Understandably, a great deal of public...