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
Pakistan: Chemical Castration, Sex Offender Registry in Pakistan’s New Rape Law
[vice.com - 12/16/20] Rocked by intense protests after a violent gang rape in September, Pakistan’s president has approved a new anti-rape law that seeks to double down on sexual crimes against women and children in the country. Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 will give speedy trials to women and children, create a national registry of sex offenders, give privacy to victims and survivors, and also allow...
MI: Michigan Senate approves tightened restrictions in Sex Offender Registration Act
[mlive.com - 12/16/20] The proposed amendments to SORA in House Bill 5679 are: Giving sex offenders no more than three days to register or report status changes in person with local law enforcement. Requiring offenders to report all email addresses, social media names or other forms of “internet identifiers.” That would not apply retroactively to offenders prior to July 1, 2011, but anyone required...
CA: Orange County sheriff refuses to release 1,800 inmates after judge’s order: ‘Serious threat’ to community
[yahoo.com Fox News - 12/15/20] Sheriff Don Barnes, Orange County, Calif., reacts to judge's order reducing prison population amid coronavirus pandemic. Fox Newscaster (at 3:40): "We don't want anyone to get COVID, but we don't want anyone murdered or molested". Sheriff: "I have no intention of releasing them." Watch the video
CA: High-risk inmates aren’t prioritized in state’s early releases
[calmatters.org - 12/11/20] In summary: More than 7,500 prisoners sent home in the program — which aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 — would have been released within months anyway. Thousands with health conditions remain in prison, and the virus keeps spreading. In July, amid an epidemic of coronavirus cases, California’s corrections agency rolled out early-release programs touted as a solution to protect...
England: WW2 veteran, 97, spared jail for sex offences over fears of COVID
[yahoo.com - 12/11/20] A World War Two veteran has avoided jail for sexually assaulting five women because of fears he may catch coronavirus in prison. Richard ____, 97, walked free from court despite "passing the custody threshold" and was instead given a 16 month sentence, suspended for two years. He was also put on the sex offenders register for ten years. Read the full...
MI: Feds sued over prison attack that killed sex offender, hurt 2 others
[detroitnews.com - 12/11/20] Detroit — Two federal prison inmates and the estate of a third are suing the government, claiming officials at a Monroe County lockup failed to prevent a 2019 attack on the sex offenders, one of whom was stomped and stabbed to death. Christian Maire, Michal Figura and Craig Evans were attacked in January 2019 in the East Unit of The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan....
IL: Hundreds of Southern Illinoisans are required to register as sex offenders. But are we any safer?
[thesouthern.com - 11/27/20] SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ sex offender registry, which now includes more than 32,000 people — most of them men, though some women, as well — has rapidly expanded since its first iteration in 1986. Then, it included four qualifying crimes. Today, there are more than 30 crimes that trigger mandatory registration, including some repeat misdemeanor offenses. In recent years, policy makers and...
NY: An influx of Sex Offenders in New Paltz Causes Town to Tighten Reigns
[newpaltz.edu - 12/10/20] Following the influx of multiple sex offenders to a motel in New Paltz, the Town of New Paltz passed a law that would limit the number of sex offenders allowed to live in one building. Seven registered sex offenders moved into the Econo Lodge Motel in New Paltz between Oct. 10 and Nov. 2. Following the publication of an article notifying...
ID: 9th Circuit Reverses Trial Court Rulings Regarding Ex Post Facto, Religious Freedom
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a federal trial court erred when it dismissed a case involving 134 registrants in Idaho who claimed that the state's sex offender laws violated their civil rights. In its ruling today, the Court opened up the possibility that the Idaho laws at issue violated both the federal and state constitutions. One of the claims in...
MI: Michigan poised to double down on failed sex offender registry
[freep.com - 2020-12-10] In early 2012, more than eight years ago, five people challenged Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) in court, arguing that the registry branded them as dangerous “sex offenders” without any individual review. One was a man — we’ll call him John — who met a woman at a club open only to those 18 and older. They slept together and only...
AZ: A Scout for Teen Athletes Tries to Shed a Sex Offender Stigma
[phoenixnewtimes.com - 12/7/20] Justin _____, seen here mopping the floor at a basketball tournament he hosted, is trying to escape the stigma of his criminal past. Will society let him? Are there some breaches of trust one can never come back from? Or is there a point when the stigma associated with a crime does more harm than good? These questions have renewed attention...
ACSOL Phone Meeting Dec 19
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, Dec 19, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. Discussion topics will include: proposed SORNA regulations in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic the upcoming...
CA: Former legislative aide accuses OC Assemblyman Bill Brough of rape
[abc7.com - 12/5/20] Orange, Calif. (KABC) -- A former legislative aide is accusing Assemblyman Bill Brough of raping her in 2015. Patricia Todd, whose last name at the time was Lenkiewicz, is speaking publicly for the first time, after sending a complaint this week to law enforcement. Sacramento police confirm they are investigating the allegations. "I've survived this for five years and five years...
OH: Court sides with state in sex offender jurisdiction case
[wfmj.com - 12/3/20] COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The ability of a judge to hold a hearing on a juvenile's sex offender classification status doesn't automatically expire when the child turns 21, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. At issue before the court was a Cincinnati-area defendant who sexually abused two young relatives when he was 14, according to court records. The defendant was convicted...
Should your church accommodate known offenders?
[churchexecutive.com - 11/30/20] Our church just completed a Registered Sex Offender (RSO) Policy. Will you review it and tell us if it’s adequate? We frequently encounter this (seemingly simple) question in our law practice. In reality, the issue is multi-faceted and complex, and tends to kick off a broader discussion. In the larger conversation, this ‘simple’ query should be preceded by a half-dozen more...
The Supreme Court Wants to Revive a Doctrine That Would Paralyze Biden’s Administration
Joe Biden promised us an FDR-sized presidency—starting with bold action to halt the spread of COVID-19, end the worst economic downturn in decades, and stop the climate crisis. Biden could use regulation and executive action to move quickly to decarbonize the economy, cancel student loan debt, and raise wages. But a Biden administration has an even bigger problem than two long-shot special elections in...
ME: Maine Supreme Court: SORNA Ruled Ex Post Facto Punishment for Defendant
[criminallegalnews.org - 11/15/20] In a decision issued August. 13, 2020, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999 (“SORNA of 1999”) was unconstitutionally applied to a defendant in violation of the Maine and U.S. Constitutions’ ex post facto provisions. Read the full article
California Fair Chance Toolkit – A Toolkit for Job Seekers with Criminal Records
[legalaidatwork.org - Nov 2020] Approximately 7 million Californians -- nearly one in three adults in California -- have an arrest or conviction record. In this toolkit, you will find information about laws in California that protect job seekers with criminal records and sample letters and materials you can use to exercise those rights. Literally thousands of formerly-incarcerated people around California, their family members, and...
CA: California Prison Guards Keep Jobs After Aiding Attacks on Sex Offenders
[prisonlegalnews.org - 11/1/20] A series of assaults by a group of prisoners on convicted sex offenders was carried out with the consent and assistance of 10 officers at an unnamed California correctional facility. After an investigation, the prison’s warden determined that the actions of six of the guards involved were egregious enough for them to be fired, yet only four were let go before...
General Comments December 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2020. 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.