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
A Conversation with Judith Levine and Emily Horowitz (Zoom Event on Feb 5)
[St. Francis College, Brooklyn] Join Judith Levine and Emily Horowitz for a conversation about Judith’s new book THE FEMINIST AND THE SEX OFFENDER (Verso, 2020). February 5, 2021 @ 8:10am-9:10am Pacific Time via Zoom Event sponsored by the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice at St. Francis College Read more about this and sign-up here (required to attend) At the heart of the conspiracy...
Dion Harrell, an innocent Long Branch man who was sent to prison, dies at 53
[app.com - 1/23/21] Dion Harrell, who spent 28 years trying to prove he was an innocent man after a 1992 conviction for rape, has died at the age of 53. “We are saddened to share that our client Dion Harrell, 53, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 15 in Long Branch,” the Innocence Project announced on its website. The cause of death was not released....
American Law Institute To Consider Recommending Elimination of Public Registry, Other Significant Reforms
[ali.org - 1/25/21] The Council of the American Law Institute (ALI) agreed on January 22 to recommend that its membership adopt new provisions in the Model Penal Code (MPC) that would significantly limit sexual offender registries. The draft approved by the Council includes new MPC provisions under which: Many offenses now registrable would not require registration (e.g., possession of child pornography, but also less...
CT: Dr. R. Karl Hanson: Sexual offense recidivism risk: Not what you think
[onestandardofjustice.org - 1/15/21] Dr. Hanson speaks about recidivism data and desistance. One Standard of Justice, Inc. is a volunteer-based civil rights organization committed to ensuring that persons accused or convicted of sex offenses in Connecticut are treated constitutionally and fairly by the state before, during, and after their sentences. We believe that these persons ought to be accorded dignity and respect as human beings....
Are you affected by AWA Title IV because your partner, fiancé, or spouse is on the registry? Let us know your experience
[ACSOL] Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) and President Bush signed the AWA into law on July 27, 2006. The declared purpose of the AWA was “to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crime, to prevent child abuse and child pornography, to promote Internet safety, and to honor the memory of Adam Walsh and other child...
Sri Lanka: Should Sri Lanka Have A Sex Offender Registry?
[roar.media - 1/23/2021] Last month, Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Sarath Weerasekera announced he would publicly name perpetrators of child abuse, rape and assault in an attempt to deter other potential offenders. Weerasekera said that, in addition to facing legal consequences, offenders will have their photographs and personal details released to the public. If this is done — albeit with a clearer...
Sex Offense Civil Commitment: An LGBTQ and Racial Justice Issue [Feb 9 UCLA Free Webinar]
[williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu] Join the UCLA Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy for a webinar discussion of civil commitment programs in the U.S. and their implications for Black and sexual minority men. Sex Offense Civil Commitment: An LGBTQ and Racial Justice Issue February 9 1:00 PM Pacific Time Cost: Free Register here
Biden Administration Freezes Most Recent Regulations
[ACSOL] The Biden Administration yesterday placed a 60-day freeze on most regulations recently issued by the previous administration. The freeze applies to proposed regulations published in the Federal Register and could include the proposed SORNA regulations issued on August 13, 2020. According to a White House memo, the federal government may open a new comment period "to allow interested parties to provide comments about...
VA: Virginia bill would end civil commitment of sex offenders
[abcnews.go.com - 1/19/21] RICHMOND, Va. -- Two Virginia Democratic lawmakers are spearheading a push to repeal a decades-old law that allows the state to hold certain sex offenders at psychiatric facilities indefinitely after their criminal sentences if they are deemed “sexually violent predators.” Critics say civil commitment laws are fundamentally unfair and violate the constitutional prohibition against punishing someone twice for the same crime....
City of Long Beach to Provide Tier Assignment Letters
After refusing to provide registrants with their tier assignment letters, the City of Long Beach has now agreed to provide those letters to registrants three days a week - Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays -- between 6:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. The City requests registrants to call 562-570-5692 before coming to the registration office so that their tier assignment letter will be ready for pick...
MN: Sex offenders at Moose Lake protest harsh conditions after deaths from COVID-19
[startribune.com - 1/18/21] Outbreak fuels long-simmering tensions over civil commitment after sentences. A group of sex offenders at a northern Minnesota treatment center is refusing to attend therapy sessions, while others are wearing black clothing as a show of solidarity, amid growing unrest after three men housed there died and scores more were sickened by the novel coronavirus. The acts of defiance were organized...
Action Alert for WA Residents: Write Comments on HB 1078 to Restore Ex-Felons’ Voting Rights
[familysafetyfoundation.org - 1/18/21] This Thursday, January 21, the Washington House State Government and Tribal Relations committee will vote on HB 1078. If this bill becomes law, voting rights will be restored to all Washington state citizens who have been convicted of a felony as soon as they are released from incarceration. Under current law, voting rights are only restored after the person is released...
WA: Change in legal ruling creates stricter rules for Washington sex offenders
The laws just got a little stricter for Washington sex offenders after a recent state Supreme Court ruling that applies to offenders from out of state who move here. Full Article Opinion
AZ: Arizona’s Sex Offender Laws: Recommendations for Reform
[Tamara Rice Lave in arizonastatelawjournal.org - 1/13/21] In this Article, I consider ways in which Arizona’s laws regarding sex offenders should be reformed. I begin by focusing on laws that are designed to deal with the danger posed by convicted sex offenders: registration requirements, residence restrictions, and civil commitment. I contend that the state has overstated the risk posed by convicted sex offenders and...
FL, IL, TX: Employment: Do you have a computer and a good internet connection? HomePro is hiring survey reps!
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 1/15/21] [ACSOL disclaimer: Our re-posting of this Florida Action Committee article is only a courtesy to ACSOL readers and not an endorsement. Please do your own research, starting with carefully reading the article and comments on the FAC website] From HomePro Telecommunications: I have immediate openings for part-time Survey Representatives. I started HomePro Telecommunications because I’ve heard from so many people that...
UK: Woman’s cruel ‘Fred West’ prank saw ex-partner hounded by paedophile hunters ‘to teach him a lesson’
[hulldailymail.co.uk - 1/11/21] Amy Gray was angry that her ex had left her for another woman so pretended to meet a 14-year-old for sex A Hull woman hacked into her ex-boyfriend's Facebook account, arranged to meet a 14-year-old for sex and then alerted a paedophile vigilante group in a bizarre revenge plot. Amy Gray, 37, of Great Thornton Street, said she was angry that...
UK: County lines gangsters stop using children to sell their drugs when prison bosses put them on sex offenders’ wings, police say
[dailymail.co.uk - 1/11/2021] County lines gangsters will 'very quickly stop using kids' for drug trafficking after they are placed on the sex offenders' wing in prison, police have said. In their report the criminal justice consultancy Crest Advisory found that being placed in the separated location for prisoners with sexual convictions saw drug dealers 'drop using kids completely' because of the reputational damage this does. Read...
Public Perceptions Of Youth Who Commit Sexual Offense Is Skewed, Our Research Shows
[jjie.org - 1/11/21] Few crimes stimulate such visceral reactions and deep-seated fears as sexual offenses. Accordingly, societal responses to sexual offending such as registration and notification laws tend to be quite punitive and highly stigmatizing for the offender. Yet these social control practices are widely considered by the public to be essential for community safety. However, given lessons learned about the linkages between moral...
Fourth Circuit Strikes Bans on Internet, Legal Pornography For Sex Offender
[fd.org - 1/10/21] The Fourth Circuit held (link is external) that conditions of supervised release banning legal pornography and internet access are too restrictive and cannot be sustained as "reasonably related" under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(1) and are overbroad under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(2). The court explained that the district court abused its discretion in imposing an outright ban on defendant possessing legal pornography or entering...
IN: No Registration for Registrants From Other States If Their Crime Wouldn’t Require it in Indiana
INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, et al, Defendants-Appellants. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:16-cv-02865-RLY-TAB — Richard L. Young, Judge. ____________________ ARGUED JANUARY 14, 2020 — DECIDED JANUARY 6, 2021 ____________________ Before ROVNER, WOOD, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges. ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Sex offender registration and notification laws have a unique place at the...