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
Janice’s Journal: The Punishment Does Not Fit the Crime
A registrant died yesterday in a Florida jail. He was put into that jail about 60 days ago because he forgot to report his new home address to local law enforcement. The price he paid for his forgetfulness was death. Death due to exposure to the coronavirus. A local public defender tried to get this man released from jail. The public defender knew the...
Kat’s Blog: Dissenting Judges Should Be Ashamed of Themselves
A headline at LegalNews.com caught my eye, “High Court Rules Sex Offender Registration Qualifies as Punishment, Dissent Argues Registry is Administrative, Imposes Burden but No Restraint”. The case centered around a Maryland man who had been charged with and pled guilty to human trafficking in 2015. Upon his release from prison, according to the Court of Appeals ruling, the Maryland Sex Offender Registry had...
CA: California Courts Temporarily Change Rules To Ease Stress On System
[wbhm.org - 4/7/20] California’s court system, the nation’s largest, announced a series of emergency measures this week to address vulnerabilities related to the coronavirus pandemic. The 11 emergency measures include temporarily eliminating bail for defendants charged with misdemeanors and most nonviolent felonies, conducting pretrial hearings remotely, and placing new limits on evictions and foreclosures. The California Judicial Council adopted the changes Monday. It’s the...
FL: Broward jail inmate with coronavirus dies at hospital
[sun-sentinel.co - 4/8/20] A convicted sex offender became the first Broward County inmate to die from the new coronavirus, underscoring concern over how the pandemic will pose problems for detention facilities across South Florida. Alan Pollock, 64, died at Northwest Medical Center in Margate on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Broward Public Defender’s Office, which represented him. Broward County’s jails have had at least...
MI: Judge: State sex offender registry can’t be enforced in pandemic
[detroitnews.com - 4/6/20] A federal judge is commanding state authorities to stop enforcing rules under the Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act during the coronavirus pandemic. According to an interim order U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland issued Monday, officials are “preliminarily enjoined from enforcing registration, verification, school zone, and fee violations of (the act) that occurred or may occur from February 14, 2020, until the...
Looking For Additional Research Participants: Registered Sex Offenders, Male Or Female, 18 Years Of Age Or Older
[montclair.edu] [Note from Janice: I recommend you take part in this survey because I have corroborated Dr. Lisa Anne Zilney, her professorship at Montclair State University and her past scholarly works re: registrants.] Title: Contextualizing the experiences of sexual offenders Eligibility: You are a registered sexual offender in any state and are at least 18 years of age. Description: This study looks at...
General Comments April 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 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.
Sex Offender Registry Requirements Leave Some Facing Stark Choices As Coronavirus Risks Grow
[theappeal.org - 4/3/20] A patchwork approach to the nation’s sex offense registry laws is leaving many of the 900,000 people on the country’s registries with a stark choice as COVID-19 sweeps the country: risk their lives or risk their freedom. This week, a California man had to decide between putting his and his 65-year-old parents’ health at risk or potentially going to prison. Another...
ACSOL Postpones Annual Conference to October 10 and 11
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) board of directors has decided to postpone its annual conference from May 29 and May 30 to October 10 and 11. The board plans to conduct the conference at the same location, Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and closure of Southwestern Law School, the annual conference could not be held...
Kat’s Blog: We’re All in This Together, Or Are We?
Several news articles this week about Tampa Catholic Charities setting up a 100- tent homeless shelter called Hillsboro Hope, brought to mind the old biblical line “what so ever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” Society has always excluded registrants from most homeless shelters. Even during our country’s worst episodes of floods, earthquakes, triple digit and freezing...
Probation and Parole Officers Are Rethinking Their Rules As Coronavirus Spreads
Social distancing is pressing officials across the country to skip traditional methods such as jailing people for “technical violations” like missing check-ins. Full Article
MD: Maryland High court rules sex offender registration qualifies as ‘punishment’
[By Guy Hamilton-Smith, an ACSOL board member, a 2019 JustLeadershipUSA fellow, and a contributor to The Appeal and Slate. You can read more of his writing on his website] The Maryland Court of Appeals — Maryland’s highest court — issued an opinion this week that, effectively, calls a spade a spade: that being listed on a sex offense registry constitutes punishment. In Rogers v. State, the appellant had...
NY: State poised to institute sex-offender ban on mass transit
[politico.com - 4/2/20] New York State is poised to enact a ban on some sex offenders in New York’s mass transit system, a move long sought by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and long dreaded by civil libertarians. The state budget that leaders are now finalizing would allow judges to ban individuals convicted of some sex crimes in mass transit from using the system for...
ACSOL Emotional Support Group Phone Meetings Available Twice per Month
Emotional Support Group phone meetings will be held for those convicted of a sex offense and their loved ones. They are based upon the format of 12 Step meetings. They provide registrants and their loved ones with an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and share their experiences, strengths and hopes, with each other. Due to the pandemic, only PHONE Emotional Support Group meetings will...
NY: New York releases some Level 3 sex offenders, houses them at Holiday Inn Express
[leoaffairs.com - 4/1/20] Sex offenders in western New York have been released as part of the pandemic, with several currently being housed in a Holiday Inn Express. The Level 3 offenders, who were released as part of the outbreak, have drawn the attention of local journalists, citizens and police officials alike, particularly in the town of Greece. “Among the inmates known to be staying...
ACSOL Requests CA Supreme Court Review of In-Person Registration Requirement
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) is requesting review by the California Supreme Court of the requirement that individuals register in person at local law enforcement agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The request was submitted earlier today, however, the Court has not yet formally acknowledged receipt of that request. "Because it is impossible to obtain relief from the state's Superior Courts, which...
SBA Loans offer resources for small business owners… except sex offenders
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 3/31/20] A member pointed something out that we were not aware of, but in times of crisis (such as we are in), becomes critical to businesses. The US Small Business Administration (SBA) provides small businesses with low interest loans to help recover from disasters, including the present financial disaster that is caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. The loans can save companies and...
FL: Tampa Opens Tent Shelter For Homeless [except registrants] During Coronavirus Pandemic
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 3/30/20] Even in states of emergency, governments take any opportunity to kick persons required to register as sex offenders. With a county-wide order for people to stay indoors now in effect, the city of Tampa is establishing a tent city that will allow up to 100 homeless people to shelter in place. The city will pay Catholic Charities Diocese of St. Petersburg...
Attorney General Barr Memo Excludes Release of Registrants
[ACSOL] It’s just come to my attention that Attorney General Barr recently issued a memorandum purporting to address the problem of COVID-19 for federal prisons, by recommending consideration of release from federal prison to home confinement. In the federal system there is a regular program allowing many prisoners to be released near the end of their sentence to “halfway houses”, which are run by private contractors. Many in...
Now More Than Ever, Prisoners Should Have Some Access to Social Media
[eff.org - 3/27/20] As the pandemic unfolds, state agencies should take a flexible approach to enforcement of restrictions on inmates’ ability to connect with the outside world. By Mark Rumold COVID-19 has trapped many of us in our homes, isolating us from family and friends and limiting our movements. But there are few people who feel the isolating impacts of COVID-19 more acutely than...