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
WI: People living near violent sex offenders push for changes to state’s Chapter 980 law
Kristine Knickmeier, Kelly Kopecky and Tom Hergert did not know each other before last summer, but are now united in a fight to make changes to how violent sex offenders are placed under the state's Chapter 980 law. Knickmeier lives in Stoughton. She can see one home housing violent sex offenders out her front door. There's another down the road. "It does affect people...
MI: Federal judge to hear latest arguments in case of sex offender registry ruled unconstitutional
UPDATE 2/5: Hearing today to decide whether to remove thousands from Michigan sex offender registry Also see: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/02/constitutional-fight-for-michigan-sex-offender-rights-now-before-federal-judge.html [michiganradio.org - 2/3/20] Lawyers will make their case in front of a federal judge on Wednesday over what to do about the state’s sex offender registry. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled nearly four years ago that many of the requirements of Michigan’s registry are unconstitutional....
ACSOL Meeting Feb 8 in L.A.
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting: Saturday, Feb 8 10 a.m. ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles (free parking below building) Registrants, friends and family and interested service providers are invited to attend these free meetings. There will be no law enforcement or media present in order to protect everyone’s privacy. The meetings start at 10 am and last about...
MI: AG files Amicus Brief Stating that SORA is Punitive and Unconstitutional
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed an Amicus Brief on Jan 30 in People vs. Betts, Supreme Court No. 148981 . Introduction: There are dangerous sexual predators, to be sure, and the public needs to be protected from them. But the current SORA it is not the way to achieve that goal because it places people on the registry without an individualized assessment of...
General Comments February 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of February 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.
Kat’s Blog: Band-Aid Fixes
I’m not sure what’s going on in Tennessee. Lately there seems to be an avalanche of bills proposed challenging the rights of registrants. Most of these bills seem to serve no purpose other than to intimidate and scare the bejeezus out of registrants and then, if passed, make their lives more difficult. Rep. Doggett has the “no registrants sleeping in a home with minor...
Rep. Smith Meets With Trump; Says Int’l Megan’s Law Is Working
Your local congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ4) held a press conference with U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Tuesday, where he talked about the success of his 2008 bill, International Megan's law. Full Article
GA: New bill would bar sex offenders from living near their victims
A new bill in the state Legislature would ban registered sex offenders in Georgia from living within 2,000 feet of their victims or their victims’ immediate family. Full Article
GA: Group confronts Cobb County sheriff over ‘invented requirements’ imposed on sex offenders
[11alive.com - 1/29/20] ATLANTA — A sex offender rights group is accusing the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office of overstepping Georgia’s sex offender registration laws. In a letter sent this week to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, the North Carolina based National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) claims deputies are “imposing invented requirements not contained in Georgia law." NARSOL Executive Director Brenda Jones,...
NY: DNA evidence exonerates New York City man for 1985 sex assault
[abcnews.go.com - 1/28/20] After spending a full 25-year sentence in prison for a crime he did not commit, a Bronx, New York, man was exonerated by the first prosecutorial conviction review unit on the East Coast. Rafael Ruiz was convicted in 1985 for sexually assaulting a girl in East Harlem. Ruiz, then 25, was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison and...
TN: Tennessee bill would allow sex offenders to attend churches under certain conditions
[komonews.com - 1/27/20] NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) --Legislation proposed in the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday would allow sexual or violent sex offenders to attend church or another house of worship under certain circumstances. HB 1922 was filed by Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain). Under the bill, the offender would be allowed to attend houses of worship for religious services or to receive educational or...
ACSOL Lobby Day 2/11 — please keep calling and writing
Thanks to those who showed up on the 2/11 ACSOL Lobby Day, which focused on needed changes to the Tiered Registry Law that will take effect in 2021. Changes included new tier assignments for those convicted of felony offenses involving illegal images and sexual battery as well as creation of an off-ramp for those assigned to the highest tier. We ask that you make...
MN: What’s the Deal with Hibbing’s Sex Offender Population
HIBBING — ”Why are so many sexual offenders moving here?” If you think there is a compounding number of registered sex offenders moving to Hibbing, you’re not alone. There is a common pattern that emerges each time law enforcement notifies the public that a person with a level 3 sexual offense is relocating to the city: concerned community members share online posts to raise...
GA: Lawmakers seek sex predator tracking bill that’s constitutional
Georgia legislators aim to close a loophole that’s now preventing the state from using ankle monitors to track more than 400 sex offenders. Some House and Senate lawmakers are backing legislation that would give judges the ability to impose lifetime electronic monitoring as part of someone’s sentence if a sex offender is deemed to have a strong chance of reoffending. The proposals follow a...
CA: How Whittier mayor, City Council candidates would solve the homeless crisis
For more than a year, Whittier’s political leaders have been wrestling with how to handle the local homeless crisis, which has seen the development of three encampments. Two of those encampments have been cleared, but the debate rages on. With a March 3 election date set, voters will get an opportunity to say how well the city is doing managing the issue and whether...
CO: Lawmakers consider changes to Colorado’s juvenile sex offender registry
[9news.com - 1/24/20] DENVER — It's not often you see prosecutors and public defenders working together on the same team. But Thursday night, representatives from both groups spoke before state lawmakers in a joint effort to reform the law around Colorado's juvenile sex offender registry list. “There are demonstrable…effects for children listed on this public registry right now,” said Amanda Gall, a Sexual Assault...
Kat’s Blog: Sext Education
An interesting article a few weeks ago out of the United Kingdom has me wondering who’s responsible when children and teens are caught “sexting”? According to The Guardian, there are children as young as 4 years of age sharing indecent photos of themselves via smartphones, 9 yr. old children posting nude pictures of themselves on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Between Jan. 2017 and Aug....
CA: Sex Offenders Fight To Serve As Poll Workers In LA
Two registered sex offenders and the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws can proceed to trial with their lawsuit challenging a Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder policy that prohibits all registrants from serving as poll workers, a judge ruled Friday. Full Article
International Travel 2020
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number] Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Living with 290: The Polygraph is Pure Hocus Pocus
If anyone does not know, the California Sex Offender Management Board (aka CASOMB) has phone call conferencing open to the public. Well since I’m not only a registrant but a member of the public I thought I’d conference in on their call today about the polygraph and all its wonderness and goodness fantasticness. What I heard today was a lot of 100% USDA Ground...