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
Southern Baptist Convention: What’s wrong with the proposed sexual abuse amendment to the SBC constitution
[baptistnews.com - 3/8/19] The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee has proposed an amendment to the SBC constitution that would allow for churches to be disfellowshipped when they are determined to have “evidenced indifference in addressing sexual abuse.” Sounds good, right? But take a closer look. The amendment sets forth four examples of conduct the committee can consider as evidence of church indifference: (a) employing...
WA: House Passes Responsible Teen Communications Act
[seattlemedium.com - 3/6/19] OLYMPIA – On Monday, the Washington State House of Representatives passed House Bill 1742 on a bipartisan vote of 57-39. The Responsible Teen Communications Act, sponsored by Rep. Noel Frame (D-Seattle), updates Washington’s laws to reflect current technology, and ensure minors sharing sexually explicit images or videos of themselves with their peers (commonly known was “sexting”) are not automatically charged with...
General Comments March 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of March 2019. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
FL: Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Proves Inescapable
It was the kind of headline guaranteed to generate clicks even over the winter holidays and amid a federal government shutdown: “Number of Sex Offenders Living in Florida Is Growing,” warned the Associated Press. In December, the Florida legislative auditor’s office released a report noting that the number of people on the state’s sex offender registry had expanded 53 percent since 2005, to about...
GA: Georgia Court blocks lifelong GPS tracking of sex offenders
[thebrunswicknews.com - 3/4/19] Georgia's highest court says it's unconstitutional to require "sexually dangerous predators" to remain on electronic GPS monitoring after completing their sentences. The unanimous Georgia Supreme Court opinion published Monday says that violates the Fourth Amendment protection against "unreasonable searches and seizures." Read more
IN: Amendment bars sex offender from son’s school activities
A registered sex offender previously able to attend his son’s school activities per a trial court-granted request was denied that exception Monday when the Indiana Court of Appeals determined an amended statute barred him from entering school property. Full Article Article
Action Alerts: CA Legislative Committees to Review Important Bills [UPDATED 4/2]
Committees within the California legislature have begun the process of scheduling consideration of bills of importance to registrants and their loved ones. Click on the bills to see what you can do: SB 145: Click here to learn how to SUPPORT SB 145 AB 884: Click here to learn how to OPPOSE AB 884
Kat’s Blog: Make a Difference
Like many of you, before I knew someone on the registry or became involved in advocacy, I never gave much thought to how our justice system worked. I knew very little about how or why state bills were proposed and even less about who was responsible for getting them pushed through to a vote. I naively assumed my state representatives were looking out for...
PA: SORNA Registration Equal to Being “In Custody”
For a federal court to consider a habeas petition, the petitioner must be “in custody” at the time the petition is filed. Past cases have found custody to include parole restrictions, own-recognizance release pending appeal, and community service obligations. Today, the Third Circuit held that the requirements that come with registration under Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act satisfy the habeas custody requirement...
CA: Lackey Bill Would Put Child Support Evaders on Blast
[eastcountytoday.net - 2/27/19] A bill introduced last week by Assemblyman Tom Lackey would call for the State of California to create a website which would list parents who owe more than $5,000 in child support. According to Assembly Bill 1498, it would showcase delinquent parents who have not been making court-ordered child support payments. The website would publicly display: Obligor’s name photograph amount of...
OK: Police Investigating After Registered Sex Offender Killed In Pottawatomie County
[news9.com - 2/26/19] POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY, Oklahoma - The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fatal shooting near Macomb. A gunshot victim, 60-year-old Harry L. Venosdel Jr., was found around 5 p.m. Sunday, February 24, at his home located off White Oaks Lane. Venosdel Jr. was discovered by others who live on the same plot of land. 911 Caller: “I just got home and...
AR: 6 new Arkansas sex offense bills including Halloween, grooming, positions of public trust, recording minors
[state.ar.us - 2/26/19] Click on each of these bills to read the details: SB 10: Prohibiting a registered sex offender from participating in certain Halloween-related activities. HB 1279: To amend the offense of sexually grooming a child. SB 183: To prohibit certain registered sex offenders from holding a position of public trust. SB 8: To prohibit a registered sex offender from recording a...
SCOTUS: Court poised to rule for challenger in dispute over constitutionality of sex-offender law
This morning the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a dispute over the constitutionality of a federal law that requires convicted sex offenders to return to prison for at least five years – and possibly for the rest of their lives – if a judge finds that they have committed certain crimes. The defendant in the case, an Oklahoma man who served time for...
Want to build safer online communities? Drop the ban.
Creating safer and more equitable communities — both in real life, and online — is an important undertaking. Undoubtedly we are in agreement that those who cause harm and havoc should be stopped and made accountable for their actions. The broader (and more difficult) question comes in what we do next. To make this less abstract, in “real world” parlance, this is often called re-entry: the process of...
Janice’s Journal: When Will They Learn?
The CA state legislature began a new two-year session just last month. And in that short period of time, legislators are already heading down the wrong path. What path? The path which identifies all individuals convicted of a sex offense as dangerous and likely to commit a new sex offense. For example, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty who is known for his compassion for those who...
CA: New Bill Would Expand Lifetime Registration Requirements
Assembly member Melissa Melendez has introduced a bill (AB 884) that would expand the requirement to register for a lifetime to anyone convicted of Penal Code Section 288(a) when the Tiered Registry Law takes effect in 2021. As currently written, the Tiered Registry Law authorizes individuals convicted of the same penal code section to petition for removal from the registry after a minimum of...
ME: Law would ban sex offenders from some multi-unit buildings, houses in Maine
[wmtw.com - 2/25/19] UGUSTA, Maine — A proposal at the Maine State House would add living restrictions to Maine's sex offender law. The bill would ban a convicted sex offender from living in a multiunit building that shares an entrance with a unit occupied by a minor. Specifically, a sex offender who committed a crime against someone under the age of 14 would be...
FL: Powerful lobbyist Ron Book arrested on DUI charges
[tallahassee.com - 2/25/19] Ron Book, one of Florida's most influential lobbyists who also represents the city of Tallahassee, has been arrested on DUI-related charges in Broward County, several South Florida news outlets have reported. Book, 66, was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol Sunday after crashing his Lamborghini near his house, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He was charged with a first-time DUI,...
Kat’s Blog: A Few Words on Suicide
Back in 2017 I wrote a piece on the Women Against Registry website titled “No More Suicides, Please!” So, I was surprised when almost 2 years later, someone commented on that blog piece, someone who after 25 years on the registry still felt that he “wishes he would have ate a bullet long ago.” He had lost his family, his job, his home, his...
MO: Bill aims to track sex offenders when moving
A new bill making its way through the Missouri House is seeking to track some of the state’s most dangerous sex offenders when moving between counties. Sponsored by Missouri Rep. Randy Pietzman of Troy, Missouri, House Bill No. 2653 would require offenders who have been convicted of first-degree child molestation to wear an electronic monitoring device. “I come from a district that is kind...