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
CA: Program lets victims confront offenders
[avpress.com - 7/9/19] SACRAMENTO— California officials are experimenting with a new diversion program for criminals that includes allowing victims to directly confront their offenders. The budget that took effect July 1 includes $5 million to fund the program for five years in a county with a history of high crime, although it has been tried elsewhere and is more frequently used with juvenile offenders....
CA: Assembly Committee Approves Senate Bill 145
Today the Assembly's Public Safety Committee approved a newly amended version of Senate Bill 145 (SB 145) that eliminated all references to residency restrictions. Specifically, the newly amended version eliminated Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the bill. "This is a great victory for registrants and their families who no longer need to worry that SB 145 would cause them to be homeless," stated...
FL: DeBary ordinance expands sex offender regulations
DeBary's City Council passed an ordinance expanding regulations over registered sex offenders. The ordinance bans registered sex offenders from community pools, water parks, school bus stops, and other private and public areas. The ordinance also increases the distance sex offenders can live from these places. Full Article
NY: NY Sex Offenders Don’t Have To Disclose Facebook Accounts To Law Enforcement, Court Says
[dailyvoice.com - 7/8/19] People convicted of sexual offenses in New York will not have to disclose their status and will be permitted to use their Facebook accounts provided they don’t use a false name. The New York State Supreme Court unanimously made the ruling on Thursday, June 27, after a man from Ticonderoga was charged for failing to disclose to state officials that he...
SUCCESS! Your calls worked! ACSOL supports SB 145 again because residency restrictions are removed! But still come July 9!
Newly Revised SB 145 Deletes References to Residency Restrictions! Senate Bill 145 was revised today by deleting all references in that bill to both residency restrictions and Jessica's Law. Specifically, Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the earlier version of the bill have been removed. The newly revised version of SB 145 will be considered on July 9 by the Assembly's Public Safety Committee....
Kat’s Blog: The Media Loves To Hate “Sex Offenders”
The manner in which news about sexual offenses is reported by the media affects public opinion and perception of “sex offenders”. Registrants seldom receive good press and it seems too often that “as the media goes, so goes the law.” While re-offense rates for registrants are on the decline compared to other types of offenses, news media ignores and fails to report these facts. ...
WI: City must set aside emotion on sex offenders
[lakegenevanews.net - 7/3/19] I know how people feel about sex offenders. I agree that sex crimes are reprehensible, especially those in which children are the victims. Such offenders often face long prison sentences or long commitments inside mental health treatment centers. And rightfully so. But after they are released from custody — after they have paid their dues to society — these offenders have...
AR: Arkansas woman must register as sex offender after trying to frame husband for child porn, rape
[wreg.com - 7/2/19] BENTONVILLE, Ark. — An Arkansas woman was given six years probation for trying to frame her husband by downloading child pornography on his cellphone and telling authorities he raped a 13-year-old girl. Cherie Renee Bolton, 34, of Siloam Springs, pleaded guilty last week in Benton County Circuit Court to distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography and filing a false police report....
No Havens for Registered Persons: Why “Most ‘Sex Offenders’ Per Capita” is a Meaningless Statistic
[sosen.org - 7/1/19] A Patch.com article entitled “Sex Offenders: How Illinois Ranks On Registry,” published June 27, 2019, proclaims that Illinois ranks 25th, smack dab in the middle of the list for most registered persons per capita. The article cited ASecureLife, a private website that reviews (and promotes) various security products. In turn, ASecureLife cited the stats from the National Center for Missing and...
CA: City of San Diego Asserts that SB 145 Will Allow Cities to Adopt Residency Restrictions for All Registrants
[ACSOL - 7/2/19] In a motion filed today in federal district court, the City of San Diego asserted that the current language of SB 145 would allow cities to adopt new residency restrictions that apply to all registrants, not just registrants currently on parole. The City's motion was filed in response to a motion filed last week by the plaintiffs for partial summary judgement....
[UPDATED 7/5/19] EMERGENCY Action Alert: ACSOL reverses position on SB 145! Please make calls now!
SUCCESS! Your calls worked! We support SB 145 again because residency restrictions are removed! Read about our new strategy
TN: Tennessee Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 6/30/19] A federal Judge in Tennessee has issued a temporary restraining order blocking a law scheduled to go into effect tomorrow from being enforced. The law would have prevented a parent from living with or having unsupervised access to their own children if they have ever committed a sex offense. Read more The original story: TN: New Law Forces Dozens on Sex Offender...
Emotional Support Group is now available in Sacramento most Thursdays!
You don’t have to be stranded on an island! Help is on the way! Do you feel like you are alone and no one else knows what you are going through, and too afraid to ask? Well, that day has passed... This Emotional Support Group is for those dealing with the stigma of a sex offense and their loved ones. This is based on...
GA: Tag reading cams going up at these schools to catch speeders, sex offenders
[wsbtv.com - 6/22/19] GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - School's out, but new safety measures are already planned for the upcoming school year. New tag reading cameras are going up at four schools in Gwinnett County to catch speeders and sex offenders in school zones. “I believe it’ll be a great idea because the safety of our children is what’s important," said parent Lauren Walker-Robertson. Content...
CO: Court upholds ruling to require teen who traded naked selfies with girls his age to register as a sex offender
[sentinelsource.com - 6/28/19] Colorado’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling last week that required a juvenile boy to register as a sex offender after sexting and trading erotic pictures with two girls roughly his age, a split decision that highlights states’ recent struggles with applying laws passed in a less tech-heavy age. It began, according to the court’s decision, at a 2012 Future Farmers of...
TN: New Law Forces Dozens on Sex Offender Registry from their Homes [UPDATED 6/30/19]
UPDATE 6/30/19: Tennessee Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order [floridaactioncommittee.org - 6/30/19] Original article: Last Sunday, Jason broke the news to his 7-year-old daughter: He’d be moving out. When a new Tennessee law goes into effect Monday, he will be barred from living with her. The law, Senate Bill 425, also forbids him from being alone with his daughter, meaning he can’t handle doctor’s...
IL: Column: Now it’s Wayside Cross residents’ turn to be blindsided
[chicagotribune.com - 6/28/19] Yes, this is a story about the law. In particular, it’s about a law that prohibits child sex offenders from being within 500 feet of a public park or building where children gather. Which is why the city of Aurora on Wednesday sent eviction notices to almost two dozen residents of Wayside Cross Ministries. It is, however, also a story about...
A New Argument In The Debate Over Airbnb: Stranger Danger
[huffpost.com - 6/26/19] “With a revolving door of strangers coming and going from short-term rental properties, tools like sex offender lists are becoming obsolete,” wrote Stacie Rumenap, president of the nonprofit Stop Child Predators, in a guest column last March in the Knox News in Knoxville, Tennessee. “There is no safeguard in place to stop a child predator from renting an Airbnb property next...
Kat’s Blog: Registrants and a Defeatist Attitude
Recently I read some comments on another advocacy website pertaining to TN’s new law effective July 1, 2019, in which adult registrants may not reside overnight in a home with a minor in it. The comments that caught my attention weren’t the “we’ve got to fight and do something about this” comments, but instead, the number of defeatist comments, “nothing is changing, we’re only...
FL: Florida’s sex offender population is aging. Where can they live out their silver years?
[miamiherald.co - 6/20/19] When Mark Sullivan found his roommate, Aquila “Bud” Albertson, grasping onto their refrigerator door, clearly in pain, Sullivan said the 94-year-old needed medical attention, but Albertson tried to downplay it. The roommates both knew Albertson wasn’t getting the medical care he needed daily. It was left to Sullivan to feed him, give him his glaucoma medicine and clean his sheets when...