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
WA: Sex offender records request raises safety, First Amendment questions
Attorneys fighting a request to release the names of all level 1 sex offenders in Cowlitz County are making a novel — and perhaps long-shot — legal argument to the state Court of Appeals. Judges should take into account the motives of Kelso resident Curtis Hart, a sex offender vigilante who filed a state public records request for the list of offenders’ names months...
OR: Dad who attacked sex offender in court won’t face charges
Charges have been dropped against the father who attacked a former pastor during a federal court proceeding. Full Article
Kat’s Blog: The Registry “Jingles” Away With Your Money
The holidays, a time of giving. But for registrants, that “giving”, goes on all year. Registrants fork over payment for all sorts of fees all year long. Registry fees, polygraphs fees, assessments, “sex offender” treatment fees, etc. These fees are not inexpensive and if you are unfortunate enough to have to register in December and take a polygraph in December and pay for treatment...
AK: Cyrano’s Theatre Co. will drop an actor who is a registered sex offender after social media backlash
[ktuu.com 12/11/18] A registered sex offender who performs with Cyrano's Theatre Co. will no longer be acting with the company. Jenson Seifert lists Cyrano's as his employer on the state's sex offender registry. He is a former teacher at Birchwood Christian School who was charged, and later served time, for sexually abusing a minor. At the time, police accused him of molesting a 14-year-old...
Proposed 2019 Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines [open to public comments!]
[ussc.gov - 12/13/19] During a public meeting this morning, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to publish for comment proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines, including a proposal concerning how sentencing courts determine if a prior conviction is a "crime of violence" under the guidelines. (Read proposals and press release.) Today’s proposed amendment would enable the sentencing courts to consider the conduct that formed the...
ACSOL Emotional Support Group in L.A. on Sat, December 22
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones on Saturday, December 22, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free parking is available under the building and there is no charge to attend the meeting. The meeting, which is based upon 12 Step principles, will provide registrants and their loved ones with an...
TX: Ex-Baylor frat president indicted on 4 counts of sex assault won’t go to prison
[cnn.com - 12/11/18] Even though Jacob Walter Anderson was indicted on four counts of sexual assault, the ex-fraternity president won't spend a single day in prison. Instead, a plea agreement allowed the former Baylor University student to plead no contest to a lesser charge of unlawful restraint. That means if the 24-year-old successfully completes three years of deferred probation and pays a $400 fine,...
AZ: Human Trafficking Grant Goes to Arrest Suspected Victims in Tucson
[reason.com - 12/10/18] A Tucson Weekly investigation finds that federal funds to "fight sex trafficking" are actually perpetuating it. The program raked in $1.5 million from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in its first year. Its mission: to disrupt human trafficking and help the crime's victims in southeastern Arizona. Instead, Southern Arizona's Anti-Trafficking Unified Response Network (SAATURN) largely engaged in arresting and prosecuting sex...
SCOTUS: Who Gets to Define the Crime?
Agencies have to interpret statutes to carry out the work of the administrative state. But in the hands of federal prosecutors, does interpretation amount to defining the crime itself? Herman Gundy believes that is what happened to him. In a case before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, Gundy v. United States, Gundy is challenging his conviction for failing to register as a sex...
Kat’s Blog: There’s No Making Sense of Residency and Presence Restrictions
Registrants receive mixed messages when trying to make sense of the registry’s Residency & Presence Regulations. If you haven’t already, try reading the updated (Sept. 2018) State & Territorial Registration Laws Concerning Visiting & Temporary Residence by Adults. Then read your individual state’s registry rules. It’s like trying to read the newspaper without reading glasses. While state boundary lines may be bold and clear,...
Trump signs Hatch-sponsored child pornography victim assistance law
[deseretnews.com - 12/7/18] Child pornography victims could have better access to federal restitution under a bipartisan bill President Donald Trump signed into law Friday. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a key sponsor of the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act, called the signing a "momentous" day that was many years in the making. "This bipartisan legislation will provide meaningful assistance for child...
CT: Commission Considers Changes to State Sex-Offender Registry
Connecticut is steps closer to potentially changing the way the state’s sex-offender registry is managed. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission is holding a public hearing Thursday and reviewing several proposed changes following a two-year study that began in 2015. “There was concern in the legislature, I think, that maybe Connecticut could find a better way to deal with sex offender registration, sex offender management,” Superior...
Living with 290: School Access
Requested permission to see my son's wrestling matches and was denied. "Per our policy and your circumstance..." I asked for a copy of the cited policy and haven't heard back. How have people here dealt with schools and access to our kids extra-curricular activities? State: CA
General Comments December 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
OH: Parent’s petition to “Stop Child Sex Offenders and Child Abusers From Having All Rights To Children”
[change.org - 11/30/18] "Im writing this petition because of the number of children that are hurt daily due to a failed judicial system and relaxed punishments for offenders. Plus I myself are going threw an custody battle for my daughter to try to keep her away from her father that has been convicted of abuse and sex crimes against his other children" Read the...
PA: Superior Court removes Allegheny County judge from sex offender’s resentencing
The state Superior Court, in a rare move Wednesday, ordered Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel to be removed from a case, finding that there was “substantial evidence” that she “demonstrated bias and personal animus” against both the defendant and the public defender’s office representing him. Full Article Follow-Up: Allegheny County judge ordered removed by Superior Court from sex offender case recuses
VA: Father of 5 says life on sex offender registry has forced him and his family into homelessness
Many people may be unconcerned with what someone on the registry goes through, but William Walker said he hopes by sharing details of his arrest and the collateral damage it’s causing his kids, someone will rent him a place to live. Full Article
ACSOL Meeting in San Diego on Sat, December 8
ACSOL’s upcoming meeting in San Diego is as follows Saturday, December 8 10 am 350 Cedar Street Lecture Hall #2 San Diego, CA 92101 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 2-3...
CA: Abused then arrested: inside California’s crackdown on sex work
[theguardian.com - 11/28/18\ Willia will never forget the feeling of police officers’ hands on her body. The 37-year-old Sacramento woman says she can’t escape memories of policemen following her down the street or questioning her choice of clothing, scolding her for being outside, threatening her, grabbing her, forcing her into their car, and searching her. Willia is a survivor of abuse and sexual exploitation....
CA: Changing Minds: Master student’s thesis challenges views on sex offender laws
A California law that will go into effect in 2021 is set to bring about the most sweeping changes ever to sex offender laws in the state. SB384 will allow most sex offenders to petition to be removed from the public registries in 10 to 20 years after they are released from prison, as long as they have not committed another serious or violent...