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
IL: Court tosses lawsuit in sex-video suicide case
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit brought against a suburban Chicago school by parents of a student who killed himself after staff warned him he may have to register as a sex offender because they suspected he made a video of himself having sex with a classmate without her knowledge. Full Article Opinion https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/illinois/ilndce/1:2017cv04036/340584/114/0.pdf?ts=1547809387
Formerly Incarcerated Sex Offenders Say Civil Commitment Programs Deny Proper Rehabilitation
Responding to several highly-publicized sex crimes and public fears, legislatures across the country have adopted statutes that allow the continued imprisonment of sex offenders after they have completed their sentences. Veteran investigative reporter Barbara Koeppel has spent the past 12 months reporting on this third rail of the criminal justice system. Full Article
Civil Regulation? The Registry and its Components are in fact Legislative Punishment
[sosen.org - 1/12/19] The first thing that must be pointed out is that the sex offender registry came about because of the myth that people convicted of sexual related crimes were always going to reoffend. Some of the numbers that were tossed around at the time that the registry was conceived were 60 to 80% would reoffend. The registry was not originally designed to...
Janice’s Journal: Justice an Important Pillar
As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day, it is important to remember that an essential pillar of his civil rights platform was Justice. ACSOL which is a civil rights organization has, in fact, adopted and advanced one of Dr. King’s best-known sayings about justice: “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere” in our lobbying efforts in the state capitol. We credit the...
MI: ACLU suit seeks changes to Michigan sex offender registry
Civil rights advocates say ___ is an example of how thousands of people have been unfairly penalized by the Michigan Sex Offender Registry more than two years after the Sixth Circuit Court ruled the state's changes retroactively putting people on the list for life were unconstitutional. Full Article http://www.aclumich.org/article/what-you-need-know-about-does-v-snyder-ii http://www.aclumich.org/SORAinfo
ACSOL Meeting January 26 in L.A.
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting: Saturday, January 26 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...
NH: Relief for Some Persons on the NH Sex Offender Registry
Effective June 6, 2016, in New Hampshire, Tier 2 and Tier 3 sex offenders who were convicted before 1992 have a clear process by which they can seek to be relieved of sex offender registration requirements. Full Article
FL: Women Against Registry Call to Action – Video visits replacing in-person visits.
Seminole County Jail inmates can no longer handle letters or pictures mailed by family and friends as a new system requires those incarcerated to view digital copies of their messages. Under an agreement between the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and Smart Communications Holding Inc., a Tampa-based company, the jail also plans to replace all in-person visits at the jail with a video-visitation system. SEE:...
Renowned Law Professor Eric Janus to Speak at ACSOL Conference
Renowned law professor Eric Janus will speak at ACSOL's third annual conference in Los Angeles on June 14. Professor Janus is a national expert on sexual violence law and policy. He was recently recognized for his lifelong commitment to justice and civil liberties work by the ACLU. "Professor Janus will share with all conference participants his unique perspective of current laws and policies that...
SC bill would prohibit sex offenders from working, volunteering around kids
[live5news.com - 1/15/19] MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Right now, registered sex offenders are allowed to work and volunteer around kids, but a South Carolina bill introduced last week in the State House of Representatives could change that. The bill says it would make it “unlawful for a sex offender to work or perform volunteer service with or around minor children under certain circumstances...
Kat’s Blog: Blimey, Who Does Australia’s Fact Checking?
Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs in Australia wants to be the white knight riding in to save his constituents from “sex offenders” by proposing a National Public Registry. “Thwarting the exploitation of children is my key priority as Minister for Home Affairs” says Dutton. Fact #1: That’s all well and good, except Australia already has state-based registries with various levels of public accessibility...
NE: People question legality of sex offender living in assisted living facility
[wowt.com - 1/14/19] FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (WOWT) - Concerns have been raised over a registered sex offender who is living in an assisted living community in Fort Calhoun. A few people connected to those living in the community are questioning whether or not the arrangement is legal. There are 48 apartments for seniors at the Autumn Pointe Assisted Living Services. One of those units...
AUS: Lawyer fears sex offender list would lead to jury bias
[pressreader.com for Courier-Mail, 1/14/19] Veteran criminal lawyer Chris Nyst says a public register for child sex offenders could result in unfair convictions from biased jurors, if they were given easy access to defendant’s criminal history. Read more
‘Untouchable’ Makes the Case for More Lenient Sex Offender Laws in America
A new documentary forwards the argument that our sex-offender laws are based largely on bogus stats and deserve to be reevaluated. Full Article Also see Untouchable (Film) Available for Streaming on January 15
AUS: Peter Dutton proposes public register of child sex offenders
Child sex offenders could have their names and photos uploaded to a public register in what is being described as the "toughest crackdown on paedophiles" in Australian history. Full Article Related Editorials Why Australia should not have a public register of child sex offenders Sex offender registries don’t prevent re-offending (and vigilante justice is real)
United States v. Moorehead
The FBI accessed Playpen and verified that the website contained child pornography, then executed a search warrant at a North Carolina server hosting company that owned the IP address. The FBI seized a server that contained a copy of Playpen. Because of a server misconfiguration, the government was able to gain administrative control of the website. For two weeks, the FBI operated Playpen from...
Untouchable (Film) Available for Streaming on January 15
FACT: More people are now listed on sex-offender registries than are currently in jail in the US. It's an amazing statistic that illuminates one of the darkest corners of our criminal justice system: our fear-based approach to dealing with sex offenders. So why do we have these massive lists? Are they fair? Do they keep us safe? Untouchable, the award-winning documentary that takes an unflinching look at sex offenders, the...
Kat’s Blog: The Registry: A Valuable Public Safety Tool?
If you have a few minutes, read Florida’s Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review 2018 (www.oppaga.state.fl.us). Even if you don’t live in Florida, it’s an interesting slog thru what governmental bureaucracy thinks is important when it comes to the registry. The highlight of this auditing monstrosity is the attached letter at the end of the report from Fl. Dept. of Law and Enforcement...
NARSOL: RIT study is Butner Redux deja vu
[narsol.org - 1/7/19] Michael M . . . A recent study conducted by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, is already being cited in Federal Court cases to support the false presumption of a high rate of unreported child molestations by those convicted of child pornography offenses. This is despite the fact that it suffers from exactly the same serious flaws...
Civil Rights Attorney to be Keynote Speaker at ACSOL’s Conference on June 14 and June 15
Civil rights attorney Adele Nicholas will be the keynote speaker at ACSOL's third annual conference to be held on June 14 and June 15 in Los Angeles. Nicholas has represented the rights of registrants in multiple lawsuits challenging residency restrictions, access to public places and hospital visitations in Illinois and neighboring states in the Great Lakes region. "We are delighted that Ms. Nicholas has...