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
Janice’s Journal: How Many Dead Registrants is Enough?
Today a registrant in Orange County, California, is dead. He may have died at the hands of another or he may have taken his own life. This brings the total number of known dead registrants, killed by the hands of another or themselves, in California to 18 since 2005. How many dead registrants is enough? How many dead registrants will it take to persuade...
PSA Child Porn Warning
A public awareness campaign to educate our young people as to what constitutes child pornography must begin now. The lives of too many young adults are being ruined due to ignorance about the dangers of clicking on ANY porn site. Please consider taking time to watch this 3 min PSA: https://vimeo.com/294343894/40c6749493 When is an adult not an adult? When a teen poses to look...
Guy Hamilton-Smith on Sex Offender Registration & Social Media [audio]
[shows.pippa.io - 10/10/18] In this episode, Guy Hamilton-Smith, Legal Fellow at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center, discusses his article "The Digital Wilderness: A Decade of Exile & the False Hopes of Lester Packingham." In Packingham v. North Carolina (2017), the Supreme Court unanimously held that the First Amendment protects the right of registered sex offenders to...
OH: Body of registered sex offender found wrapped in plastic; death ruled homicide
[palmbeachpost.com - 10/10/18] MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO — The man whose body was found wrapped in plastic Monday afternoon by a Browns Nursery worker was identified as a 47-year-old Clay Twp. man. Steven T. Johnson died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, but it’s too early to know how long he’d been dead, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. Johnson...
GA: Thomas County deputies keep ‘watchful eye’ on sex offenders
[walb.com - 10/4/18] THOMAS CO., GA (WALB) - Locating and registering sex offenders is a top priority for Georgia sheriff’s offices. The Thomas County Sheriff’s Office said they verify registered sex offenders multiple times throughout the year, as part of the “Operation Watchful Eye” initiative. Lt. Tim Watkins, Thomas County Sheriff’s Office chief investigator, said Halloween is one of those holidays that they make...
CA: Think sex offenders can’t live next to parks and schools? That’s not always the case
When an Atascadero sex offender listed on the state’s Megan Law website was charged last month with committing sex crimes against a child, it wasn’t just the disturbing nature of the allegations that stood out. It was the man’s address. ____ ____, who previously served prison time for lewd acts against a child under 14, was registered as living directly across the street from...
MA: Sex offenders have access to kids on Halloween
[bostonherald.com - 10/7/18] Sex offenders are forbidden under state law from driving an ice cream truck, but they can hand out all the candy they want on Halloween in what one child advocate is calling a risky oversight. “Halloween is like Christmas for sex offenders,” said attorney Wendy Murphy. “They know they’ll have lots of access to kids and that they can’t get in...
FL: Ex Post Facto Lawsuit Filed (FAC)
A lawsuit was filed in Federal Court challenging the Florida Sex Offender registry. The suit is a facial challenge, filed on behalf of persons required to register in the State of Florida. It argues that the registry violates the Ex Post Facto clause of the constitution, constitutes Cruel and Unusual Punishment, violates Procedural Due Process, violates Substantive Due Process, is unconstitutionally Vague, has no...
Justice Department awards $13 million to help jurisdictions register and track sex offenders
The Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) today announced awards of approximately $13 million to improve the registration and tracking of sex offenders. The grants are being awarded to states, U.S. territories and tribal communities. Full Announcement
WA: DEFAMATION? Website Names Men Anonymously Accused Of Sexual Assault
A website created by University of Washington students allows users to anonymously post the names of men who have allegedly committed sexual assault — an act that could land the site’s administrators in legal hot water. Full Article
TX: Texas Supreme Court to hear sex offender law challenge
The Texas Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the state's retroactive sex offender laws that some say unfairly stack new punishments on those convicted in plea deals. Full Article Related TX: For some sex offenders, their deal with the state wasn’t really a deal
MA: The Case for Dismantling the Sex Offender Registry with Dr. Emily Horowitz [presentation]
[sopri-ma.org - 10/25/18] with Dr. Emily Horowitz, author of Protecting Our Kids? How Sex Offender Laws are Failing Us Thursday, October 25 @ 7pm Cambridge Friends Center, 5 Longfellow Park (off Brattle Street coming out of Harvard Square, Cambridge) Emily Horowitz, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at St. Francis College (Brooklyn, NY), will review some of the research and evidence about sex offense...
‘There was a lot of shame’: meet the sex offender ‘who is not a sex offender’
____ ____ was labeled a sex offender under a New York law for kidnapping a 14-year-old boy, even though no sex crime was committed – and now his case may go to the supreme court. Full Article
CA: Governor Brown signs landmark legislation to remove barriers to licensing and decrease recidivism
[rootandrebound.org - press release] [Note: AB 2138 will not benefit those convicted of a sex offense] Sacramento, CA—This past weekend, Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown signed AB 2138, authored by Assemblymembers David Chiu and Evan Low, to remove barriers for occupational licensing for close to 8 million Californians living with criminal records. AB 2138 was supported by a coalition of 50+ organizations, including East Bay...
FL: Banished
[themarshallproject.org - 10/3/18] The sun has barely risen over Miami, and Dale Brown loads an orange shopping cart with everything he owns. Through the morning’s swampy heat, he pushes the cart to the edge of the railroad tracks, where he hauls the items one at a time into some overgrowth and covers them with branches. His tent from Wal-Mart, meticulously rolled and packed. A...
WA: On McNeil Island, the only residents are 214 dangerous sex offenders
Civil commitment centers, which exist in less than half of US states, are meant as a community safeguard, but they’re riddled with controversies. Full Article
Sex offender registry sparks Supreme Court debate over congressional powers
Supreme Court justices on Tuesday grappled with how much power Congress can pass on to federal agencies in a case that could change the way Capitol Hill legislates. Full Article Transcript of oral argument
General Comments October 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of October 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
MO: The sex offender next door – 1,300 missing Missouri criminals must be found quickly
Jackson County remains at the center of a scandalous problem with unregistered sex offenders in Missouri. According to an audit released Monday, 439 sex criminals in Jackson County have failed to register as required by law — more than 20 percent of all the known sex offenders in the county. Statewide, roughly 1,300 sex offenders have failed to register, and “their locations are unknown,”...
CA: Lawsuit Challenges Kern County Residency Restrictions
A lawsuit has been filed in Kern County Superior Court which challenges the residency and presence restrictions in that county. According to those restrictions, registrants -- including those convicted as juveniles -- are prohibited from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks, day care centers and other locations where children regularly gather. In addition, registrants may not visit a day care center for any...