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
CA: Man Held 17 Years Without Trial Ordered Free by Appellate Court
Attributing a California man’s 17-year detention awaiting trial for commitment as a sexually violent predator to a “systematic breakdown in the public defender system,” a California appellate court ruled Wednesday the man be released from a state hospital without trial. Full Article Opinion Related The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment Action Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
SC: Can sex offenders stay at Red Cross shelters?
With Hurricane Florence barreling towards the coast of the Carolinas, residents in multiple counties have been urged to evacuate either out of town or to emergency shelters. But what about safety at shelters? ABC News asked the American Red Cross if sex offenders were allowed to stay at shelters with others residents. Full Article Related links: VERIFY: Yes, sex offenders can stay at public shelters...
PA: Extended registration periods under SORNA unlawful
Court ruling against retroactive extension of registration period for 19 individuals who were convicted before the enactment of SORNA - but resentenced to longer / lifetime registration under SORNA after subsequent probation violations. Opinion Related PA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz All PA articles
NE: Judge – Keep juvenile sex offenders off registry
A federal judge has told Nebraska to keep juvenile sex offenders off the state sex offender registry if they weren't tried as adults — at least for now. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Tuesday's order from U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf gives a temporary reprieve to dozens of people who received letters from the Nebraska State Patrol telling them they must register as...
OR: Discovery of dog saves Oregon man from sex-crime conviction
[stltoday.com - 9/10/18] The discovery of a black Lab named Lucy led to the unravelling of a criminal case Monday against an Oregon man who had begun serving a 50-year prison sentence. Joshua Horner, a plumber from the central Oregon town of Redmond, was convicted on April 12, 2017, of sexual abuse of a minor. In the trial, the complainant testified Horner had threatened...
Academic Study Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register; 22 States Don’t Remove Registrants After They Depart
Note: before you travel to another state, it is your responsibility to always read up on the latest registration regulations. Don't depend on secondhand studies like this. Do your research so you don't land in jail. Download Academic Study that Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register
Laws Punishing Homeless People for Sleeping in Public Are Cruel and Unusual, Fed Court Rules
[nytimes.com - 9/5/18] Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no shelter available is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court said this week. The case stems from two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep or camp in buildings, streets and other public places. Six homeless people...
ACSOL Meeting in Berkeley on Sat, Sept 15
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting in Berkeley: Sept 15 10 a.m. Finnish Hall (upstairs meeting room) 1970 Chestnut Street Berkeley 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 hours....
CA: Legislature Passes Helpful Bills, Stops Hurtful Bills
The California legislature has recently passed two bills that could help registrants and stopped two bills that could have harmed registrants and their families. In the first of the helpful bills (AB 2138), the legislature made it more difficult for the Department of Consumer Affairs to revoke existing, or deny applications for a new, professional licenses. The scope of the bill covers licenses for...
ND: Satisfied with sex offender registry as it is (Editorial)
As shown on a large, colored map in Sunday's Grand Forks Herald, sex offenders are among us. Most sex offenders in Grand Forks are considered by the state of North Dakota to be low-risk; however, a half-dozen in the city are high-risk offenders and, according to the state, deserve a higher level of scrutiny. Full Article
WA: Man plans to publish names of level 1 sex offenders
Sex offender vigilante Curtis Hart has caused a furor among level 1 sex offenders by planning to publish many of their 570 names on the internet. Hart has requested that the sheriff’s office give him the names of all level 1 sex offenders in Cowlitz County, and under terms of a state Supreme Court ruling the agency must comply. The names, along with photos,...
20th Century Fox pulls scene after director casts a registered sex offender
Twentieth Century Fox was just days away from locking picture on “The Predator” when an urgent note came in: Delete the scene featuring ____ ____ ____. ____, 47, didn’t have a big role in his longtime friend Shane Black’s reboot of the sci-fi thriller — just a three-page scene shared with actress Olivia Munn. But last month, Munn learned that ____ is a registered...
Janice’s Journal: Pedophiles Deserve Death Penalty
The son of Rev. Billy Graham, Rev. Franklin Graham, declared on National Public Radio this weekend that pedophiles deserve the death penalty. He also declared that we are a nation of laws. Not only is Rev. Graham's first statement outrageous, it is undermined and contradicted by his second statement. Why? Because the laws in many states do not include the death penalty. Furthermore, most...
ACSOL Executive Director Selected as Top 100 Attorney
The Executive Director of ACSOL, Janice Bellucci, has been selected a Top 100 attorney in the state of California. She will be formally recognized as such in an upcoming issue of The Daily Journal newspaper, the legal industry publication read by judges and attorneys. "I am honored to be selected as a Top 100 attorney in California," stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. "I...
PA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com - 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can't be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge...
Janice’s Journal: You May Be Eligible to Vote (CA)
The mid-term election will take place in about two months. And it is important that your voice as well as the voices of all eligible registrants be heard in that important election. Many, although not all, registrants in the State of California are eligible to vote. For example, you are eligible to vote if you are currently in jail provided that you are serving...
The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment
Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offenses—and sometimes, those with no conviction at all—to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence. In January, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Bianco ruled that after spending nearly two decades detained by the state of California without trial, ____ ____ was a free man. Unlike the 536,000 people held pretrial in the...
Federal judges butt heads with U.S. lawmakers over legality of ankle monitors for nonviolent suspects
In a clash that has surfaced in federal courthouses across the country and a recent Houston case, a collection of judges have held it is their duty to set conditions of release for accused sex offenders despite a strict law that limits their discretion. Full Article
ND: North Dakota works to track registered sex offenders
[inforum.com - 9/2/18] Keeping track track of sex offenders in North Dakota requires technology and the teamwork of law enforcement and communities across the state. There are among nearly 1,900 sex offenders in the state, according to Liz Brocker, a spokeswoman for the North Dakota Attorney General's Office. A website for the Attorney General's Office tracks the locations of sex offenders in the state,...
General Comments September 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of September 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.