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
PA: Judge upends sex offender registration
WEST CHESTER >> A Common Pleas Court judge has ruled that a West Goshen man convicted of forcing himself sexually on a sleeping woman will not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In an order signed July 10, Judge Anthony Sarcione found that the law that defendant ____ ____ was required to report to state police as...
MO: Is your neighbor a convicted sex offender? Hundreds are missing in Jackson County
Jackson County has more convicted sex offenders than any county in Missouri. And hundreds of them are unaccounted for, posing a serious threat to public safety. Full Article
IN: Detectives track down unregistered sex offenders
In a subterranean office at the Charles “Bud” Meeks Center for Justice, a small band of Allen County Sheriff's Department detectives spend hours tracking convicted sex offenders. Full Article
WA: Aging sex offenders on McNeil Island needed 557 medical trips last year
Serving the medical needs of an aging population civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island means more doctor appointments and costs. The off-island trips for care, for a time, were starting to mean a decline in actual sex-offender treatment. Full Article
Emotional Support Group Meetings in 2018
Emotional Support Group meetings will be held on the following dates--usually the fourth Saturday of each month--for those convicted of a sex offense and their loved ones. Meetings are based upon 12-step principles and are led by a mental health professional. Meetings are held at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles There is free underground parking. Meetings start promptly at 10 a.m....
ACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting in L.A. on July 28
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones. They are usually held the fourth Saturday of each month, so this year they are planned for: July 28, Aug 24, Sep 22, Oct 27, Nov 24, Dec 22 The next meeting is Saturday, July 28, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free...
Is a life sentence for child sexual abuse just?
Arguably Chicago’s most notorious figure in the national Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal was committed indefinitely Wednesday to a state facility for sex offenders. In refusing to release ____ ____ under strict monitoring, Cook County Judge Dennis Porter noted that the defrocked priest had never cooperated with treatment or even admitted to a problem. Full Opinion Piece
NE: Sex offender residency restriction dropped by council
An ordinance that would have banned convicted/registered sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school or child care facility in York was given a second public reading and then dropped for good. Full Article
CA: Assessing the Real Risk of Sexually Violent Predators: Doctor Padilla’s Dangerous Data [Paper]
[ssrn.com - 7/16/18] Abstract This Article uses internal memoranda and emails to describe the efforts of the California Department of Mental Health to suppress a serious and well-designed study that showed just 6.5% of untreated sexually violent predators were arrested for a new sex crime within 4.8 years of release from a locked mental facility. The Article begins by historically situating sexually violent predator...
AR: Convicted Sex Offenders: Serving Full Sentences Rather Than Getting Out Early on Parole
[nwahomepage.com - 7/17/18] BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KFTA) -- Benton County detectives say more convicted sex offenders are choosing to serve their entire sentences than get out early on parole. "We have more people going flat now in prison than coming out so they're not on paper," said Detective Paul Newell. Two detectives at the Benton County Sheriff's office dedicate their time solely to tracking and...
Sex, Race, and the Law: Considering America ‘In the Dark’
[thenation.com - 7/18/18] If Childish Gambino’s song “This is America” and Boots Riley’s film Sorry to Bother You perfectly distill the absurd comedy and violent hell of the United States circa 2018, then Madeleine Baran’s In the Dark does the same in podcast form. The audio-documentary series dropped the haunting final episode of its second season earlier this month, and, like Donald Glover’s and...
Is it an unconstitutional taking of property without just compensation to require sex offenders to move away from their home if a school, etc is established near their home after their initial occupation?
In Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections,653 S.E.2d 740 (Ga. 2007), the Georgia Supreme Court held that a state statute prohibiting registered sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of any facility where minors congregate, see Ga. Code Åò42-1-15, constituted a taking of property as applied to a sex offender who was forced to move after a child care center opened a...
WI: Here’s why it’s time to reconsider sex offender residency restrictions
[kenoshanews.com - 7/12/18] Nicholas Fitzpatrick is now homeless. After serving time for sexual assault — he pleaded guilty to having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend when he was 17 — Fitzpatrick hoped to move into a home in Trevor. However, that home is less than 1,000 feet from a tiny park known as Jason’s Pond, and that runs afoul of Salem Lakes’ sex offender...
OH: Ohio House bill offers 2nd chance to teenagers caught sexting
[wcpo.com - 7/14/18] CINCINNATI -- The punishment for teenagers caught sharing sexually explicit images could be lessened in Ohio. A House bill would allow first-time offenders who are 18 or younger a chance to have their charges dismissed upon completion of a program that explains the impact of sexting. Through the program, teens would review relevant laws, examine how sharing explicit material affects personal...
Conference Call Audio for July 2018 Monthly Meeting uploaded
Please join me and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein, a criminal defense attorney, for our "monthly" meeting to be held telephonically. The conference call will be on Saturday, July 14 at 10 am Pacific Time (1:00 Eastern) and will last from 2 to 3 hours. Topics of conversation will include information about the domestic and overseas travel, the Tiered Registry, residency restrictions and other current...
CA: Maywood City Council Begins Repeal of Residency Restrictions
The Maywood City Council began a two-step process aimed at repealing its residency restrictions during a regularly scheduled meeting on July 11. The second step is expected to take place during the Council's next meeting on July 25. As currently drafted, the Maywood residency restrictions prohibit individuals convicted of a sex offense from living in virtually all of the city. A lawsuit challenging the...
MI: Courts deemed Michigan’s sex offender registry unconstitutional. Two years later, nothing’s changed
[michiganradio.org - 7/14/18] The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the state of Michigan over its handling of the state's sex offender registry. In 2016, the 6th Circuit Court ruled that aspects of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry Act, SORA, were unconstitutional. The court’s opinion specifically noted portions of the act which allowed the state to retroactively impose punishments on individuals without due process. The...
Janice’s Journal: Three Courts Issue Three Harmful Decisions
In the span of just one week, three courts have issued decisions that significantly harm registrants. Those decisions affect registrants’ marriages, homes and overseas travel. It’s a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. It’s too much to fight at this time. But fight we must in the near future. In the first of those decisions, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals...
IL: 7th Circuit Upholds Illinois Residency Restrictions
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld residency restrictions adopted by the state of Illinois that prohibit anyone convicted of a sex offense involving a minor from living within 500 feet of a school, playground, child-care center, child day-care home and group day-care home. According to the decision, which was issued on July 11, the restrictions can even be applied to individuals who...
Federal District Court Dismisses IML Challenge
A federal district court dismissed the recent IML challenge yesterday when it granted the government's Motion to Dismiss a legal challenge to the International Megan's Law (IML). That challenge, filed in January 2018, was based upon alleged violations by the State Department of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). A link to the court's decision follows below. Due to the court's decision, the State Department...