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
GA: Can be placed on registry without meaningful due process
[twitter.com - Andrew Fleischman - 6/18/18] Today, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that Georgia could place a man on the child abuse registry without meaningful due process because he had no liberty interest to the contrary. Read more
ACSOL Conference Attracts More than 170 People from 14 States, Identifies Future Opportunities in 2019
More than 170 people required to register, their loved ones and supporters from 14 states attended the second annual ACSOL conference in Los Angeles on June 15 and June 16. The conference included four plenary speakers as well as 12 workshops. "We shared information, energy and support during the conference," stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. "We also provided essential tools for daily living...
VA: Groundbreaking Monday for $110 million expansion of treatment center for civilly committed sex offenders
Officials kick off a 258-bed expansion of Virginia’s sex offender treatment center Monday, but caution it could run out of room again not long after completion. The Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation holds and treats sex offenders after their prison terms have ended if they are deemed by courts to be “sexually violent predators” who remain too dangerous to be released. Full Article
OffenderWatch, Largest Sex Offender Registry Network in the U.S., Launches International Division (Press Release)
According to a report from the Ministry of Justice, the number of jailed registered sex offenders in England and Wales rose 82 percent from 2007–2017. As the number of sex offenders continues to rise, maintaining a unified and accurate sex offender registry is an important issue to many residents. The largest sex offender registry network in the United States, OffenderWatch, recently announced a new...
NV: Changes to sex offender registration system now in effect
Significant changes to Nevada’s sex offender registration system are in effect. Assembly Bill 579 (AB 579) aligns Nevada sex offender registration laws with the federal requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. While enacted in 2007, AB 579 has been on hold pending the outcome of litigation to stop implementation. On April 27, 2018, the Nevada Supreme Court denied further...
NY: Legislation forbids bus stops near sex offender homes
To protect the safety of young children, the New York State Senate has passed legislation prohibiting the placement of school bus stops in front of the home of registered sex offenders. Full Article
MA: Can there be life after civil commitment?
[narsol.org - 6/15/18] By Sandy . . . Over forty years ago, Wayne Chapman was convicted of raping two boys. He claimed to have had as many as a hundred victims. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison, and when that was completed, under Massachusetts’s civil commitment laws, was confined further in a non-criminal facility where he was to be treated and evaluated...
TX: Commissioners call on state to strengthen sex offender laws
[cleburnetimesreview.com - 6/15/18]\ The problem warrants concern, and is growing, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King said. “We’re averaging two to four new sex offenders per week moving into the county as the cities continue to squeeze them out,” King said. And it’s not just the cities within Johnson County. “As a suburban county next door to a large urbanized county we’re getting a lot...
IL: Good news. A Win in Illinois!
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 6/15/18] In April, we wrote about an FAC member currently exiled from his home country because of International Megan’s Law. One of our members, who has a decades-old conviction, for which he got probation, left the country 17 years ago and hasn’t come back. He went on to live a good life in this other country, established a business, got married and...
WA: County to pay $115K to man mistakenly listed as sex offender
[kimatv.com - 6/14/18] YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash. - The county has agreed to settle a lawsuit involving a man who was wrongfully listed as a sex offender. Yakima County will pay local man Damian Garza Cantu $115,000 after someone else's criminal convictions of third degree rape were mistakenly placed on his record. Read more Related links: WA: County to pay $115K to man mistakenly listed...
CO, TN: Foxes Guarding the Henhouse in Colorado and Tennessee
[blog.womenagainstregistry.org - 6/13/18] Colorado’s House Bill 18-1427 to eliminate conflicts of interests within the state’s Sex Offender Management Board seemed like a sure thing. The measure had not only bipartisan support but also support of D.A.’s that prosecute sex offenders and the ACLU. Isn’t this the “dream team” that government wants, all sides coming together for the good of the people and agreeing to...
IN: Bill that prevents sex offenders from living near victims signed by governor
INDIANAPOLIS – A bill authored by State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, that prevents sex offenders from living near victims was ceremonially signed into law Monday by Gov. Eric Holcomb. Senate Enrolled Act 12 makes it unlawful for a sex offender to intentionally establish residence within one mile of their victim. Although this is current law for victims who are minors, SEA 12 extends...
USDOJ announces arrest of 2300 for alleged online child sex crimes.
[justice.gov - 6/12/18] The Department of Justice today announced the arrest of more than 2,300 suspected online child sex offenders during a three-month, nationwide, operation conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces. The task forces identified 195 offenders who either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 383 children who suffered recent, ongoing, or historical sexual abuse or production of...
Haunted by a mugshot: how predatory websites exploit the shame of arrest
[theguardian.com - 6/12/18] Gregory Rakoczy was asleep in his van at a Maryland campsite when six police officers knocked on his door. A fellow camper had Googled his name and found a mugshot indicating he was a felon on the run. He was not. Rakoczy was arrested and held for 20 hours. Afterward he immediately Googled his own name and found that his picture...
FL: Florida Court Decisions from Last Week
[floridaactioncommittee.org - 6/12/18] Last week the Florida Supreme Court rendered an opinion in Levandoski v. State a case that resolved the conflict between the 1st and 4th District Court of Appeals over whether ‘sex offender probation’ conditions had to be disclosed to the defendant at sentencing. The Supreme Court upheld the 4th DCA’s opinion that, “the court’s oral pronouncement that Levandoski would be subject...
Canada: Marni Soupcoff: Sex-offender registries may be doing more harm than good
[nationalpost.com - 6/11/18] To call the state of New Hampshire's computer sex crime law excessive is an understatement. Just a couple of weeks ago, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the felony conviction of a young man who, at age 18, went online and propositioned a 15-year-old girl (whom he knew) for sex. Because of the conviction, the computer sex crime law dictates that...
How many kids are on the sex offender registry?
[narsol.org - 6/12/18] By Michael M. . . . The headlines today are full of stories of righteous indignation over immigrant children being separated from their families. While that dilemma is certainly newsworthy, the American public seems largely unaware of the fact that tens of thousands of our own children are being taken from their families each year and tossed into a rapacious legal...
CO, LA, VT: More states enact major “second chance” reforms
[ccresourcecenter.org 6/11/18] In recent weeks, three more states — Colorado, Louisiana and Vermont — have enacted laws intended to make it easier for people with a criminal record to find and keep employment, or otherwise to regain rights and status. We are just now noting Wyoming’s amendment in March of more than a dozen occupational licensing laws, to impose new limits on how criminal...
India: Sexual offenders’ registry still a work in progress
[economictimes.indiatimes.com - 6/11/18] Recently, a 26-yearold woman was sexually assaulted by a cab driver in Bengaluru while she was heading to the airport to catch an early-morning flight. The cab driver, according to reports, was a first-time offender. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2016 report, Bengaluru registered 820 cases pertaining to assaults on women with an intent to outrage their modesty....
MN: Sex offender who sued West St. Paul to get $84K in settlement
A sex offender who sued West St. Paul over its 2016 ordinance that restricted where he could live will receive $84,000 as part of a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge Monday. Full Article