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
General Comments April 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
NJ: How N.J. determines which sex offenders are dangerous, explained
Keeping track of New Jersey’s registered sex offenders falls to Megan’s Law units in all 21 counties. That includes classifying offenders based on the potential danger they pose to the public. When offenders registered in other states move to New Jersey, they undergo a fresh classification process based on Garden State guidelines. Full Article
CA: May 9 Hearing Scheduled for Bill That Would Disenfranchise SVP’s
The Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee is scheduled to hear AB 2839 which, if passed, would disenfranchise hundreds of men who are otherwise eligible to vote and have been designated sexually violent predators at Coalinga State Hospital. The hearing will take place on May 9 at 9 a.m. in Room 444 of the State Capitol. "ACSOL encourages its members to attend this hearing in...
WI: Wisconsin Act 174: Underage Sexual Activity better than Sexual Assault of Child but still a crime
[narsol.org] By The Registry Trap . . . Yesterday, Governor Scott Walker signed 2017 Assembly Bill 414 (now 2017 Wisconsin Act 174), creating the brand new crime of Underage Sexual Activity. In a saner world, a statute specifically criminalizing consensual sex between teenagers wouldn’t be good news, but that’s not the world we live in. As you already know if you’ve read Robert’s story,...
WA: New legislation makes our community safer [stop unconditional SVP release]
[tacomaweekly.com] Flanked by Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist, State Representative Dick Muri, and others, Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill 2271 into law on March 27. The new law will help prevent the release of sexually violent predators (SVP) into our community. The bill was prompted by a recent Washington State Supreme Court case, in regards to the detention of John Marcum, which potentially...
Australia: Overhaul of suppression order laws could see sex offenders identified
[theage.com.au] The identity of some of the most dangerous sex offenders could be revealed under reforms to the state's suppression order laws being considered by the Victorian government. An independent review of Victoria's Open Courts Act has recommended that courts should be restricted from making suppression orders concealing the identity or whereabouts of sex offenders living in the community under supervision. Safety of the...
FL: Jackson County Proposes 2500 feet Sex Offender Residency Restriction
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Jackson County, Florida is considering enacting a Sex Offender Residency Restriction (SORR). According to this article, the county currently has a 1000 foot ordinance, which they are looking to increase to 2500 feet. “Our whole goal is not to punish anyone, it’s just to make our community safer,” Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Quinton Hollis said. In fact, studies have shown that residency...
CT: ‘Child Safety Zones’ Cast Too Wide a Net, Pardoned Sex Offender Says
HARTFORD, Conn. (CN) — Nearly 10 years after he was pardoned for sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman, a Connecticut man claims in a federal complaint that he is barred from using the library and other public spaces because of an unconstitutional town law. Full Article
How Sex Offender Registries Can Result in Vigilante Murder
Some Canadian conservatives are pushing for more public sex offender registries. But there is a history of deadly violence associated with them. Full Article
CA: Spitzer Applauds Board for Rescinding Vote, Warns Colleagues About Sex Offender Data
[voiceofoc.org] (Orange County, CA) – Supervisor Spitzer applauded his colleagues for joining him in rescinding their votes to place homeless individuals in tents in Orange County cities. Supervisor Spitzer voted against the original plan, which passed 4-1, which he argued could place dangerous individuals—in addition to homeless who need intensive mental and substance abuse treatment—right into the heart of three Orange County cities—Irvine, Laguna...
AL: Juvenile sex offender notification bill passes
[montgomeryadvertiser.com] A bill changing the way schools deal with juvenile sex offenders in the classroom is headed to the governor’s desk. State Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, sponsored the legislation. The Senate on Tuesday afternoon concurred with amendments added in the House version, clearing the way for the bill to get the governor’s signature making it law. Chambliss’ bill expands the pool of people notified...
NY: Congress passes bill giving NY youth groups access to FBI sex offender database
[syracuse.com] WASHINGTON -- Sex offenders who move to New York state will no longer be able to exploit an FBI loophole when they apply for jobs at summer camps and other organizations that work with children, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. A bill passed by Congress authorizes the FBI to make its full database available for employer background checks, regardless of where an...
ACSOL Conference to Feature National Experts
The second annual ACSOL conference to be held on June 15 and June 16 will feature national experts Laurie Jo Reynolds, Dr. Ilan Meyer and Anokhi Shah. The conference will be held at Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, in downtown Los Angeles. "Laurie Jo Reynolds is an activist, a social justice professor and an artist who understands the challenges registrants and their families...
Monitoring the Use of Electronic Monitoring
One February night in 2009, our phone rang. It was two in the morning. My 95-year-old mother was on the line. She told me she was having chest pains, thought she was having a heart attack, and had already called 911. Since she lived less than a mile away, my immediate response should have been to rush to her side. Instead, I dialed the 1-800...
AL: Colbert County Sheriff issues apology following “miscommunication” in sex offender notification
[whnt.com] Tuscumbia, Ala. – Colbert County’s top law enforcement officer issued an apology first thing Monday morning. A lack of communication with other law enforcement agencies in the county led to a delay in residents being notified of a sex offender registration. There are 122 registered sex offenders in Colbert County. It’s part of Sheriff Frank Williamson’s job to keep up with them. Recently,...
CT: Mother of victims wants schools to know if students are sex offenders
[theday.com] A New Fairfield mother who said her daughters were sexually assaulted by a family friend is pushing for a law that would require the state to notify a school superintendent when a juvenile who lives in the district and will enroll in school there is a convicted sexual offender. "We have all seen the horrible and tragic events that are unfolding too often...
FL: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Sex Offender Residency Restriction Declared Unconstitutional
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The Ft Lauderdale Sex Offender Residency Restriction was declared unconstitutional. Wait… what?!?! A Florida SORR was declared unconstitutional? YES! The municipal ordinance in the City of Ft. Lauderdale that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 1400 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, school bus stops, etc. was found to violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution! Hold on… what? Are you...
Congress Approves FY18 Funding Levels for Criminal Justice Programs
[csgjusticecenter.org] U.S. CapitolLast week, the U.S. Congress approved the $1.3 trillion Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations bill that would set government funding through Sep. 30, 2018. The bill provides $30.3 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and includes $2.9 billion for various state and local law enforcement assistance grant programs. The bill increases funding for the Second Chance Act, from $68 million in...
NC: Abusing his authority, NC Sheriff goes “above and beyond” what the law allows
[narsol.org] By Robin Vander Wall . . . In June, 2017, a registered sex offender in Halifax County was visited by the sheriff’s office for his biannual verification check. Eight days later, and after successful verification of his address, the same registered sex offender was charged with kidnapping and attempting to rape a 1-year-old child. So much for the usefulness of verification checks, right?...
Supreme Court rule: (Other) justices shouldn’t conduct independent research
[washingtonpost.com] During last week’s Supreme Court arguments about crisis pregnancy centers, Justice Sonia Sotomayor introduced a long line of questions by saying she had recently visited the website of one of the clinics that is a party to the suit. Eventually, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy broke in to ask his own question, but not before tossing a grenade Sotomayor’s way. “Well, in this case...