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
FL: Junk science leads to father’s wrongful arrest, false accusation of raping his son
[washingtonpost.com] During the ritual-sex-abuse panic of the 1980s and 1990s, children undergoing recovered memory therapy and other dubious psychological treatment recounted crimes so horrific and depraved, they’re hard to even think about. They described bizarre satanic-themed sex abuse where children were penetrated with knives. They described orgies with adults and children who could barely walk. They described animal and human sacrifice. A big reason...
MN: 50-year conditional release or probation terms for sex offenders
[www.revisor.mn.gov] A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring sex offenders to serve 50-year conditional release or probation terms; establishing intensive probation for certain sex offenders; Read the full bill
NC: Questions keep convicted sex-offender parent from attending his child’s basketball games
[journalnow.com] ______, a sex offender, is being investigated by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office for going onto the campus of Millennium Charter Academy to watch his child play basketball, officials say. ____ was attending basketball games at the school this winter, and volunteered to run the clock under an agreement with the school that allows him to be on campus as long as he...
NJ: NJ child porn kingpin pleads guilty, experts say Megan’s Law cannot prevent sex abuse
[trentonian.com] TRENTON >> An Ocean County man who possessed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography online. Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, is facing a six-year recommended prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but two New Jersey experts warn that sex offender registration and notification laws do...
Those on sex offender registries targeted for telephone scams
[narsol.org] By Sandy . . . Scams offering to get someone off the registry for a fee have been around for a while. A new scam has appeared within the past few months, and as of this writing has targeted registrants in some form in at least four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and New Mexico, with New Mexico being the most recent. All involve...
WI: Sex offender sues hospital that won’t let him visit son, 9
A registered sex offender forbidden from visiting his severely ill 9-year-old son filed a lawsuit Friday against Wisconsin Children's Hospital, arguing its visitation policy is "cruel and causes unnecessary harm to families and innocent children." Full Article
‘Living beyond the label’
____ ____ ____, 29, is a married father of two. He’s enrolled in Peninsula College’s Composites Recycling program, and is a member of the school’s Carbon Club. He’s also a level-three sex offender. Full Article
This Case Could Help Prevent Congress From Outsourcing Its Power
[dailysignal.com] How much authority can Congress give to the attorney general to effectively write the criminal laws? That’s a question the Supreme Court will address next term in a newly added case, Gundy v. United States. This case goes to the heart of the Constitution’s separation of powers and, specifically, how much Congress can pass the buck to the executive branch to make our...
MI: Death of homeless sex offender in Grand Rapids poses questions
[mlive.com] So is this what it finally takes for us to hear the muffled cries of the homeless -- an ex-con dead in the snow because it's against the law for a sex offender to huddle up at either of two Grand Rapids missions? Thomas Pauli didn't choose to die alone in the cold. He apparently froze to death because of a crime he...
Could AI and Predictive Analytics Stop Sex Offenders?
[governmentciomedia.com] Predictive policing has come a long way in recent years. Police have always known when and where to step up patrols in certain city areas, for example, by applying simple predictive equations such as: payday + alcohol = trouble. You didn’t need to be a data scientist to anticipate a skirmish or three in bars on Friday night. But developments in data analytics...
KS: Convicted of a Drug Crime, Registered with Sex Offenders
[themarshallproject.org] By Maurice Chammah In Kansas, even many minor drug offenders must appear on the state’s public registry. A new bill would change that. Amid the farm animals and food stalls at the Kansas State Fair last September, Amy Byers came upon a booth run by the state’s Bureau of Investigation. There was a computer you could use to search your address and find...
TX: Tarrant County judge used electric shocks to punish sex offender, who is getting a new trial
[star-telegram.com] FORT WORTH State District Judge George Gallagher of Tarrant County told a bailiff on three occasions to punish an uncooperative defendant with electric shocks, and now the sex offender's conviction has been overturned and a new trial ordered. Stun belts can be strapped around the legs of some defendants and used to deliver thousands of volts of electric shock in the instance a...
CA: Fresno sex offender faces 1,882 years in prison
[turnto23.com] BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A Fresno man was found guilty on Wednesday of numerous child molestation and child pornography charges and faces 1,882 years-to-life in prison. _______, 42, a registered sex offender was living with a family and was charged with sexually assaulting two female victims in their home over a period of one year from June 2014 to June 2015. Read more
Men are not monsters
[foxnews.com (!)] Last week three of my four boys were herded into school-sponsored assemblies and asked to stand, raise their hands and pledge to never, ever hurt a woman. While their female classmates remained seated, my boys faced intense pressure to say: I promise To never ever Hit, hurt, or otherwise harm A woman, girl, or child. I understand That I am bigger and...
Best Buy defends practice of informing FBI about child porn it finds
[arstechnica.com] years Nearly 200 pages of documents released Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that Best Buy’s top officials have "enjoyed a particularly close relationship" with the FBI for at least a decade, if not longer. The filings were obtained by the advocacy organization as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in an attempt to better understand how the retail chain...
FL: Ordinance would keep sex offenders from living in Vernon
[UPDATED links 3/7/18] [wjhg.com] VERNON, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - The Vernon City Council is in the process of adopting an ordinance that would prohibit sex offenders and predators from living in the city limits. Both Bonifay and Chipley have adopted a similar ordinance, causing more offenders to move into Vernon. "It was actually recommended by our attorney because she has been working with other communities...
PA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Sex offender cases in Pennsylvania are being remanded in the wake of Commonwealth v. Muniz, the PA case which found their registry unconstitutional under the ex post facto clauses of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. In Commonwealth v. Polzer, the appellant introduced the issue of whether, “SORNA’S irrebuttable presumption that all sexual offenders pose a high risk of reoffending violates procedural and...
CA: California will fight a judge’s ruling ordering the state to consider earlier parole for sex offenders
[Time.com] (SACRAMENTO) — California said Monday that it will fight a judge’s ruling ordering the state to consider earlier parole for potentially thousands of sex offenders, such as those convicted of raping an unconscious person. Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration will appeal the order by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner, said Vicky Waters, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The judge...
Plea bargaining should not be an option for offenders in sex crimes
In the U.S., individuals accused of sexually based crimes are legally able to accept a plea deal that allows them to have reduced sentencing penalties. This is wrong and should not be allowed to the extent that it is currently bargained for. Full Editorial
Young Sex Offenders Shouldn’t Have to Register; It’s Ineffective and Hurts Everyone Around Them
Sex offender registration policies were initially developed for adults with sexual offenses, but have recently been extended to include youth with sexual offenses as well. At first glance, sex offender registration and notification (hereafter referred to as SORN) may make us feel safer, produce relief knowing that these individuals are being punished. Full Opinion Piece