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.
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Janice's Journal
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NV: Las Vegas man says he killed over dislike of sex offenders, report says
[reviewjournal.com] By Mike Shoro Las Vegas Review-Journal A Las Vegas man told his neighbor he killed two homeless people behind a central-valley swap meet because one of them was a sex offender, court documents show. “The neighbor explained he had been sexually assaulted as a child and took offense to sex offenders,” 32-year-old Michael Thompson’s arrest report said. Prosecutors charged Thompson with two counts...
An Explanation of some Legal Doctrines and other Legal Information
[sosen.org] by Robert Wolf I’ve decided to create an article with some legal terminology in it. The reason I’m doing this is because there are a lot of organizations and individuals that are working with attorneys in an attempt to change the sex offender registration laws. Read the full article [it is technical but relevant to those who want to learn more about sex...
CT: 5 arrested after potential sex offender sting in Guilford
[wfsb.com] GUILFORD, CT (WFSB) - Five men were arrested during a sting in Guilford this weekend that was searching for potential sex offenders. Between Friday and Sunday, the Guilford Police Department and the Veterans 4 Child Rescue Foundation conducted a regional/multi-jurisdictional joint/parallel sting known as "Not in my Town" initiative. The focus of the sting was to arrest "potential sex offenders" after investigators had...
MA: Westfield officials hesitant to repeal sex offender ordinance despite high court ruling
One resident and several councilors spoke out against repealing the city's sex offender ordinance Thursday at the Westfield City Council meeting. The ordinance restricts where registered sex offenders may live and establishes "child safety zones" where offenders are not allowed. But a 2015 Supreme Judicial Court ruling indicates such ordinances are unconstitutional. Full Article
4th Circuit Approves Imprisonment of Sex Offender Convicted of a Nonexistent Crime
William Welsh has been imprisoned for seven years even though he was convicted of a crime that everyone agrees he did not commit. That's OK, according to a federal appeals court, because Welsh is not really a prisoner; he's a patient, lawfully committed under a federal statute that allows indefinite detention of "sexually dangerous persons." Full Article
NH: Sununu, NH lawmakers support ‘Marsy’s Law’
[fosters.com] CONCORD — After enduring years of sexual and physical abuse as a child, a New Hampshire woman moved out of state and far away from those traumatic events. But then she heard her perpetrator was trying to get off a sex offender list so he could get free housing. The state hadn’t told her about that, and she said she began to feel...
FL: Another Reason why Sex Offender Registration Fees are a Bad Idea
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Sex offender registration fees are a bad idea. Setting aside the constitutionality of charging individuals for the “privilege” of registering as a sex offender – something that’s not only involuntary but that all would certainly prefer not to do – and claiming it’s not a “penalty”, it’s a logistical nightmare. Because of the public website and the stigma that comes with it, most...
FL: Inside the isolated US community dubbed the ‘Miracle Village’
[dailymail.co.uk] From the outside it looks like any sleepy suburb, but the so-called 'Miracle Village' contains a much darker secret. Indeed, half of the population in the Florida community are registered sex offenders, who are forced to live away from the rest of society. The so-called village, located outside of Pahokee, features in a new BBC documentary presented by Stacey Dooley looking at laws...
What’s “unusual” is removal from the sex offender registry
[with-justiceforall.blogspot.com] Kaitlin Durbin has written a touching story about a young man, David, who has been on the Colorado sex offender registry for over a decade for consensual teenage sex with his girlfriend. She tells, briefly, some of the difficulties that public registration posed for him in his attempts to live a normal life, and she shares his relief and joy that he has...
CA: Coalinga State Hospital locked down in sex offender dispute
[abc30.com] A California state psychiatric hospital, housing mostly sexually violent predators, has been locked down and visits canceled after a weekend protest over a crackdown on devices, like flash drives, that officials say are often used to smuggle child pornography. The patients at Coalinga State Hospital were protesting new restrictions on electronic devices, Department of State Hospitals spokesman Ralph Montano said Tuesday, but no...
CA: As small riots rage at Coalinga State Hospital, details begin to emerge
[fresnobee.com] Patients at Coalinga State Hospital remained on lockdown Tuesday as a few details began to emerge about violent protests that have erupted since new rules restricting the use of personal electronic devices were put into place. Since it started this lockdown, the California Department of State Hospitals has released little information on what caused the lockdown, how that cause is being addressed or...
New DOJ Report Demonstrates Stunning Disingenuity on Cases Involving Sexual Exploitation of Children
A recent bombshell report from the Department of Justice claims that the number of people prosecuted in federal court for commercial sexual exploitation of children roughly doubled between 2004 and 2013. Full Article
Orange passports for India’s migrant workers create ‘second class citizens’
[reuters.com] MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - India’s plan to introduce orange-colored passport jackets for some migrant workers is discriminatory and could increase the vulnerability of workers often duped by middlemen who promise them jobs, said legal experts and campaigners. The Ministry of External Affairs said last week migrant workers who need emigration clearance - those who have not passed 10th grade at school -...
TX: Sex offender residency restrictions questioned in small cities
[floridaactioncommittee.org] AUSTIN — Registered sex offenders in small Texas cities were until last year challenging residence restrictions, arguing that “general-law” municipalities lacked authority to control where they lived. A new state law that took effect in September codified small cities’ legal standing to enact such ordinances, but now the attorney who in 2015 sued Krum over its ordinance is back in court, saying that...
Samoa passes law enforcement only Sex offender registry
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Samoa just passed a sex offender registry. There are two important differences, however, between theirs (and most other countries that have a registry) and the US. Firstly, the registry and accompanying requirements will not be imposed retroactively against those who are not in custody as of it’s enactment. and secondly, the registry is for law enforcement only. Read more
American children’s high mortality rates; sex offenders are not the cause [opinion]
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The UK Daily Mail reported last week that “American children are 60% more likely to die before their 20’s than kids in other wealthy countries.” But how can that be? For a nation that prides itself on being pioneers in public health and safety, how is it that our youth are not as healthy or safe as they are in most other countries?...
Janice’s Journal: Murder at the Hands of Vigilantes
It happened again. Another CA registrant was murdered by vigilantes for no reason other than he was required to register as a sex offender. This horror began when four men went shopping together to buy pliers and bolt cutters, common tools later used to torture and kill a registrant. A 61-year-old man who had paid his debt to society and was living peacefully in...
CA: Coalinga State Hospital said to be on lockdown, but no official confirmation given
Trash-littered hallways, jammed doors, broken windows and clogged sewage are problems reported at Coalinga State Hospital, which is being described as having “riot-like conditions,” according to emails sent to The Bee. On Monday morning, the hospital said it could not confirm if the facility was on lockdown, but that more information would be available Tuesday. The hospital has1,286 beds, according to its website. Of...
CA: 4 men charged with killing Redondo Beach sex offender during home-invasion robbery
[dailybreeze.com] Four South Bay men were charged Friday with killing and robbing a registered sex offender, strangling him and attacking him with pliers and bolt cutters when he got out of his shower in his Redondo Beach apartment. The charges make them eligible for the death penalty. The victim, __________, 61, died Nov,. 28, five years after he was sent to prison for drugging a...
Professor Catherine Carpenter: The Unconstitutionality of Sex Offense Laws [video]
[www.sfc.edu] Professor Catherine Carpenter (Southwestern Law School), a nationally renowned criminal law scholar in the area of sex crimes and sex offender registration laws, came to St. Francis College on September 26 to talk about The Unconstitutionality of Sex Offense Laws. Watch Catherine Carpenter on Sex Offender Laws Her scholarship has been cited by numerous courts and used as a guide by attorneys; she...