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
Judge sides with Placer County, rejects placement of sex predator near Lincoln
SAN JOSE - A Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Tuesday rejected the state’s plan to locate a sexually violent predator near Lincoln after Placer County officials and residents argued the placement would pose a danger to children in the area. Full Article
Putting Trump’s Travel Ban and IML into Perspective
It’s been just over one week since Trump’s Travel Ban targeted certain immigrants and global citizens. For those who followed this act day by day, it was very tumultuous week. During the first few days, foreign green card holders and visa holders were instantly deported back to the country where their flight came from. Some were detained for questioning by DHS and released. The...
Lawsuits target California cities for residential restrictions on sex offenders
The City of Fullerton will consider repealing residency restrictions on sex offenders at its Tuesday City Council meeting. The city currently prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 ft. of any school, park or day care center. But a 2015 California Supreme Court decision struck down similar restrictions in San Diego County, and the decision has been widely interpreted as a rollback of statewide residency...
WI: Perfectly legal – Sex offenders living inside child safety zones the norm in Wisconsin, otherwise, they’d be homeless
Municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. Most people support the idea because it helps us feel safe, but what the politicians who passed the rules probably didn't tell you is that sex offenders who lived near a school, park, playground, daycare or other protected place before the ordinance, can stay there. In fact, they almost have to. Full Article
KS/MO: Student sex offender information kept quiet in schools
Parents often get notes home from their child’s school district about field trips, health concerns, or a movie that will be shown in the classroom. What parents will never get is a note home about a classmate who is a juvenile sex offender. Full Article
NV: Attorney General Wants Tougher Lifetime Rules for Sex Offenders
Attorney General Adam Laxalt said Thursday he has requested legislation to allow the state’s parole system to impose additional lifetime conditions on sex offenders. Assembly Bill 59, drafted by Laxalt’s office, comes because of the McNeill v. State Nevada Supreme Court ruling in which the state Board of Parole Commissioners was found to not have the authority to put certain conditions on sex offenders....
Janice’s Journal: We Have Spoken! We Have Been Heard! We Will Return!
We have spoken! We have been heard! We will return! Those three statements were uttered this week by 36 registrants, family members and supporters who met with elected officials and staffers in the State Capitol in Sacramento. It was the largest group EVER to lobby in support of registrant issues. It was the largest group EVER to describe the challenges faced by registrants and...
MN: Sex offenders renew legal challenge to confinement
MINNEAPOLIS — Lawyers for over 700 people committed indefinitely to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program are asking the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that the program is constitutional. Full Article
Say no to restorative justice for sex offenders (Opinion)
The debate around the Senate’s possible confirmation of Betsy DeVos, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, should kick start a national discussion on how colleges and universities handle sexual assault. Recently, much of that conversation has revolved around “restorative justice,” programs that aim to respond to misconduct or crime by redressing the harm inflicted on victims and the community, rather than simply punishing offenders....
General Comments February 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of February 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court
Today, President Donald J. Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. The nomination of Judge Gorsuch comes after a selection process marked by an unprecedented level of transparency and involvement by the American voters. White House News Release
ACSOL Members Conclude Early Lobbying Efforts (update from 1/31)
February 1: After meeting in the offices of all newly elected members of the state legislature as well as members of the Senate Public Safety Committee, more than 35 ACSOL members concluded their early lobbying efforts on January 31. "We educated the newly elected members and staff regarding the need for a tiered registry based upon empirical evidence as well as the harm that...
Sex Offender Laws: Fair for Some, Draconian for Others
In my previous posting to this site, “Is it Automatically OK to Hate Sex Offenders?,” I discussed the various types of sexual offenders, noting that some are more likely to respond to treatment and less likely to reoffend than others. In this follow-up article, I discuss the fact that even though not all sex offenders are created equally, they are uniformly subjected to the same...
Accepting that others can change is often difficult
Many residents hearing about a sexually violent predator possibly being released from a state hospital to Lincoln want to prevent that move. Having a sex offender living nearby is scary. We want to keep family members safe and protect them from anyone who is dangerous. But how can parents do that if they’re living next to someone who committed horrendous crimes on innocent victims, oftentimes...
San Jose cat killer may have to register as sex offender
A San Jose man who stole, tortured and killed 21 cats more than a year ago and a throng of people who have been closely following the case should learn next month when he’ll be sentenced and whether he’ll eventually have to register as a sex offender. Full Article
IL: Prison sentences served, but sex offenders stay locked up
____ ____ was originally sentenced to three years of probation after his conviction in 2011 on charges of aggravated child pornography. ____ is impoverished and homeless. And after he was found violating his parole by sleeping in the doorway of a church, Murphy was ordered to serve his sentence in prison. He finally was approved to be released from custody in March, 2014, into...
Packingham v. North Carolina – Oral Argument February 27
Issue: Whether, under the court’s First Amendment precedents, a law that makes it a felony for any person on the state's registry of former sex offenders to “access” a wide array of websites – including Facebook, YouTube, and nytimes.com – that enable communication, expression, and the exchange of information among their users, if the site is “know[n]” to allow minors to have accounts, is...
The government made me a sex offender
I stood silently as the customs official swiped my passport through the card reader at his station. He swiped it again then lifted his head and stared at me judgmentally. Turning to his terminal, he began typing frantically. “Is something wrong?” I asked, knowing that something indeed was wrong. “Is it the magnetic strip?” “No,” he stated tersely. “The computer has flagged you as...
OH: Convicted animal abusers must register with Cuyahoga County Sheriff and cannot have pets
CLEVELAND, Ohio - People convicted of abusing animals can no longer have pets and must register with the Cuyahoga County sheriff, under legislation approved Tuesday by Cuyahoga County Council. Council created an animal abuse registry, which was prompted by a new state law that makes cruelty to pets a felony. Full Article
Inglewood City Council Repeals Residency Restrictions
The Inglewood City Council voted in favor of repealing the city's residency restrictions which prohibited registrants from living in most of that city during its meeting on January 24. The City Council is expected to finalize its decision to repeal the restrictions during its next meeting which is scheduled for January 31. "This is a significant victory for registrants and their families," stated ACSOL...