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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General News Feed
NY: Neighbors question nonprofit’s assistance of sex offender’s home
Along Fountain Street, tall trees and manicured lawns are graced with flowers, trimmed hedges and American flags. And, in the yard next to convicted sex offender ____ ____'s house, two lawn signs together read “Sexually molest a child and you get your home remodeled for free!” The signs highlight not only a simmering feud between ____ and several of his neighbors, documented in several...
FL: Yellow wristbands, segregation for Florida homeless in Irma
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — Shelby Hoogendyk says that when she, her husband and her 17-month-old son arrived at an emergency shelter as Hurricane Irma closed in, they were separated from others by yellow wristbands and told to stay in an area with other people like them — the homeless. Sheriff's deputies, she says, told them the wristbands were prompted by problems...
TX: Underage teenager faces life as registered sex offender for having sex with underage girlfriend
[injusticetoday.com] A 14-year-old Houston teenager may be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life after he was charged with having sex with his 12-year-old girlfriend. The seventh grader, whose name has not been revealed, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His girlfriend is in the sixth grade, the Houston Chronicle said. “He had consensual sex with his...
House Passes Bill That Could Have Teens Facing 15 Years For Trying To Sext
[Forbes] In Washington as in life, certain roads may be paved with good intentions, but critics of a purportedly well-meaning new bill warn it would lead to major suffering for the very people it's meant to protect: U.S. teenagers. Last week, the House of Representatives approved H.R.1761, also known as the "Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2017," which builds on current law that...
Column: Sex offender restriction about school proximity unnecessary
I applaud the members of the Lewiston City Council for tabling their decision on a sex offender restriction zone to give the matter more thought. This is the kind of issue for somebody who has no stake in the matter that seems obvious. Disallowing sex offenders to live within 750 feet of a school or daycare appears, on the surface, to be a smart...
AZ: Sex offender treatment taking place at Phoenix resort hotel
A Valley behavioral counseling organization announced it will stop holding treatment sessions for sex offenders at a resort hotel, following a CBS 5 Investigation. CBS 5 hidden cameras filmed sex offenders wandering the halls of the Sheraton Crescent Hotel, sitting in the courtyard by the pool and surfing the web on the hotel lobby computers during the counseling session lunch break. Full Article
TX: The Cost of Texas’ Sex Offender Registration Program
As of September 1, 2017, the State of Texas had 90,616 registered sex offenders. Sex offender registration has been around a long time in Texas—since 1991, in fact. The state legislature has continually amended or tweaked these programs ever since. For example, the legislature mandated that the public be notified about registered sex offenders in 1995 following the 1993 abduction/murder of seven-year-old Ashley Estell...
The Autistic Children Who Are Labeled As Sex Offenders
[broadly.vice.com] Anthony*, a 14-year-old autistic boy, was making awkward overtures to his crush. Other kids thought the courtship was cute until, according to his attorney, Nicole Pittman of Impact Justice , Anthony got frustrated and sent his crush a picture of his genitals. "Parents flipped out," Pittman told Broadly, explaining that they requested authorities press charges against the teen. Now, Anthony is listed on...
FL: Sex offender sues ECSO over ‘defamatory’ billboard calling him sexual predator
An inmate is suing the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, claiming one of its billboards mislabeled him as a sexual predator, instead of a sex offender. Full Article
MA: Mass. has lost track of nearly 1,800 sex offenders, audit says
Nearly 1,800 Massachusetts sex offenders did not have a current address on file with the state’s registry, and close to 1,000 of those convicted criminals had not been classified by their likelihood to reoffend, according to an audit released Tuesday by state Auditor Suzanne M. Bump. Full Article
MN: The legal fight over Minnesota’s sex offender program could have ramifications throughout the country
A battle started by a handful of sex offenders in Minnesota has mounted into a constitutional debate that could set a new precedent for civil commitment programs across the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court could decide early next week if it plans to dive in and hear a case arguing that the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is unconstitutional. Whether or not they...
It’s finally here…A TEDMED talk about preventing child sexual abuse
[Johns Hopkins] Last November Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau, director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, gave one of the most important talks of her life: A TEDMED talk about preventing child sexual abuse. The talk weaves her experiences as a seasoned researcher who...
What To Do With Violent Sex Offenders
[themarshallproject.org] If someone finishes a prison sentence for a violent sexual crime, but might still be dangerous, should he be released? How do you know if he’s dangerous? And when does it violate his rights to hold him? On Monday, the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a case that stems from these questions, a challenge to a Minnesota “civil commitment” program that...
VA: Virginia Supreme Court wants to hear from lawyers in innocence claim in 40-year-old rape case
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] The Virginia Supreme Court wants to hear from both sides in a DNA-based innocence claim filed by a Chesapeake man who pleaded guilty to a rape that happened 40 years ago. In a brief two-sentence order, the court placed the already unusual and long-running case on its January docket to apparently hear arguments and/or ask questions in the case of Roy L....
Will SCOTUS Let Fear of Sex Offenders Trump Justice?
Two cases give the Court a chance to reconsider its counterintuitive conclusions about commitment and registration. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, locking up sex offenders after they have completed their sentences is not punishment, and neither is branding them as dangerous outcasts for the rest of their lives. Two cases the Court could soon agree to hear give it an opportunity to reconsider,...
WA: Water at sex offender center violates health standards, state records show
Water at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island has repeatedly exceeded standards for various chlorine-related chemicals and been cited for violations dating back to 2006, according to an Associated Press review of state Department of Health records. Full Article Related APNewsBreak: Sex offenders blame island's water for deaths
Living with 290: Small Tangled Misunderstanding
On August 14, 1989 (28 years, and one month ago on 08/14/2017) While I was watching a "Twilight Zone episode" My six years old niece asked me to play with her. I told her I would play with you after I finish watching my movie. She replied "OK" and walked away; and as she walked away, I reached out my arm without looking behind...
TX: New law keeps sex offenders out of college dorms
State Rep. John Raney, R-College Station, represents a district flush with college students and considers higher education one of his legislative priorities. So it was “shocking” for him to learn that no Texas law prevented sex offenders from living in campus dorms — and even more upsetting when a constituent came to his office to tell him that at her out-of-state college, she had...
Sex offender laws and the 6th Circuit’s Ex Post Facto Clause ruling
I wanted to add a few words to co-blogger Jonathan Adler’s posting about the recent 6th Circuit decision in Doe v. Snyder, in which the court voided application of the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) on the grounds that it imposes retroactive punishment on previously convicted sex offenders in violation of the constitutional prohibition against Ex Post Facto laws. Full Editorial ***this article...
CO: Weld officials discuss constitutional questions surrounding sex offender registry
From the outside, Robert's life looks stable. He's a private contractor who works in equipment financing. He has a home and a dog in Littleton. He dates regularly. In his spare time, he mountain bikes competitively and travels — most recently, he went to Iceland. But he believes his life is fragile. So fragile, in fact, Robert is not his real name; he was...