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
General News Feed
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...
WA: Cowlitz County has the highest rate of sex offenders per capita in the state
As the number of registered sex offenders in Cowlitz County grows — and the state rate drops — the county’s rate per capita has become the highest in the state. Full Article
OH: Lawmakers keep piling on those convicted of sex crimes
How much is too much? ____ ____ must be asking himself that very question. The on-again, off-again Youngstown State University football player is embroiled in a controversy of his own making. ____ served about 10 months in a juvenile detention facility after he and a high-school teammate were convicted in 2013 of raping a 16-year-old girl. In January, he joined the YSU football team...
Registrant and Family Request Injunction to Stop Simi Valley Halloween Law
A registrant and his family filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction (PI) in federal court late yesterday in order to stop a Halloween Ordinance in Simi Valley from being enforced. The ordinance requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween as well as prohibits registrants from participating in Halloween activities including decorating their homes. "After the lawsuit...
CA: Simi Valley’s Halloween law – not needed, not enforced, not fair (Editorial)
Simi Valley is again facing a lawsuit over its ordinance regulating sex offenders on Halloween, and we can cite a multitude of reasons why the city should not waste a single dime of taxpayer money defending it in court. It’s time for Simi Valley to walk away from this questionable ordinance and instead devote those dollars and energy to real problems in the city....
CA: CASOMB Discusses Tiered Registry Bill
The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) discussed the Tiered Registry Bill and registrant statistics during its monthly meeting today. The discussion included a detailed account of the history of the Tiered Registry Bill as well as its future. Dan Felizzatto, the lead lobbyist for the Los Angeles District Attorney (DA), who was the bill's sponsor, led today's discussion. The lobbyist stated that the...
Murderer said he would “spend his remaining days killing sexual offenders”
[Florida Action Committee] A Canadian man, Derrick Lawlor, who now stands accused of Murder, told his therapist that if he only had two months to live, he would kill every sexual offender. Read more
RI: Assembly OKs Bill Alerting Parents to Sex Offenders Living Near Bus Stops
The Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick) and Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) that would mandate the notification of parents of schoolchildren when sex offenders are living near school bus stops. Full Article
Phone Meeting to Discuss New Tiered Registry Law (9/26, RECORDING UPLOADED)
ACSOL will conduct a phone meeting on Tuesday, September 26, at 5 p.m. to discuss the new Tiered Registry Law. The 90-minute meeting will begin with an overview provided by attorneys Janice Bellucci and Chance Oberstein followed by questions and answers. To join the meeting, call 1-712-770-8055 and then key in access code 983459. Listen / Download call
CO: Why One County Took Its Sex-Offender List Offline
Montrose County, on Colorado's Western Slope, has pulled its sex-offender list offline, reportedly because of a recent court ruling in which U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch found that such registries constituted cruel and unusual punishment in the case of three plaintiffs. The action was taken despite the fact that the ruling is specific to the complainants in question, rather than everyone on the...
The sex-offender panic is destroying lives
The video below tells the story of Shawna, an Oklahoma woman who is still in mandatory treatment because 15 years ago, when she was 19, she had sex with a boy who was 14. Full Opinion Piece Also see Shawna: A Life on the Sex Offender Registry
Resources for Those Dealing with Sex Crime Accusations
[Law Offices of Ned Barnett] If you or a loved one has been falsely accused of a sex crime, there are ways to obtain help in your situation. Below is a list of organizations, advocacy groups, and resources for those who have been falsely accused, in need of support, or want to get involved. Although the main purpose of some of these organizations may...
CA: Federal lawsuit challenges Simi Valley Halloween sex offender law for second time
[Ventura County Star] For the second time in five years, a federal lawsuit is challenging the constitutionality of a Simi Valley law that bars registered sex offenders listed on the Megan's Law website from opening their doors to trick-or-treating children on Halloween. The law, enacted by the City Council in September 2012, also forbids the registered sex offenders from decorating the outside of their...
CA: “A Stranger Looking to Kidnap and Sex Traffic a Child Is Highly Unlikely” – Roseville, California Police
Looks like the Roseville, California, police department got a little fed up with social media posts going on about local “sex trafficking kidnappers” and “suspicious people.” And so it came out with this amazing document on its Facebook page: True facts about the fears its citizens feel and perpetuate. Kudos to a department that seems determined to do its job. If called, it will...
CA: Registrant and Family Challenge Halloween Ordinance
Today a lawsuit was filed in federal district court challenging a city law that requires sex offenders (“registrants”) on Halloween to post a sign on the front door of their homes, to refrain from decorating their homes, to extinguish all lights outside their homes and to refrain from answering the door to trick-or-treaters. The lawsuit asserts that the law, adopted by Simi Valley law,...
What is a Valid Evaluation or Study of Recidivism
Over the years a lot of studies and evaluations have been done on everything from the safety of automobiles, airplanes and ocean liners to the type of people that buy fast food rather than cook at home. So what truly is a valid study and what Is required for it to meet scientific standards? Please understand I am not talking about pseudo scientific standards...
Shawna: A Life on the Sex Offender Registry
I met Shawna a year into filming “Untouchable,” a documentary that examines sex offender laws through the lives of individuals on the sex offender registry. It was at an Oklahoma treatment center where she was participating in a mandatory group therapy session. She was there because fifteen years earlier, Shawna was deemed to be a sexual predator after pleading guilty to having consensual sex...