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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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...
CA: Gov. Brown supports bill sent to him that would end lifetime listing of many sex offenders on public registry
[LA Times] After an emotional debate, state lawmakers on Saturday gave final legislative approval to a controversial bill that would end the lifetime listing of many convicted sex offenders on a public registry in California. The bill, which was shelved then revived, was sent to the governor on the last day of the legislative session with Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) calling it...
CA Assembly Passes Tiered Registry Bill [Updated 9/16, 6 a.m.]
Today the Assembly passed the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 384) by a vote of 42 to 22. A minimum of 41 votes was required for the bill to pass. Due to the Assembly's passage, the final legislative step for the bill is concurrence by the Senate which is expected later today. During the Assembly's consideration of the bill, only three members spoke: two in...
Bermuda: ‘No public list of sex offenders’
Details of sex offenders will not be put on a public register, the Attorney-General said yesterday. Full Article
The Politics of Defending the Sex-Offender Registry
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch recently ruled that Colorado's sex-offender registry violates the due-process rights of three plaintiffs, thereby amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. Boulder attorney Alison Ruttenberg, who's kept the case going for the past four years, lauded this decision because it acknowledged that treating every person on the registry like a violent child predator was patently unfair. But she's not surprised that Colorado Attorney...
While sex offenders fight for a shot off the registry, opponents raise safety concerns
A federal judge declared Colorado’s sex-offender registry unconstitutional earlier this month, ruling that making sex-offenders' addresses, ages and photos accessible to the public is cruel and unusual punishment. Now, an effort to reform California’s own sex-offender registry is raising questions and concerns. Full Article
CA: FACING A LAWSUIT, TWENTYNINE PALMS COUNCIL REDUCES SEX OFFENDER RESTRICTIONS
In a turnabout from the hysteria surrounding past discussion on repeal of Twentynine Palms Municipal Code 11.32, the City Council last night held their noses and voted 5-0 to do away with the local law which forbids registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks or day care centers, or from even being within 300 feet of any park or school....
CO: Coffman will appeal federal ruling declaring sex offender registry unconstitutional
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman will appeal the recent federal ruling declaring the state's sex offender registry unconstitutional. Full Article Related http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/13/colorado-sex-offender-registration-appeal/
When Junk Science About Sex Offenders Infects the Supreme Court: A ‘Frightening’ Myth About Sex Offenders
[New York Times] This month the Supreme Court will have a rare opportunity to correct a flawed doctrine that for the past two decades has relied on junk social science to justify punishing more than 800,000 Americans. Two cases that the court could review concern people on the sex offender registry and the kinds of government control that can constitutionally be imposed upon them....
CA: Bill Seeks To Drop Some Offenders From Megan’s Law Website
[CBS Sacramento] SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A California senator who believes the state’s sex offender registry is broken says sex offenders may no longer have to register for life. The bill, SB 384 would take lower-level sex offenders off the registry. Right now, four states including California, make all sex offenders register for life. And today, the registry tops 100,000 people in California. Some law...
Janice’s Journal: The Path Forward for CA tiered registry (SB 384)
In the most recent step of the legislative process, the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee approved the newest version of the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 384) yesterday. The bill is now moving forward to the full Assembly for a floor vote in a few days where it may pass and if so, then on to the Senate the same day for a concurrence vote. The...
CA Assembly Committee Passes New Tiered Registry Bill SB 384
The Assembly's Public Safety Committee passed the new Tiered Registry (SB 384) tonight by a vote of 5 to 2. All those voting in support of the bill were Democrats; all voting in opposition to the bill were Republicans. Senator Scott Wiener was unavailable to present the bill at the hearing because the Senate had not yet adjourned. Therefore, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, a member...
FL: Sheriff sued after threatening to arrest fugitives who sought hurricane shelter
A Florida sheriff who threatened to jail fugitives with warrants if they sought shelter during Hurricane Irma has been sued by a man who claims he was denied entry to a shelter. The Orlando Sentinel reports the lawsuit filed Sunday by Nexus Services, an organization that provides legal help to immigrants, claims Andres Borreno was denied entry to a shelter in Polk County after sheriff’s...
Sex offender registry bill revived after stalling in committee
[SFGate] SACRAMENTO — With five days remaining in the legislative session, a San Francisco lawmaker revived a bill that would end lifetime registration for most sex offenders after the original bill stalled in a committee. Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB421 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee without a public vote two weeks ago after it passed four committees and the Senate. On...
CA: 29 Palms sued over sex offender restrictions
TWENTYNINE PALMS — The city of Twentynine Palms is being sued for keeping its residency restrictions for registered sex offenders. The City Council will meet Monday, Sept. 11, to hold a public hearing and consider repealing the restrictions, which are laid out in its municipal code. Staff and the city attorneys are recommending that the council repeal the restrictions. Full Article
Tiered Registry Bill Resurfaces in Amended Form
Although believed to be stopped, the Tiered Registry Bill has been revitalized by its author Sen. Scott Wiener. The bill has a new number -- SB 384 -- as well as new content. This was accomplished through the "gut and amend" process available to state legislators. "As compared to the prior bill, SB 384 significantly reduces the number of people who would be assigned...
IN: COA considers whether ban on sex offenders attending church violates RFRA
Three Boone County men convicted of serious sex offenses are looking to the Indiana Court of Appeals to determine if they can return to their churches as the court considers whether a ruling that the men cannot attend church when children’s programming is in session violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Full Article
FL: Pasco to open shelter for sex offenders
Registered sex offenders who need to evacuate because of Hurricane Irma now have an option: The Pasco County Sheriff's Office will set up a space for them in the shelter at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel" They need someplace to go just like any other citizen," sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said. Full Article