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
General News Feed
NY: Sex abuse record costs worker his job – Times Union
Schenectady A city employee recently hired to be a housing inspector was promptly fired after city officials discovered he is a registered sex offender in New York. "He's no longer employed with the city," said Mayor Gary McCarthy on Tuesday. Full article
Bill offers needed reform for sex offender registry
California’s cluttered sex offender registry is too large to be effective and must be reformed if it is to be of any use to law enforcement. Full Article
PA: Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds state sex offender registration law punitive and thus unconstitutional to apply retroactively
In a big opinion today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided its state's sex offender registration law, though civil in design, was punitive in practice and thus cannot be applied retroactively. Full Article
Sex offender consequences in the Supreme Court – what’s ahead?
“The Supreme Court’s Mixed Signals in Packingham” is the title of a thoughtful comment by Bidish Sarma analyzing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Packingham v. North Carolina, recently published on the American Constitution Society website. (An early analysis of the Packingham decision by Wayne Logan appeared on this site on June 20.) Mr. Sarma proposes that “the time has come to ask whether society’s ‘war’ on sex offenders who...
Major overhaul to Ohio sex offender registry?
Another state is considering changes that would reduce the number of people on its bloated sex offender registry. The Dayton Daily News reports that a committee is recommending changes to Ohio's registry. Full article
WY: Charge filed against Cheyenne teen with autism gets dismissed
CHEYENNE – The unlawful contact charge filed earlier this year against a local high school student with severe autism has been dismissed. Full Article
We must protect children at schools from dangerous sex offenders: Connie Leyva
Just last year, a group of concerned Fontana parents discovered a loophole in the law that allows dangerous sex offenders to enter school grounds and target children. They found out that dangerous sex offenders could volunteer at schools if they were given permission by a school official. Full Op-Ed piece
WA: He spent 9 years on McNeil Island without his day in court
____ had spent more than a year in the Yakima County Jail when he filed an Alford plea — not admitting the crime but conceding he likely would be convicted — on a second-degree attempted kidnapping charge. “I was told that I was going to be released the day I was processed,” he said. Instead, he spent the next nine years at the Special...
Canada: Court blocks extradition of Nova Scotia man accused of sex crimes in U.S.
Nova Scotia's highest court is ordering Canada's justice minister to take another look at her decision to allow the extradition of a Nova Scotia man accused of sex crimes in Minnesota. Full Article
MO: Court backs confining sex offenders indefinitely
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a state law allowing sex offenders to be committed indefinitely to mental institutions after prison is constitutional. Full Article
OK: Closing sex offender loophole
Legislation has been filed seeking to close a loophole in Oklahoma statutes allowing sex offenders to live next door or near their victims. House Bill 1124, by Rep. Kyle Hilbert and Sen. James Leewright, seeks to change Oklahoma statutes to include the residency of the victim of a sex crime to the list of places that have a “zone of safety” around them. In...
AL: As some states reconsider sex-offender registries, an Alabama resident argues the state’s for-life requirements are too much
A lawsuit before a federal appeals court may have broad implications for Alabama’s sex offender laws, which some critics claim are the harshest in the United States. Montgomery resident Michael McGuire is suing the state of Alabama for relief from the residency restrictions, travel limits, sex offender registration and other punishments that accompany a conviction of a sexual offense. The case is before the 11th...
OH: Overhaul could drop thousands from sex offender registry
Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an expensive effort with little benefit to the public. Full...
TN: Sex offenders move to Tennessee for lax laws
Tennessee’s sex offender laws are so lax, the Giles County sheriff says offenders are crossing the Alabama border to move to Tennessee. Full Article
Airbnb uses background checks to weed out sex offenders
... With so many guests coming in and out of neighborhoods there are concerns about criminals, including sex offenders renting homes next to families who do not know the sex offender is there. Tennessee law requires sex offenders to register with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office within 48 hours of “establishing a physical presence at a particular location.” If that person is only in town...
IA: Prosecutor agrees to settle Knoxville ‘sexting’ lawsuit
The Marion County Attorney's Office has agreed not to bring a criminal charge against a teenage girl who sent photos of herself in her underwear to a classmate, settling a civil rights lawsuit alleging that prosecutors overstepped their bounds in trying to force her into community service and special classes. Full Article
AUS: Should child sex offenders be allowed to travel?
Australia has passed tough, "world-first" legislation that will deny passports to about 20,000 people on the national child sex offenders register. The aim is to stop Australians who are planning to abuse children in regions like South East Asia before they even get on a plane. But how will it work, is it fair and will other countries follow suit? Full Article
New state law aims to limit where California judges place violent sex offenders out on conditional release
A state law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this week would make it harder for violent sex offenders released under a court's conditions to live in counties where they have no work or family ties. Assembly Bill 255 will require judges to consider additional factors, such as residential, family or employment connections, when weighing where to release offenders who fall under the Sexually Violent...
OR: New law means life sentences for second-strike sex offenders
Repeat rapists and certain sex offenders can now be given a "two strikes and you're out" ticket to life in prison under a bill recently passed by the Oregon Legislature. Senate Bill 1050 imposes presumptive sentences for those convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy or first-degree unlawful sexual penetration if the defendant has been previously convicted of those crimes or an equivalent federal offense....
Tiered Registry Bill Passed by Assembly Committee
The Tiered Registry Bill (Senate Bill 421) was passed today by the Assembly's Public Safety Committee. The final vote on the bill was 5 in favor (Chairman Jones Sawyer as well as committee members Rubio, Quirk, Santiago and Gonzalez-Fletcher), one opposed (Lackey) and one who did not vote (Flora). During deliberations on the bill, the bill's author (Senator Scott Wiener) stated the reform of...