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
CO: Professional polygrapher holds position of power on state’s sex-offender treatment board
A professional polygrapher has an influential role in rewriting the rules in Colorado for how often their profession conducts lie-detector testing on sex offenders, an arrangement that critics have called a conflict of interest. Colorado will pay Jeff Jenks’ Wheat Ridge polygraph firm, Amich & Jenks Inc., up to $1.9 million to polygraph sex offenders in prison from 2010 to 2020, according to state...
NE: Judge asks why state wants to put boy on sex offender list
Federal appellate judges focused their questions this week on an attorney for the state, asking why Nebraska is pushing to put a 15-year-old boy on the state's public sex offender registry rather than use "good old police discretion." Full Article
MI: Detroit Cops Raid an Innocent Family’s Home at Gunpoint on Bogus Sex-Trafficking Tip
In the high days of America's militarized war on drugs, baseless and botched home raids have become a defining feature—with often disastrous consequences. Now we're seeing the same sort of overzealous enforcement efforts in the fight against forced prostitution. This week, Detroit police raided an innocent family's home after receiving a faulty sex-trafficking tip and then seeing two teens enter the house. One of...
Sex offender fails to meet registration requirements
An Austin County jury convicted ___ ___, 43, of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements May 3 in Judge Jeff Steinhauser’s 155thJudicial District Court. Evidence concluded May 2, around 2:30 p.m., and the jury delivered the guilty verdict the next day after more than eight hours of deliberation. After punishment evidence was presented, the jury deliberated about 25 minutes before sentencing Ward to 99...
Assembly Appropriations Delays Consideration of AB 558
During its hearing yesterday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee delayed consideration of AB 558 by placing the bill in its Suspense File. The bill may or may not be heard during the Committee's final hearing on May 26. If the Committee does not hear the bill on that date, the bill will not move forward to the floor of the Assembly or to the Senate....
Consideration of Tiered Registry Bill Delayed (SB 421)
Senator Scott Wiener, author of the Tiered Registry Bill (SB 421), has waived presentation regarding that bill on May 15, the original date on which the Senate Appropriations Committee was scheduled to consider the bill. Due to this waiver, SB 421 will be placed in the committee's Suspense File and will not be considered until May 25. According to staff in the office of...
Fixing California’s bloated sex-offender registry
R Street just signed a letter calling for commonsense reform of the California sex-offender registry, based on a bill proposed by our friend and Legislative Advisory Board member Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine. Full Article
WI: Kenosha to loosen residency rules for sex offenders
Residency restrictions the city of Kenosha places on sex offenders could soon change. On Monday evening, the city’s Public Safety and Welfare Committee approved ordinance changes proposed by Mayor John Antaramian to repeal and recreate some of the city’s rules. The changes must still pass City Council later this month. The proposal would shorten from 2,500 to 1,000 feet the distance from a prohibited...
Traveling Abroad Sucks if You’re an Ex-Con
Going through customs can be unnerving and problematic for everyone. You've got to deal with long lines, uncertainty over what's considered a contraband item, and the possibility of being denied entry to the country you're visiting. But it can be even worse for ex-cons. Just ask the so-called Hot Felon, ____ ____. He was reportedly denied entry into the UK last month, even though...
UK: Primary schoolchildren are coming home sunburnt as schools ban teachers from applying sun lotion
Experts say sunburn during childhood can more than double the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult. Touching pupils, such as to apply sun cream or offer a reassuring hand, is not banned under government rules, with the official guidelines stating there are occasions ‘when physical contact... with a pupil is proper and necessary’ But in practice, many schools discourage teachers from touching...
Sex assaults in high school sports minimized as ‘hazing’
The Georgia school district said it was investigating the baseball players for "misbehavior" and "inappropriate physical contact." What it didn't reveal was that a younger teammate had reported being sexually assaulted. Full Article
WI: “Romeo and Juliet” offenders wouldn’t be listed on sex offender registry
A group of lawmakers says Wisconsin's sex offender registry is watered down with teenagers who have no purpose being on it, and they've proposed legislation to carve out a so-called "Romeo and Juliet" exemption. Under the bill, teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 years old who have consensual sex would no longer be put on the state registry, though they would be...
NJ: Upholds Lie Detector Tests for Sex Offenders
Paroled sex offenders must submit to lie detector tests as part of the conditions of their release but must be made more clearly aware of their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled Monday in rejecting a challenge to the tests. Full Article
Accurate rape statistics ensure credible arguments
On April 20, The News-Letter ran a piece titled “Sexual assault at college: Confronting the rapists in our lives.” Although it is perfectly understandable where the author, a female senior undergraduate student studying International Studies, is coming from, there is a lack of some key points that provide the necessary context to fully comprehend the issue that King, the writer, brought forth. Full Article
Lecturers critique child sexual abuse prevention policies
Experts gathered to discuss child sexual abuse prevention at the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s fifth annual Child Sexual Abuse Symposium. The Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse hosted the symposium on Thursday, April 27. Full Article
Appropriations Committees to Consider AB 558, SB 26 and SB 421
Three bills of great importance to registrants and their loved ones will be heard soon by the relevant Assembly or Senate Appropriations Committees. The Assembly Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider AB 558 (internet exclusions) on May 10 and the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider both SB 26 (school campus visits) and SB 421 (tiered registry) on May 15. Due to the...
CO: After two years of debate, Colorado teen sexting bill heads to Governor
A compromise teen sexting bill is heading to the desk of Colorado’s governor after passing both chambers of the state’s legislature and more than two years of fierce debate about how to address the complicated issue that’s becoming more prevalent. Full Article
CT: Residents can participate in sex offender sentencing survey
A public input survey regarding sex offender sentencing is now available to Connecticut residents until June 2. The State of Connecticut Sentencing Commission’s Special Committee on Sex Offenders created the survey to identify concerns the public may have. The survey touches upon sentencing, the sex offender registry for Connecticut and the supervision and management of sex offenders on parole or probation. Full Article /...
Registration, Tracking of Sex Offenders Drives Mass Incarceration Numbers and Costs
The September 1988 rape and murder of 29-year-old Diane Ballasiotes in Seattle, Washington, followed by the 1989 rape and sexual mutilation of a 7-year-old Tacoma boy, were the seedlings of today’s nationwide sex offender registry laws – a 50-state network that tracks over 805,000 registrants and whose usefulness as a crime-prevention tool has been questioned and criticized. Full Article
NY: Lawmakers Brainstorm Sex Offender Legislation Reform
More than a dozen local lawmakers and law enforcers gathered at Yorktown Town Hall last week at a roundtable organized by state Sen. Terrence Murphy in an effort to update and strengthen legislation that will keep communities safe from sexual predators. Currently, he said, there are more than 1,200 registered sex offenders living in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties. Full Article