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
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
WI: Sex offenders win federal lawsuit against Village of Pleasant Prairie: “It’s going to open a lot of doors”
Sex offenders in Kenosha County have won a federal lawsuit against the Village of Pleasant Prairie, in a case that could have nationwide implications. The men who sued said the village's sex offender residency restrictions violated their constitutional rights. Full Article
New Author Announced for Tiered Registry Bill
Senator Scott Wiener (Democrat, San Francisco) has agreed to author the Tiered Registry Bill. As part of that decision, the Senator gutted a prior bill he previously introduced, Senate Bill 421, and amended that bill with the language of the original Tiered Registry Bill. "We thank Senator Scott Wiener for his courage in deciding to be the new author of the Tiered Registry Bill,"...
Assembly’s Public Safety Committee Passes AB 558
The Assembly's Public Safety Committee today passed Assembly Bill (AB 558). If this bill becomes law, individuals convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses as well as those convicted of similar offenses would be added to the public Megan's Law website. The Committee vote was made after testimony in opposition to the bill from the ACLU, ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci and 17 ACSOL members. The...
NC: Should sex offenders pay to be on registry?
Sex offenders would have to pay an annual fine to be listed on the state’s sex offender registry under a bill proposed by N.C. Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover. “There is a cost to continuing to have them on that registry,” Davis said. “The point of this is to get revenue to keep these people on the sex offender registry.” Full Article
CO: Kids playing doctor aren’t felony sex offenders – Guest Column
Juvenile cellphone "sexting" is the technological equivalent of playing doctor, something that has been part of human behavior for as long as anyone can remember. Sexual curiosity is a natural part of physical and emotional development in children, and only the most zealous of prudes would argue that innocent exploration ought to constitute a crime. Full Article
Split Second Circuit panel declares within-guideline child porn possession sentence of 225 months “substantively unreasonable”
A dozen years after Booker, the reversal of any federal sentence as substantively unreasonable is still quite rare and notable. Today, a Second Circuit panel has issued such a rare and notable decision in US v. Jenkinss, No. 14-4295 (2d Cir. April 17, 2017) Full Article
WV: Sex offender arrested for driving truck to mailbox
The West Virginia State Police have made an arrest for a man failing to update his sex offender registry. Full Article
UK: Men won’t volunteer to help the Scouts for one depressing reason: they’ll be labelled paedophiles
Ever since it was officially recognised by Royal charter in 1912, the Scout Association has taught British kids the type of campfire practicality and social do-gooding that is arguably lacking in our tech-rich, late capitalist world. All that is in danger, however, as the organisation is having to turn away young applicants due to a lack of adult volunteers willing to teach them life skills such as...
NY: Local sex offender law ruled unconstitutional
A Cheektowaga law created more than a decade ago to serve as a tougher version of New York's sex offender law. Now, it's being called unconstitutional. Full Article
Study: Public Misperceptions About Sex Offenders Skew Policy-Making
Public opinion toward crime is complex. Research shows that Americans strongly favor punitive measures to address criminal behavior while also demanding the rehabilitation and treatment of offenders. When it comes to sex offenses, it gets even more complicated. A 2015 study authored by Christina Mancini, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Kristen Budd of MiamiUniversity (Ohio) found that numerous misperceptions about sex...
Temecula City Council Repeals Residency Restrictions
The Temecula City Council, in a vote of 4 to 1, approved the repeal of the city's residency restrictions during its regularly scheduled meeting on April 11. The repeal is to take effect immediately and no further City Council is required. According to a city staff report, the city's decision to repeal was based upon a March 2015 decision by the California Supreme Court which...
FL: Judge imposes 100 years in prison for child porn possession for first offender claiming innocence
A 36-year-old St. Johns County man is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars after Circuit Court Judge Howard Maltz sentenced him to 100 years in prison Wednesday morning. The sentencing came nearly two months after a jury found ____ ____ guilty on 20 counts of possession of child pornography at the end of a two-day February trial. Full Article
AR: Bill to Ban Sex Offenders from Museums
Rather than go see a movie, or hang out at home, today Kelly Gifford decided to take her son to a museum. "It's a great opportunity for my son to have a good time while he's learning," Gifford says. She says she learned pretty quickly though that unlike a movie theater or her living room, museums and parks come with their fair share of...
ACSOL Conference to Identify Solutions to Daily Challenges Faced by Registrants
ACSOL will host a conference on June 16 and 17 in Los Angeles focused upon solutions to daily challenges faced by U.S. registrants, family members, and those who support them. The conference will address topics of interest to registrants and family members throughout the nation such as housing, employment, domestic and international travel, parole and probation conditions, as well as post-conviction relief. “This conference...
CA Sex Offender Management Board Issues Annual Report
Adopting a tiered registration policy and changing California laws is the "highest priority" of the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB), according to its newly released annual report. In order to achieve that result, CASOMB has engaged in an "evidence-based public education campaign". CASOMB views the current system of registering all sex offenders for a lifetime as "hugely burdensome and ineffective" and recognizes that...
SC: Bill would prevent registered sex offenders from owning locksmith businesses
A bill that would require locksmiths to undergo background checks before entering your home or car is now closer to becoming law. The bill was passed unanimously in the South Carolina State House of Representatives and is now making its way through the state Senate. The bill was drafted after a North Myrtle Beach sexual molestation case involving a locksmith. Full Article
IN: Judge orders 3 off sex offender registry
Three men who moved to Indiana and were required to put their names on the state’s sex offender registry are likely to win their lawsuit that claims they wouldn’t face that requirement had they lived in Indiana all their lives, a judge ruled, ordering their names removed. Full Article
Sex offender won’t have to pay victim after Utah Supreme Court overturns order in 2003 crime
The Utah Supreme Court has overturned a judge's order requiring a sex offender to pay his victim for the wages she lost as a result of his abuse in 2003. ____ ____, who sexually exploited a teenage girl, had been ordered by a judge to reimburse the victim almost $13,000 in wages she lost when depression caused by the offense led to problems at...
Senate Schools Bill (SB 26) Amended – HEARING April 25
HEARING DATE: April 25 - Senate Public Safety Committee at 8:30 a.m. in Room 3191 (as of 4/8) Sen. Connie Leyva has amended again Senate Bill 26 (SB 26) which would affect whether and when registrants could visit school campuses. As amended, the bill would require registrant parents to be supervised by a school official when they visit a school campus. In addition, the bill...
MO: Some say new Mo. law tracking sex offenders is unconstitutional
Keeping an eye on sex offenders for life, it's a new law for Missouri and this now includes first-time offenders. But tonight, there's a fight to challenge this. Some say it violates the constitution. Full Article