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
TN: Area law enforcement monitoring sex offender activity on social media
Keeping your kids safe from sex offenders in public is one thing but what about when it comes to the vast world of the internet where anyone can be lurking? Law enforcement in our region are working for you, to monitor sex offenders online and give you peace of mind. Full Article
What In The World Are “Traveling Pedophiles”?
I read an interesting article regarding NJ Rep. Chris Smith, author of the International Megan’s Law ,which has just completed it’s first year in existence. According to Smith who met with a delegation from Thailand which included Ambassador Pisan Manawapal and representatives for the Royal Thai Police, gratitude for the law was expressed. Purportedly 160 convicted sex offenders tried to enter Thailand during the...
PA: Pennsylvania residents will need more than a driver’s license to fly in US next year
Starting Jan. 22, 2018, Pennsylvania residents will need more than just a driver's license to travel domestically. Driver's licenses from the Keystone State are currently not compliant with the federal government’s Real ID Act which set tougher standards for IDs to improve security in 2005. Full Article
AZ: Supreme Court – Bail denial for child sex offenses is unconstitutional
PHOENIX — State laws that deny bail to people solely because they're accused of having sex with a minor are unconstitutional, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today. The justices acknowledged arguments by prosecutors that trial judges have the right to keep certain people behind bars while awaiting trial as a method of protecting the public. And they said that the crime of sexual conduct...
International Megan’s Law: One Year Later
One year to the date of its enactment, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) reports that the International Megan’s Law is already having the intended effect of reducing the threat of child sex tourism. Smith, who authored the bill, met today with a delegation from Thailand who expressed deep gratitude for the enactment of the law. During the meeting, Ambassador Pisan Manawapat, joined by representatives...
CO: Englewood may overhaul sex offender residency rules after law makes nearly the entire city off limits
Englewood city leaders on Monday readied a major overhaul to a decade-old law that severely restricts where sex offenders can live in this city of 32,000 south of Denver. Full Article
Legal action sways council in sex offender housing decision
Fullerton City Council unanimously voted to repeal a municipal code that imposed housing restrictions on child sex offenders. Full Article
Judge sides with Placer County, rejects placement of sex predator near Lincoln
SAN JOSE - A Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Tuesday rejected the state’s plan to locate a sexually violent predator near Lincoln after Placer County officials and residents argued the placement would pose a danger to children in the area. Full Article
Putting Trump’s Travel Ban and IML into Perspective
It’s been just over one week since Trump’s Travel Ban targeted certain immigrants and global citizens. For those who followed this act day by day, it was very tumultuous week. During the first few days, foreign green card holders and visa holders were instantly deported back to the country where their flight came from. Some were detained for questioning by DHS and released. The...
Lawsuits target California cities for residential restrictions on sex offenders
The City of Fullerton will consider repealing residency restrictions on sex offenders at its Tuesday City Council meeting. The city currently prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 ft. of any school, park or day care center. But a 2015 California Supreme Court decision struck down similar restrictions in San Diego County, and the decision has been widely interpreted as a rollback of statewide residency...
WI: Perfectly legal – Sex offenders living inside child safety zones the norm in Wisconsin, otherwise, they’d be homeless
Municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. Most people support the idea because it helps us feel safe, but what the politicians who passed the rules probably didn't tell you is that sex offenders who lived near a school, park, playground, daycare or other protected place before the ordinance, can stay there. In fact, they almost have to. Full Article
KS/MO: Student sex offender information kept quiet in schools
Parents often get notes home from their child’s school district about field trips, health concerns, or a movie that will be shown in the classroom. What parents will never get is a note home about a classmate who is a juvenile sex offender. Full Article
NV: Attorney General Wants Tougher Lifetime Rules for Sex Offenders
Attorney General Adam Laxalt said Thursday he has requested legislation to allow the state’s parole system to impose additional lifetime conditions on sex offenders. Assembly Bill 59, drafted by Laxalt’s office, comes because of the McNeill v. State Nevada Supreme Court ruling in which the state Board of Parole Commissioners was found to not have the authority to put certain conditions on sex offenders....
Janice’s Journal: We Have Spoken! We Have Been Heard! We Will Return!
We have spoken! We have been heard! We will return! Those three statements were uttered this week by 36 registrants, family members and supporters who met with elected officials and staffers in the State Capitol in Sacramento. It was the largest group EVER to lobby in support of registrant issues. It was the largest group EVER to describe the challenges faced by registrants and...
MN: Sex offenders renew legal challenge to confinement
MINNEAPOLIS — Lawyers for over 700 people committed indefinitely to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program are asking the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that the program is constitutional. Full Article
Say no to restorative justice for sex offenders (Opinion)
The debate around the Senate’s possible confirmation of Betsy DeVos, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, should kick start a national discussion on how colleges and universities handle sexual assault. Recently, much of that conversation has revolved around “restorative justice,” programs that aim to respond to misconduct or crime by redressing the harm inflicted on victims and the community, rather than simply punishing offenders....
General Comments February 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of February 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court
Today, President Donald J. Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. The nomination of Judge Gorsuch comes after a selection process marked by an unprecedented level of transparency and involvement by the American voters. White House News Release
ACSOL Members Conclude Early Lobbying Efforts (update from 1/31)
February 1: After meeting in the offices of all newly elected members of the state legislature as well as members of the Senate Public Safety Committee, more than 35 ACSOL members concluded their early lobbying efforts on January 31. "We educated the newly elected members and staff regarding the need for a tiered registry based upon empirical evidence as well as the harm that...
Sex Offender Laws: Fair for Some, Draconian for Others
In my previous posting to this site, “Is it Automatically OK to Hate Sex Offenders?,” I discussed the various types of sexual offenders, noting that some are more likely to respond to treatment and less likely to reoffend than others. In this follow-up article, I discuss the fact that even though not all sex offenders are created equally, they are uniformly subjected to the same...