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
Living with 290: Without an answer
I know that I posted this earlier in the general comments. Someone suggested that it should have gone under, living with 290. So for those of you who have already read this, I'm sorry. I have tried to edit this and make some changes. But I have done all of this on my phone, so I ask that you excuse me. I really don't...
IL: ACLU, EFF ask state supreme to strike down limits on free speech in cumbersome sex offender laws
CHICAGO – The ACLU of Illinois, joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, today asked the state supreme court to strike down the “incredibly broad scope” of limitations contained in the state’s sex offender registry laws. The amicus brief was filed in the case of ____ ____, a young man from downstate Normal who served a 12-month probation for a misdemeanor offense, which he completed. Though...
AL: Pastor wins round in freedom of religion lawsuit
A Chilton County pastor has won a round in his federal lawsuit challenging a state law that ended his residential ministry for sex offenders. U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins on Wednesday denied the state's requests to dismiss the claims by Ricky Martin, who sued in 2014. Full Article
Emotional Support Group to Meet on April 15 [cancelled]
UPDATE: This meeting has been cancelled. Please check this web site for new date. The Emotional Support Group will meet at a different time and at a difference place in April. The meeting, which supports both registrants and their loved ones, will be held on Friday, April 15, beginning at 7 p.m. The new meeting place is 2001 Barrington Avenue, Suite 211, Los Angeles...
AZ: Ducey signs bill ending some sex offender registration
PHOENIX - Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed legislation allowing some offenders convicted of sexual conduct with a minor to ask a judge to end their need to register as a sex offender. Ducey signed House Bill 2539 by Republican Rep. Rusty Bowers on Tuesday. The legislation only applies to people convicted for an offense committed when they were 21 or younger, where the victim...
Challenge to “Scarlet Letter” travel law moves forward
Last week a federal judge heard the first arguments in a lawsuit challenging certain provisions of the recently-enacted International Megan’s Law (IML),* including one mandating that the passport of any American required to register for a sex offense involving a minor be marked in “a conspicuous location” with a “unique identifier” of their sex offender status. Other challenged provisions of the law authorize the...
CO: New teen sexting crime falls short in Colorado House
DENVER - A proposal to ratchet back criminal penalties for teens exchanging nude images of themselves has failed in the state Legislature. Democrats voted against the bill in a House committee Tuesday, and it failed by a single vote. Opponents worried that making the crime less serious would mean that some teen couples swapping consensual nude photos could be charged with the less serious...
How a federal spy case turned into a child pornography prosecution
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — FBI agents entered ____ ____’s home in Southern California while he and his wife were visiting her relatives in Shanghai. Agents wearing gloves went through boxes, snapped pictures of documents and made copies of three computer hard drives before leaving as quietly as they had entered. Full Article
Trinidad establishes sex offender’s registry
Trinidad and Tobago has established a registry for sex offenders, but National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said it would only be available to the police. Full Article
MN: Vindictive Sex Offender Policies Do Little Good
In Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill which would expand restrictions on where people listed as sex offenders can live, and allow local communities to add even more restrictions. According to this report, the restrictions are so severe that in some of Minnesota’s largest communities there would be essentially no place for these people to live at all. Full Opinion Piece
Teenage Sexting Is Not Child Porn (Op-Ed)
TEENAGERS who sext are in a precarious legal position. Though in most states teenagers who are close in age can legally have consensual sex, if they create and share sexually explicit images of themselves, they are technically producing, distributing or possessing child pornography. The laws that cover this situation, passed decades ago, were meant to apply to adults who exploited children and require those...
SCOTUS: No registration update required after moving out of the country (Nichols)
The Court issued two opinions on Monday morning. In Nichols v. United States, in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court unanimously ruled that the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act did not require Nichols, a registered sex offender, to update his registration in Kansas once he left the state. Opinion Oral Argument (Mar 1) Transcript Related SCOTUS: Justices weigh whether sex offenders...
TX: On the cost-benefit analysis of enforcing sex-offender registry conditions vs. investigating violent crime
Dallas PD has shut down its monitoring unit charged with driving around to make home checks for people on the sex-offender registry, reported WFAA's Tanya Eiserer in somewhat breathless tones. The story quickly devolved into Chief David Brown's critics taking pot shots at him for being soft on sex offenders, or whatever. Full Article
General Comments April 2016
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2016. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
LA: Senate agrees to ban sex offenders from door-to-door sales
Convicted sex offenders in Louisiana would be unable to work in door-to-door sales, if the state House of Representatives agrees to a measure that won unanimous support from the Senate. Full Article
Janice’s Journal: It’s Over, But It’s Not Over
It’s over, but it’s not over. What do I mean? The hearing for the Preliminary Injunction requested in the International Megan’s Law (IML) case is over. However, our challenge to the IML case is not over. In fact, it has just begun. It is always difficult to argue a motion in federal court. No matter how well you prepare, the judge can and does...
FL: Don’t harass sex predator, judge tells Pasco sheriff’s office
DADE CITY — Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Linda Babb signed a protective order this week that prevents the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office “from further harassment” of a registered sex predator living in Pasco County. Full Article
FL: Court Rules Public Has Access to Sex Offender Hearings
An appeals court has ruled the public cannot be excluded from a courtroom when a judge is considering whether a sex offender should be committed indefinitely after his prison sentence has expired. Judge Jack Tuter gave NBC 6 permission to bring a camera into the courtroom. But the attorney for Corey Lake, a sexually violent sexual predator whose 13-year prison sentence expired in 2012, objected....
MN: No experts support residency restrictions for sex offenders
As Minnesota lawmakers mull a bill that would authorize local units of government to enact tough new restrictions on where sex offenders can live, its advocates face one major obstacle: finding a single authority in the field who believes it’s a good idea. At least, that’s the opinion of Mitchell Hamline law professor Eric Janus, who has written extensively on sex offender laws and...
Judge Asked to Halt Sex Offenders’ Passport Marks
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - An attorney asked a federal judge on Wednesday to halt the implementation of the International Megan's Law bill, which requires sex offenders to be identified as such on their passports. Full Article