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
We are NEVER safe–but we CAN control our destiny. A cautionary tale from Rhode Island
We at RSOL heard the news on Monday with a sinking despair that could only be topped by the desperation clearly felt by Rhode Island’s Level III registered citizens. In June of 2015, Rhode Island legislators passed a law that would restrict all Level III’s from living within 1000 feet of any school. That’s a 700-foot increase over the previous restriction. The article reported...
The Pariahs of America: Reforming Sex Offender Laws
This summer, 19-year-old Zachary Anderson was featured on the front page of the New York Times. Unfortunately, Anderson became a national figure after he was placed onto the sex offender registry -- for making a simple mistake. Zachary had consensual sex with a 14-year-old girl, but she had led him to believe she was actually 17. When everyone realized this situation, Anderson turned himself...
OH: Sex offender registries draw criticism from some unlikely sources
You might think that all advocates for rape victims would support the practice of forcing sex offenders to publicly register their addresses after their release from prison. But you would be mistaken. Growing numbers of victim advocates and criminal justice researchers are among those who have concluded that sex offender registries are too costly and provide little or no protection to the public. Full...
Murrieta Residency Restrictions Challenged in Federal Court
A registrant wishing to relocate to the City of Murrieta is challenging the residency restrictions adopted by the City of Murrieta, located in Riverside County. The restrictions prohibit most registrants from living within 2,000 feet of a child day care center, park, or school. CA Reform Sex Offender Laws President and attorney Janice Bellucci filed the lawsuit on October 6 on behalf of plaintiff...
WI: Teen sexting in Wisconsin is popular, criminal (Opinion)
In Wisconsin, if your teenager is “sexting” with other teens, he or she could end up being convicted of possession of child pornography (or numerous other sex crimes), sent to prison and placed on the sex offender registry. Sexting is sending sexually explicit digital photos or videos to another person via cell phone or the Internet. It is the latest “craze” among teens and...
GA: Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Sex Offender Law
The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over a state statute that dictates how “sexually dangerous predators” are classified. ____ ____ was designated a “sexually violent predator” in 2013, which is the highest risk designation and requires him to wear an electronic monitor for the rest of his life. ____ was convicted for exposing himself and performing a sexually explicit act via webcam to...
MD: Protest on sex offender’s involvement in Havre de Grace Seafood Festival stops council vote
The fate of next year's Havre de Grace Seafood Festival is up in the air after residents complained to the City Council Monday about ____ and ____ ____'s involvement with the event. The City Council refused to entertain a motion to approve the festival for 2016, leaving the festival's future in limbo. Full Article Related MD: In Havre de Grace, festival sees protest against...
Can We Please Stop Being Stupid and Cruel “For the Sake of the Children”?
A new law in Rhode Island will make sex offenders living beyond 300 feet of a school move to a place at least 1000 feet from a school. They have 30 days to uproot their lives. Guess who thinks this will make children safer? Only the R.I. Brotherhood of Correction Officers, which sponsored the bill. No one else. Not even law enforcers. Full Article Lenore...
FL: Miami-Dade Homeless Sex Offender Encampment Surpasses 200 People
The torture started in 2006. The cities of Miami-Beach and Miami got into a war of sex offenders because Miami Beach's ordinance drove registrants without anyplace to live over to the mainland. Miami countered by passing their own ordinance to drive them back. The result, sex offenders couldn't find anyplace to live and were living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway; the bridge that connects...
NV: Lawyer for 24 sex offenders says Nevada registration law is unconstitutional
CARSON CITY — An attorney representing 24 unnamed previously convicted sex offenders told the Nevada Supreme Court on Monday that a state law that would change the way such individuals are classified is a "one size fits all' approach that is inappropriate and unconstitutional. Full Article
RI: Outcasts – Level III sex offenders in R.I. can’t live within 1,000 ft. of schools
Most of them knew what was coming, but the words still left them shocked and dismayed. Dozens of Providence men, all convicted of sex crimes, learned Wednesday from the Providence police that they had 30 days to find a new place to live. Full Article
MD: Retroactive registration of juvenile sex offenders OK’d
A juvenile court did not violate a convicted teenager’s constitutional rights by requiring him to register as a sex offender, though he committed the sexual assault before the registry’s enactment, a Maryland appeals court held Tuesday. Article with Paywall Appeals Court Decision
Overly broad definition of sex assault ensnares innocent students
As I wrote in my column yesterday, not all accusations of campus sexual assault are black and white. Yet colleges are treating accusations as if the accused were a potential rapist, even when the accusation involves nothing more than requesting social media connections one too many times. Full Article
NH: Lawmaker proposes registry for heroin dealers
The registry would be similar to the registry of sex offenders. Rep. Jack Flanagan, R-Brookline, said it would allow Granite Staters to know if they live near anyone convicted of dealing heroin. "It basically sets up an offenders list," Flanagan said. "Just like we have sex offenders, now we have drug dealers that are selling heroin, and I think they are equally as bad...
Living with 290: Mundane Purity
I titled this story "Mundane Purity" because I thought it was a catchy title and may grab someone's attention. I met a woman when I was in the Marine Corps in 1998 and married her 3 months later. She had two children I raised as my own and we were blessed with a 3rd child that was born in January of 2000. I'm not...
MN: Judge mulls reforms to ‘unconstitutional’ sex offender treatment
A federal judge said Wednesday he will rule on the fate of Minnesota’s sex-offender treatment program within 30 days, hoping to protect the civil liberties of its patients but also communities where offenders might be released. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank has already found the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) unconstitutional; during a morning court hearing Wednesday he heard arguments on its future from...
General Comments October 2015
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of October 2015. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
There’s a Reliable Therapy for Sex Offenders — But Nobody Wants Them to Get It
In June of 1994, a convicted child molester named Charlie Taylor moved into a small apartment in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, across the street from a community center. He had no family. He had no parole officer. At the time, sex offenders deemed too dangerous to be let out of prison early were, paradoxically, released at the end of their sentences with no ongoing...
HI: This Program Offers Sex Offenders Second Chances — And It’s Working
One day back in 2003, ____ ____ sat in a room at the Kulani Correctional Facility, listening to a recording of a frantic 911 call. A woman was on the line, clearly in distress: Her house was being broken into. Terrified, she was hiding in a closet and begging for help — but to no avail. A man soon broke in, raped the woman...