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
A new name and a new law claiming to fight child sex abuse, and guess what? THIS one will work!
We could say the names in our sleep—Megan’s Law; the Adam Walsh Act; Polly Klass; Jessica’s Law; Lauren Book; Chelsea’s Law; Laura Ahearn; and so many others. They all mark milestones for laws and policies and mandates and programs that claim to fight child sexual abuse. More than one has launched the major participant to fame, fortune, or a political stepping-stone. They all claim...
Guam: Sex offenders to get chemical castration
HAGATNA, Guam — The Guam Legislature Thursday narrowly passed a bill for the creation of a pilot program to chemically castrate convicted sex offenders. The Chemical Castration for Sex Offenders Act passed 8-7, according to a release from the legislature. Full Article Related Guam Passes Legislation To Chemically Castrate Convicted Sex Offenders
The fishy claim that ‘100,000 children’ in the United States are in the sex trade
This is a commonly cited statistic in the media and among politicians when discussing the sex trade involving children under the age of 18. Frequently, it is provided without any source, though ECPAT’s Web site attributed it to 2010 congressional testimony by Ernie Allen, at the time president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Full Article
Senate Passes Internet Identifier Bill (SB 448)
By a vote of 39 to 0, the Senate passed internet identifier bill SB 448 on September 2. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the Assembly. "We must continue to assert pressure upon the Assembly to stop this bill," stated CA RSOL president Janice Bellucci. "This bill has been rushed through the legislative process and needs more careful consideration." The legislature is...
NH: Sex registry questioned after prep school grad’s conviction
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A graduate of an elite prep school who was convicted of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old classmate as part of a game of sexual conquest will be required to register as a sex offender for life, a punishment his lawyer likens to being branded and legal experts and reform advocates say exceeds the crime. Full Article
General Comments September 2015
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of September 2015. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
NM: Farmington therapist’s practice offers juvenile sex offenders a second chance
FARMINGTON — A Farmington therapist stands by her belief that young people who commit sex offenses are worthy of a second chance at a healthy, normal life. Full Article
A Senseless Policy – Take kids off the sex-offender registries.
At age 10, Maya R. did something that would disturb just about anyone: “Me and my step-brothers, who were ages 8 and 5, ‘flashed’ each other and play-acted sex while fully clothed,” she told Human Rights Watch researcher Nicole Pittman. After copping to the incident in juvenile court, Maya’s punishment was an 18-month sentence in a detention center, mandatory counseling, and a quarter-century of...
NV: Sex offenders challenge Nevada supervision law
More than a dozen sex offenders are challenging the Nevada Parole Board's authority to impose conditions on their lifetime supervision. The offenders, identified only as Does 1-16, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against several state and local officials, including Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt. According to the lawsuit, the Parole Board has relied on an unconstitutional Nevada law to place movement and residency restrictions...
DC: Court Denies Challenge to Sex Offender’s Website on Registry Officials
A website that “registers” and posts photos of government employees who work in the District of Columbia’s sex offender registration office is protected by the First Amendment, a D.C. Superior Court held in a February 14, 2014 memorandum opinion. Dennis Sobin, a convicted sex offender, is required to register every three months with the D.C. Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), and his...
Don’t confuse sex addicts, offenders
Recent local stories - of a financial aid director abusing his power against women, of a serial child molester, of an alleged rapist - have the disturbing sex offender in mind. We're told such behavior generally repeats itself; are these offenders addicts? Does it matter? Labeling people as "monsters" is easy. Do we care about the root of their behaviors? Regardless of the answer,...
MA: High court shoots down city’s residency restrictions on sex offenders
BOSTON – In a ruling that could affect dozens of Massachusetts communities, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court on Friday agreed an ordinance limiting where sex offenders can live in the city of Lynn cannot stand. Several registered sex offenders sued the city after local officials enacted an ordinance in 2011 that prevented Level 2 and 3 offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a...
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves SB 448
In a vote of 7 to 0, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 448 (SB 448) on August 27 by releasing it from the committee's suspense file. The next step for the bill is a vote on the floor of the Senate next week (Monday, August 31) where it is expected to pass. After passage in the Senate, the bill will be referred...
Collateral damage: Harsh sex offender laws may put whole families at risk
Research says that registries and residency bans leave children of sex offenders vulnerable to bullying, homelessness. When ____ ____, 38, bolts from his desk around 5:30 most weeknights, he’s up against his most important deadline of the day. ____ is an audiovisual editor and social media manager at a Christian television studio in St. Petersburg, Florida. By the time he gets home, he and...
AL: Sex Offender Law Challenged
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (CN) - Sex offenders in Alabama must comply with debilitating restrictions that encompass "virtually every facet of their lives," eight men claim in a class action. Eight John Doe plaintiffs sued General Luther Strange III and Secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency John Richardson in Federal Court. The Aug. 20 complaint seeks court relief to prevent application of the Alabama Sex...
National RSOL: International Travel Group
If you or someone you know was denied entry into another country as a consequence of registration, we want to hear from you. A new group, supported by RSOL National, is examining the issues related to registered citizens traveling, including the practice of the US Government notifying receiving countries that a registrant is traveling there. A representative of FAC will serve on the board...
Courts are giving reduced terms to many child-porn defendants
U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin of the Northern District of Ohio polled a jury in February about what jurors thought a suitable sentence would be for ____ ____, a child pornography defendant who was found guilty of having 19 videos and 93 still images on his computer. The jury recommended, on average, a 14-month sentence. Gwin then sentenced ____ to serve five years—longer...
New CDCR Report Reduces Rate of Re-Offense to Less than 1 Percent
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has issued a new report that reflects a significantly lower rate of re-offense for registered citizens on parole. The name of the report is "2014 Outcome Evaluation Report", however, it was issued by the agency's Office of Research in late July 2015. According to the report, the rate at which a registered citizen on parole commits...
How a dubious statistic convinced U.S. courts to approve of indefinite detention [Opinion]
In the 2002 case McKune v. Lile, the Supreme Court upheld a Kansas law that imposed harsher sentences on sex offenders who declined to participate in a prison rehab program. The substance of the Kansas law the court upheld isn’t as important as the language the court used to uphold it. In his opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy reasoned that they pose “such a frightening...
MI: Anderson sentencing hits home with other parents
BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. - The Anderson family of Elkhart are back to waiting, after an uneventful court appearance Wednesday afternoon. The judge delayed a decision on resentencing 19-year-old Zach Anderson who must register as a sex offender in Michigan and Indiana. Full Article