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
Consenting Juveniles™ Research Study Announced
At the 47th annual conference of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) on Saturday, Dr. Marshall Burns, president of SOL Research, presented preliminary results of a new project underway. “Soon after we first posted results of our research on sex laws back in 2007,” said Burns, “we began to be contacted by individuals complaining of being treated as abuse victims...
IN: Campaign for Elkhart 19-year-old underscores broader concerns about sex offender registries
ELKHART — The requirement that 19-year-old ____ ____ register as a sex offender as part of his conviction for involvement with an underage girl isn’t just a concern for him and his parents, Les and Amanda Anderson. It’s part of a larger movement against what some critics see as indiscriminate and unfair placement of certain offenders on such registries. Full Article Related MI: ‘Old-fashioned scarlet...
Why online harassment is still ruining lives — and how we can stop it
In 2010, ____ ____ threatened his estranged wife by writing rants on his Facebook page such as, "There's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I'm not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts." For making these threats, a federal district court sentenced him to more than...
UT: Utah sex offender must pay victim for lost wages, appeals court says
A man who sexually exploited a Utah teen will have to reimburse her for the pay she lost when depression caused by the abuse led to problems at work and a reduction in her hours. In a 3-0 decision, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld a 3rd District judge's order requiring Scott C. Wadsworth to pay restitution of nearly $13,000 in lost wages to...
NY: Sex offenders want former Gov. Pataki to pay for illegal confinement program
Syracuse, NY -- A federal appeals court is considering whether former Gov. George Pataki should be held responsible for an illegal sex offender confinement program that was disbanded in 2006. Full Article
MI: ‘Old-fashioned scarlet letter’: Elkhart 19-year-old fights sex offender status after encounter with Michigan teen
As ____ ____ sits in the Berrien County Jail in St. Joseph, Mich., his parents worry. And plead. And fight. The young man from Elkhart, 19, pleaded guilty in Berrien County, Mich., Trial Court in March to a misdemeanor count of criminal sexual conduct for having sex — consensual sex — on Dec. 19, 2014, with a Niles, Mich., teen. She said she was...
Program dies that let juvenile offenders clear their records
An unintended casualty of California’s criminal justice realignment of 2011, which shifted low-level criminals from state to county custody to relieve prison overcrowding, was a program that allowed juvenile offenders who did well on parole to erase their records that could follow them for the rest of their lives. Full Article
Homophobic “Romeo and Juliet” Laws Fail to Decriminalize Queer Youth in Texas. Can It Be Fixed?
Consensual gay sex was a felony in every state until Illinois repealed its sodomy law in 1961. Connecticut, Ohio, California, and other states soon followed. By 2002, thirty-six states either selectively enforced or had overturned their statutes. Lawrence v Texas (2003) marked the federal end of sodomy laws. Even though sodomy statutes are unconstitutional, a handful of states still think sex between same-sex partners...
Duggar scandal: What should parents do if a child touches a sibling?
The scandal surrounding the Duggar family, famous for their reality TV series “19 Kids and Counting,” and who confirmed this week that one of their sons inappropriately touched girls, at least two of them his sisters, when he was a teenager, raises a difficult question: What should parents do if one of their children is inappropriately touching a young sibling? Dr. Karen Kay Imagawa,...
Questionable Commitments
There is a young man in Virginia sitting behind tall fences and razor wire, guarded by men with guns, and never allowed to leave. According to the state, he isn’t in prison, and he is not being punished for a crime. Instead, he’s being held because the government says he might commit a crime in the future. Full Article
The Failure of Sex Offender Policy (Opinion)
The public expects and deserves evidence-based practices when it comes to public safety. This is true for any aspect of public policy but perhaps none so much as sex offender policy. With sex offenders, there is a sense of moral outrage at the depravity of their crimes, and rightly so. Virtually any sex crime makes the news headlines because the public has a very...
Janice’s Journal: Two Heart Beats Away from President
As Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Dennis Hastert was two heart beats away from serving as President of the United States. That is, if both the President and Vice President had died while in office, Hastert would have stepped into the Oval Office and assumed the leadership of this country. The fact is that Hastert was a member of the U.S House...
City of El Monte Repeals Residency Restrictions
The El Monte City Council agreed to repeal the city's residency restrictions for registered citizens during its meeting on June 2. This was the second of three steps necessary to rid the city of its residency restrictions. The repeal will go into effect on July 1 unless it is contested in court. The City of El Monte is the second city to repeal its...
California Senate passes bill giving longer sentences to sex offenders who remove GPS tracker
Violent sex offenders who disable their GPS tracking devices would receive longer prison sentences under a bill prompted by Orange County serial killings and approved unanimously Tuesday by the state Senate. The bill by state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, cleared the Senate floor and is headed to the Assembly. Full Article Related Senator Patricia Bates Press Release SB 722 After sex offenders accused...
Senate Public Safety to Consider Residency Restrictions Bill [UPDATED with Public Safety Committee Hearing Date]
UPDATE: The Senate Public Safety Committee has scheduled the hearing for SB 54 on June 30. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. and be held in Room 4203 in the State Capitol building. Senate Bill 54 (SB 54) has been referred to the Senate Public Safety Committee. Although a specific hearing date has not yet been set, the committee must hear the bill...
General Comments June 2015
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of June 2015. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
In defense of Josh Duggar’s parents (Opinion)
When I learned that, more than a decade ago, reality-TV star Josh Duggar avoided jail after his parents dealt with molestation charges via church and family contacts, it made me think about the men I interviewed for my book about our draconian sex-offender laws. Full Opinion Piece Related Tyrant’s Foe: Josh Gravens Fights Criminal Justice Policies that Hurt Children Sex offenders registry may put...
For Juvenile Sex Offenders, State Registries Create Lifetime Of Problems
____ ____ is about to become a family man and he couldn't be happier. He's 25 and he lives in a suburb of Dallas with his fiancée, who's due to have their baby practically any minute. They've already picked out a name: Raven. In most ways they are a normal family. Except for one thing. Until last year, Hampton was a registered sex offender....
Janice’s Journal: Jessica’s Law Authors Attempt to Overturn CA Supreme Court Decision
Sharon Runner is at it again. She is trying to overturn the recent CA Supreme Court decision that declared unconstitutional residency restrictions as applied to parolees in San Diego. Runner is attempting to do this through the "gut and amend" process by completely rewriting Senate Bill (SB) 54. In its current form, SB 54 would create a state law that prohibits most registered citizens from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks...
Parents warned that 13 sex offenders live near elementary school
CHULA VISTA — Parents in one Chula Vista neighborhood say they fear for their children’s safety after learning registered sex offenders are living near their elementary school. Full Article