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
MI: Animal abuse registry would be unfair, ineffective
We still have our doubts about Logan's Law. It's not a law yet, just a bill in the Michigan Legislature — again. First proposed in 2012, the law seeks to create an animal abuser registry to mirror the sex-offender registry that Michigan and many other states use to track those convicted of sexual assaults. The animal-abuse registry wouldn't be a public list, although anyone...
Housing the unwanted
Under state law, ____, as a paroled sex offender, cannot live within 1,000 feet of schools—making large swaths of Brooklyn off-limits. Parole conditions also prohibit him from fraternizing with other ex-convicts and limit contact to family and friends screened by parole officials. So when he was finally released from an upstate prison in January, ____ was confused to find himself living with dozens of...
NY: ‘Brittany’s Law,’ bill to establish statewide violent offender registry
Legislation that would create a statewide violent felony offender registry has been included in the New York State Senate's one-house budget, state Sen. Michael Nozzolio said Wednesday. "New York state currently requires all convicted sex offenders to register with the state and it keeps track of those individuals," he said. "It makes no sense that we do not do the same for those who...
IL: Sex offender workplace registry bill sparks debate
State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) has introduced a bill that would require convicted sex offenders to register with police in the locales where they work to plug a hole in the state's registry system. The measure is viewed as a common-sense approach by Highland Park Police Chief Paul Shafer and others in law enforcement, and seen as overly punitive and burdensome by some advocates...
CT: Bill to Keep Sex Offenders Away From Schools Could Cause ‘Chaos,’ Critics Say
A bill intended to keep convicted sex offenders away from kids would throw the Connecticut’s sex offender registry into “chaos,” according to the state’s Department of Correction. Included in Senate Bill 1087 is a provision that would prohibit registered sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school or a child day care center, but according to Eric Ellison, deputy director for parole...
CA RSOL Meeting – May 9 in Los Angeles
The monthly meeting for May will take place on May 9 in Los Angeles at the usual location in Los Angeles, at the ACLU Building at 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Start time is 10 am. The main focus of discussion will center on the recent California Supreme Court decisions about residence restrictions. We welcome registrants, friends and family and other...
VA: woman convicted for harassing sex offender
All she wanted to do, Delores Ann Harris told a jury Friday, was to protect herself and her granddaughter from a man who had been convicted 21 years ago of aggravated sexual battery, a man who has been on the state’s sex offender registry since 1997. But the convicted sex offender in the courtroom was the victim in the jury trial. And Harris, 61,...
IN: Sex offender fights restraint law Challenges Hartford City child safety zones
Challenges Hartford City child safety zones - Convicted sex offender ____ ____ would like to take his daughter bowling. And to church. And although it’s been more than 20 years since he was convicted of the crime in Los Angeles County, California, the 47-year-old Blackford County man is prohibited from doing those and other activities with his daughter because of a Hartford City ordinance....
IA: Supreme Court rules on sex offender supervision of Waterloo man
The Iowa Supreme Court is questioning whether the supervision of a Waterloo man who was deemed a sexually violent predator is constitutional. ____ ___, 57, was committed to treatment at the Iowa Department of Human Services’ Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders in Cherokee in 2001 after he was released from prison for a 1995 sexual abuse conviction in Dubuque. The state’s sexual predator...
ND: Man Sentenced to Prison For Sexual Conversations with Minors
... Judge Gary Lee ordered ____ ____ to spend six years in prison, followed by five years of probation, and a lifetime requirement to register of a sex offender. Judge Gary Lee told ____ that the prison time was a minor worry in his life. The judge said the lifetime sex offender label was much more damaging, adding, quote, "Your life is over." Full...
State audit faults evaluations of sexually violent predators
The state auditor released a report Thursday criticizing the Department of State Hospitals' evaluation system for determining whether prisoners due for parole or psychiatric patients being held at Coalinga State Hospital are sexually violent predators. The audit found that evaluations of current and potential "SVPs" are inconsistent, and that there is no standard protocol used to determine whether those being assessed meet the criteria for...
UT: Utah Passes White-Collar Felon Registry
With just a point and a click, you can browse a face book of felons, a new government website that will warn of the danger these criminals pose to society. Only these are not the faces of sex offenders and serial killers. These criminals are mortgage schemers and inside traders, most likely armed with nothing more than an M.B.A. or a law degree. Full...
WI: Expert Weighs In On Proposed Statewide Sex Offender Law
Some local ordinances have made it increasingly difficult for sex offenders to find housing. In response to restrictive buffer zones and housing bans, many sex offenders relocate to communities with fewer restrictions. Full Article and Radio Show
Sex Offender Gets Up to 44 Years in Prison for Stabbing Police Dog
Early last year, I wrote about the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old beloved Police Dog, Rocco. ____ ____, a convicted sex offender, stabbed Rocco during an attempted arrest by the police. He also injured two other human police offers while resisting arrest. Bail was set for 1 million dollars. This week, WTAE Pittsburgh’s Action News reported that ____ was sentenced to 17 years, 9...
NY: Drawing the line on sex offenders
___ ___, Douangtavilay, a Level 3 sex offender, once lived 200 feet from athletic fields used by Penfield youth. The discovery of this fact has prompted Penfield officials to propose residency restrictions on sex offenders, potentially putting Penfield in conflict with state law. New York's courts assign sex offenders a Level 1, 2, or 3 designation, based on the risk that they'll re-offend. Level...
OH: Supreme Court – When Is a Sex Offender Not a Sex Offender?
Maybe Hollywood culture has impassioned us too much. We expect loud murmurings and banging from a gavel to restore order when we envision courtroom scenes. Largely, we expect drama, especially when it comes to sex crimes. The reality is that it is a subdued affair. At least it was this morning. There was a small and quiet crowd in the Supreme Court of Ohio...
NV: Bill would exempt more crimes from sex offender registration
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada lawmakers are considering a bill that would exempt more people from registering as sex offenders. Members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee reviewed AB208 on Tuesday. The measure would only require someone to register as a sex offender if they've been convicted of a felony sex crime, not a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor. Full Article
Another View: Sex offenders are human beings, too
Ben Boychuck’s recent article (“Best solution may be sex offender ‘colonies,’” March 6) reminded me of a similar suggestion in 2010 by gubernatorial candidate Douglas Hughes to build a “pedophile island” off the California coast. Thankfully, Hughes was not elected, but his sentiments are often echoed across the nation. Full Letter to the Editor Related: Best solution may be sex offender ‘colonies’ (Opinion)
FL: Bill Puts Lottery Winnings By Sex Offenders in Escrow
Sex offenders who hit it big in the Florida Lottery would have the winnings placed into escrow, giving their victims an opportunity to resolve any claims, under a proposal filed Friday by state Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs. Full Article
For-Profit Services Eliminate Pesky, Costly In-Person Prison Visits
I was just saying to myself: "Self," I said, "Our prison system isn't quite inhumane enough.. What can we do to make prisoners feel even more isolated and hopeless?" And then I read this, and knew I could rest assured that experts were on the case! Full Article