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
Do Sex Offender Registries Reduce Recidivism?
No. Or at least that is what the empirical evidence and research on this issue shows. But that doesn't mean we should not have them. The fact is that the registries don't really do anything to improve public safety. They just make people feel safer and in control; unfortunately this is a false sense of security. Full Opinion Piece [Paul Heroux is a state...
Can a Child Be a Sex Offender?
Sitting down with someone branded a child sex offender wasn’t ever how Nicole Pittman imagined she’d be spending her days. Yet in doing that, she’s discovered how nuanced the world of crime and law can be. Full Article Related: Human Rights Watch - Raised on the Registry
NY: Ruling stirs debate on limiting where sex offenders live
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A decision by New York's highest court striking down dozens of local laws that set boundaries on where convicted sex offenders may live has rekindled a debate over whether such laws really work to protect children. New York's Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last week that only the state has the power to tell offenders where they can and cannot reside,...
Op-ed: The sexual violence that has no name
He was my teacher. I was 19 years old and had graduated from high school the year before. I never said no. Legally, the incident was just poor judgment on both sides. Physically, there were no bruises. There was no force. This doesn’t fit the narrative of the girl who got drugged and raped at a fraternity party, nor does it resemble any sort...
Monthly Meeting April 11, Lobbying April 13/14 in Sacramento (updated)
California RSOL will return to Sacramento to to conduct a monthly meeting for registered citizens / family members on April 11 and lobby on April 13 and 14 (please note new dates for lobbying). The lobbying effort will focus on creation of a tiered registry as well as opposition to two bills that would allow cities and counties to adopt presence restrictions. "If Assembly Bill...
Northern Ireland: Sex offender awarded £20,000 in damages against Facebook
A convicted child abuser who featured on a Facebook page set up to monitor paedohphiles in Northern Ireland is to be awarded £20,000 in damages, a High Court judge ruled today. In a landmark verdict, Mr Justice Stephens held that both the social media giant and page operator Joe McCloskey were liable for misusing private information. He also ordered that the ‘Keeping Our Kids...
How I Became a Monster
Hello. I'm a monster. Not just any kind of monster. Vampires and werewolves get to star in movies. They're monsters, but they can also be heroes. I'm the worst kind of monster. I'm a sex offender. And the worst kind of sex offender. I'm a pedophile. Don't worry. I'm locked up. I've been in a federal penitentiary for almost two years and I'll be...
Wanted: Protection for Kids (Editorial)
California is often labeled the most litigious state, and a rash of lawsuits around the state not only upholds this contention, but threatens the safety of California’s children. Local ordinances defining places where convicted sex offenders may not visit are apparently going the way of the dodo, under an onslaught of legal challenges aimed at expanding the rights of offenders. Two such lawsuits, targeting...
NY: High Court right to overturn local sex offender laws (Editorial)
Local and county politicians around the state hopped on a populist bandwagon nearly a decade ago, hurriedly passing laws that outdid the state’s effort to keep convicted sex offenders from living or even walking near schools, parks and daycare centers — in the absence of any real evidence that stricter laws were needed. Full Editorial
VA: Sex offender registry – Bad idea (OpEd)
Virginia lawmakers introduce many bad ideas, but they also wisely dispense with a good proportion of them. One of those that has escaped the ax comes from state Sen. Ryan McDougle, and would establish a supplemental sex-offender registry. The supplemental registry, which would be published on the State Police website, would include the names of persons who committed various offenses between 1980 and 1994....
Hemet Man Displays ‘Child Molester Danger’ Sign To Warn Residents Of Neighbor
HEMET (CBSLA.com) — A homeowner has displayed two bright green posters in a Hemet neighborhood in an effort to warn neighbors of a man who is registered as a sex offender on the Megan’s Law database. Doug Ennen made the posters, one of which says “Child Molester Danger,” and taped them to his two cars. He then parked one of those vehicles in front...
AR: Sex Offender Database Violates Federal Law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas is violating federal law with the way it tracks certain sex offenders. It has cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars and some say is putting the public in danger. The Adam Walsh Act was passed in 2006. Nearly 10 years later, Arkansas is non-compliant in three major areas. They are: failing to report certain juvenile offenders, establishing a...
MA: Worcester’s sex-offender ordinance awaits court ruling on Lynn measure
WORCESTER — Local efforts to restrict where Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders can live in the city have been put on hold, pending the outcome of a legal challenge to a similar ordinance adopted by another community that is now before the state Supreme Judicial Court. Councilor-at-Large Morris A. Bergman, chairman of the City Council Public Safety Committee, said it is his...
Experts: Reducing Prison Populations Best Way To Keep Sex Offenders Safe Behind Bars
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s extraordinary rate of prison homicides is rekindling a debate over whether the state needs to further reduce its prison population to ensure inmates’ safety. Experts say trimming the inmate population is also the best hope for protecting sex offenders. Full Article
Tier it up
California is one of only four states that require adults convicted of certain sex crimes to register with local law enforcement each year for life. Crime-free for 50 years? Bedridden? It doesn’t matter. This lifetime requirement has turned California’s registry into the largest in the country. There are roughly 800,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S., and around 100,000 of them live in California. Full...
Janice’ Journal: Behind the Orange Curtain
Orange County continues to be the epicenter for laws that both violate the civil rights of registered citizens as well as decrease public safety. The latest attempt comes in the form of a bill introduced in Sacramento by Assemblyman William Brough of Dana Point (AB 201). If it becomes law, the bill would allow cities and counties to pass any law they wished to...
ID: Bill would add violent criminals to sex offender registry
BOISE -- An Idaho legislative panel is considering a bill to add people convicted of violent crimes - such as murder, kidnapping and felony domestic violence - to the state's sex offender registry. The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to consider expanding the registry to include violent offenders. Full Article
‘It’s about the safety of kids’: Dana Point lawmaker’s bill would ban sex offenders from parks
Orange County’s ban on sex offenders in parks, declared illegal by appellate judges last year, has a new backer: a proposed bill in the state Assembly that would allow cities to enforce restrictions on such criminals. The bill from state Assemblyman Bill Brough, R-Dana Point, aims to prohibit sex offenders from going to parks and beaches without written permission from the sheriff or local...
Peaceful Protest to be held in the City of Carson on March 7
California RSOL will lead a peaceful protest in the City of Carson on Saturday, March 7, in order to highlight the harm done by the city's sex offender ordinance. That ordinance bans registered citizens from being present in or within 300 feet of public places including the library, parks and swimming pools as well as private places including fast food restaurants that have a...
Child porn restitution bill passes Senate, sets minimum damages for victims
A bill named for two women whose childhood images were turned into heinous pornography was handily passed in the Senate on Wednesday. The Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act was approved by a 98-0 vote. The measure gives hope to victims that they will finally be able to win major compensation from any single person who illegally viewed, made or distributed...