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
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
Scotts Valley sex offender treatment center closes days before school starts
SCOTTS VALLEY >> A sex offender treatment center that drew the ire of some parents because it was located near Scotts Valley Middle School closed Monday. The announcement came Tuesday on the eve of the first day of school in Scotts Valley, months after the Scotts Valley Police Department asked the center to find a new location and almost two years since the facility...
MO: No place for sex offenders to go
Ol' Chaplain Farris Robertson is at it again — housing multiple registered sex offenders in a residential Springfield neighborhood despite a city order to vacate. Attorneys with the city of Springfield, busy defending the city's position in federal court, have decided to leave the residents of 1809 E. Crestview St. alone, for now. City officials are hopeful a court hearing, expected in early September,...
Polygraphs don’t work. So why do we still use them?
The FBI gives a polygraph test to every single person who's considered for a job there. When the DEA, CIA, and other agencies are taken into account, about 70,000 people a year submit to polygraphs while seeking security clearances and jobs with the federal government. Polygraphs are also regularly used by law enforcement when interrogating suspects. In some places, they're used to monitor the...
MA: SJC upholds GPS monitoring of sex offenders
The state’s highest court has rejected a challenge to the state law that requires GPS monitoring during probation for people convicted of certain sex offenses involving a child. The court said the law gave judges no discretion on whether to impose the GPS monitoring during probation, and the Legislature had good reasons for enacting the law. Full Article
FL: Air Force aiding Florida police in sex stings
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Not only have Central Florida law enforcement officers violated federal rules in conducting "To Catch a Predator"-inspired sex stings, but WTSP in Tampa has learned they may also violate longstanding federal law that prohibits the use of military resources to enforce state laws. Full Article
Child-porn sentencing questioned
Are federal sentencing guidelines for possessing child pornography too harsh? Calling the guidelines “draconian,” U.S. District Judge James L. Graham has become increasingly vocal in his criticism from the federal bench in Columbus. Full Article
Sex Offenders Housing Restrictions Are Pointless (Opinion)
On Thursday, Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times reported that “Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live.” In short, since 2005, sex offenders in the state can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, and a...
Two decades later, has Megan’s Law delivered? (Opinion)
It's been 20 years since New Jersey's Legislature passed Megan's Law. The two decades since have been filled with legal challenges and disappointment it didn't accomplish what many thought it would. It's what happens when politics and emotion team to shortcut the legislative process. Full Opinion Piece
MN: Mankato attorney steeped in sex offender controversy
MANKATO — As an attorney for dozens of sex offenders and a member of a high-profile panel to guide lawmakers and the courts, Ryan Magnus has a unique view of Minnesota’s sex offender quandary. When Magnus, a defense attorney with Mankato-based Jones and Magnus, looks at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, he doesn’t only see the worst of the worst. He sees people who...
Germany- “Don’t Offend” therapy model
This project is a free of charge treatment offer which underlies confidentiality*. It is directed at people seeking therapeutic help because they feel sexually attracted to children and adolescents and/or who use child abusive images. Within the course of therapy, the person concerned is offered support concerning the prevention of child sexual abuse in the form of hands-on contact or ‘online abuse’ by using...
MT: Under the radar: More than half of all sex offenders on the registry still lack a tier level
In Montana, sex offenders are supposed to receive a 1, 2 or 3 tier designation, effectively telling the public how dangerous they are. An offender's designation also affects how they're supervised on the registry. It affects how often they have to check in and verify their address, how long they have to register and the amount of information that's made available to the public. But...
Hesperia settles lawsuit with sex offender
HESPERIA — Since this week’s council meeting and its late continuation of closed session to discuss pending litigation, an agreement was reached Thursday to settle a registered sex offender’s lawsuit against the city. Full Article Related REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SUES CITY OF HESPERIA; 15thLAWSUIT FILED IN 4 MONTHS [Upated with Media Link]
VA: Parents turn in 13-year-old daughter over nude pics on cell, tablet
DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. — A Dinwiddie mother got a nasty shock when she went through her daughter’s cell phone and tablet. The pictures she discovered were so disturbing that she turned the girl in to sheriff’s deputies. The parents discovered their 13-year-old daughter, who is about to enter the eighth-grade, had been sending and receiving naked pictures of other teens using her tablet. ......
NY: Non-Sex Crime May Trigger Management, Panel Says
The state may initiate civil management proceedings against a sex offender who, while on supervised release, committed a non-sex crime, a state appeals panel has held. Full Article
OR: Convicted rapist driving Pacific City’s only cab divides tourist town
PACIFIC CITY -- The white-stenciled lettering on the side of the maroon minivan advertised ____ ____'s business, the only cab in this tiny tourist town. He shuttled people home from watering holes late at night, drove surfers and fishermen to the beach and delivered locals to doctor's appointments in nearby Lincoln City. Full Article
PA: Mandatory minimum sentences are ‘unconstitutional,’ court says
Locals charged with crimes involving drugs, guns or sex abuse could be due relief at sentencing, according to a high-court ruling. A Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion has deemed mandatory minimum sentences “unconstitutional,” a ruling which could have major impact on countless cases here and across the state. Full Article
NY: Housing Restrictions Keep Sex Offenders in Prison Beyond Release Dates
Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live. The law, which has been in effect since 2005, restricts many sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Those unable to find such accommodations...
OK: Program treats juvenile sex offenders as kids, not criminals
OKLAHOMA CITY – Sex offender. The phrase conjures pariahs living under bridges. Adults "grooming" children for devastating abuse. Violent men who take what is not freely given. Broken people. And yet, here comes Tyler, bounding down the hall with his dusty blonde Justin Bieber haircut and chunky sneakers. He turned 16 today. He and his family have just come from Chuck E. Cheese. Tyler’s...
Coalition Urges CA Governor: Protect Patients, Stop Gutting Confidentiality
(Los Angeles, California, August 20, 2014) — A coalition of nonprofits alarmed about the gutting of patient confidentiality urges California Governor Jerry Brown to veto pending legislation that requires mental health practitioners to police their patients and report a growing list of statements to law enforcement—or face prosecution and potential jail time. Full Article
My Turn: State officials must accept that sex offenders can change
People change. This is an incontrovertible truth in life. Yet, this concept seems to be lacking in the wonderful state that has become my home – at least it’s MIA in the New Hampshire state prison system. (Fortunately, it hasn’t hit our schools yet.) The money to be made by an opposite view – people don’t change – is real. The flawed anthropology that...