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.
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VT: Lawmakers not ready to post Sex Offenders’ addresses online
Lawmakers on Tuesday held off on deciding whether the state sex offender registry is good enough to allow offenders’ addresses to be posted online. State law says an audit of the error-ridden registry must be “favorable” before the state can post home addresses of sex offenders on the Internet sex offender registry. After a 2010 audit found major problems, State Auditor Doug Hoffer last...
Sheriff’s officials conduct sex offender compliance check
Ventura County, Calif. - The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office conducted a sex offender compliance check Saturday, officials said Tuesday. Full Article
MN: The Minnesota Sex Offender Program, explained
Last week, inside a federal courtroom in St. Paul, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank heard several days of testimony from a team of experts appointed to review how the state administers its Minnesota Sex Offender Program — the subject of a class action lawsuit that has raised numerous questions about the program’s constitutionality. Full Article
Sex Offender Registry Insanity
Writing at Reason’s Hit & Run blog, Lenore Skenazy passes along the story of a man caught up in a particular bizarre application of the laws requiring people register as sex offenders. Full Article
MA: National Geographic photos not child porn, court rules
The state’s highest court has tossed out a child pornography case against a convicted child rapist who had photocopies of pictures of naked children from a National Geographic magazine, a sociology textbook, and a naturist catalogue in his state prison cell. Full Article Related MA: Porn debate over National Geographic photo goes to SJC (CA RSOL) Decision
We can do better on sex offender laws
Let’s face it, we’re more sympathetic to the plights of some than others. Lost puppies and sad children rank right up there atop the sympathy scale. And at the bottom … Well, can you think of a group lower than sex offenders? It’s a tough sell, but a national conference is meeting this week in Dallas with the goal of making things a little...
Changes to sex offender ordinance worries parents
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors deferred action on a proposal to repeal a Riverside County ordinance restricting where convicted sex offenders can reside and loiter, directing county staff instead to modify the law so that some of its provisions can be preserved. Full Article
Cities grapple with sex-offender code changes
HESPERIA — Reluctant to bow to state-level pressure, councilmen deferred adopting amendments to the city code about the regulation of sex offenders spurred by recent and pending court actions. With two of the city’s five councilmen on vacation, the motion to approve the amendments died on a split vote (three yes were needed to pass). Councilman Russ Blewett, who voted no, said after Tuesday’s...
I Saw a Man Get Arrested For a Sex Crime Because He Made a Scheduling Error
When I agreed to keynote the Reform Sex Offender Laws conference this week in Dallas, Texas, I didn't expect it to hit quite so close to home. But before I arrived, I got a phone call from a soft-spoken, super-articulate young man, Joshua Gravens, who is a Soros Justice Scholar based in Dallas. His specialty is the injustice of the sex offender registry and...
Lompoc council to consider changes to sex offender ordinance [UPDATED with more media and video]
Lompoc’s City Council members tonight will consider easing loitering restrictions in the city’s sex offender ordinance to conform to state law, and temporarily suspending enforcement of residency limitations for registered offenders. Full Article City Council Hearing Video (click on #9) Update 7/16: Lompoc Council OKs settlement with registered sex offender (Lompoc Record) Update 7/17: To Settle Lawsuit, Lompoc Council Agrees to Ease Restrictions for Sex Offenders (Noozhawk)
Riverside County moves to keep some sex offender limits
RIVERSIDE – Riverside County supervisors indicated Tuesday they would continue to limit where convicted sex offenders can live while repealing an ordinance saying offenders cannot go near schools and other places children gather. Full Article
WI: Judge sentences man behind arson to sex offender’s home to prison
STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A Door County judge has sentenced a man who took part is setting fire to the home of a registered sex offender Monday to three years in prison. T.J. Hunt set fire to the home where Jason Johnson was staying back on November 2. Sturgeon Bay police say Hunt and Justin Baker claimed they set the blaze because they...
Supervisors set to repeal sex offender ordinance
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors are expected to repeal Ordinance 902, the ordinance that sets rules on where sex offenders can live or visit. The board decided to appeal the ordinance on the advice of legal counsel following Appeals Court rulings on similar ordinances in nearby areas as unconstitutional. Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone registered a "No" vote, making a strong political statement...
WI: Letters on sex offenders go out to Van Hollen, Wall
As expected, letters were sent out Friday to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Corrections Secretary Edward Wall in connection with the city's effort to force the state to do something about the disproportionate number of sex offenders who are being placed in the city. In his letter to Wall, Murphy noted that Grave Roberts, who runs the state's sex offender program, stated that residency...
NZ: Revamp sex laws says UK expert
A former senior British policeman who broke up online paedophile rings involving up to 16,000 offenders says New Zealand must introduce a sex offenders register. The Government is debating whether to follow Britain, the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia in introducing a central list of those who have been jailed for sexual offences, particularly against children. Full Article
MA: SJC sex offender ruling another affront against Massachusetts residents (Op-Ed)
The state's highest judicial entity; the Supreme Judicial Court reached another stunning milestone in delivering an affront to the sensibilities and protections of law-abiding citizens on July 11th. In a 6 to 1 decision the justices ruled that life-time parole for sex-offenders is unconstitutional. Full Opinion Piece
NE: Is registering as a sex offender inconvenient?
OMAHA, Neb. —Local law officials said sex offenders are ducking the system because they want Douglas County to make registering more convenient, but the county said it's not going to cater to convicts. Authorities said there are not many wealthy registered sex offenders in Douglas County. In fact, the exact opposite can be said for most. Most convicted criminals are living on fixed incomes...
MN: Federal panel moves on sex offenders release
____ ____ celebrated his 19th birthday by checking into Minnesota’s treatment program for sex offenders. ____ had been in and out of therapy and juvenile detention in Anoka County since he was 12, when his family discovered that he’d sexually abused other children, including his younger step-brother. Even at that age, ____ said, he was having almost daily sexual interactions with his peers. Full Article
RI: Chafee signs law restricting employment of sex offenders
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Carnivals, arcades, movie theaters, public libraries, beaches and pools are among the facilities banned from hiring registered sex offenders as employees under a new law signed by Governor Chafee on Wednesday. The bill groups those facilities and a number of others into a category called “child-safe zones.” Any entity falling into that category cannot hire any individual who is a registered...
Lompoc May Revise ‘Presence’ Restrictions for Sex Offenders
The City of Lompoc is poised to repeal its stringent requirements on where registered sex offenders can visit, a change stemming from a lawsuit filed by a Grover Beach man. Full Article Related: Santa Maria attorney files sex offender lawsuit against Lompoc LOMPOC SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT