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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Janice's Journal
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NH: Sex offender housing restrictions do more harm than good (Editorial)
Of all the constituents that politicians want to help out, sex offenders probably rank at the very bottom of the list. But the New Hampshire Senate should summon the courage to do just that. By helping sex offenders, as strange as it sounds, the Senate will end up making life safer for everyone else. Full Opinion Piece
W.A.R. Press Release sent to Texas Media
Pedophile—what does it mean and when should it be used? How does one convey the proper use of a tired and overworked word to those who have the eyes and ears in the state of Texas? Women Against Registry, a national organization of wives, mothers, girlfriends, grand-mothers and other family members of registrants would like to make the media and ultimately the public aware...
Suits challenge sex offender laws
Lawyer and her reform group were prompted by recent appellate court ruling A civil rights lawyer aiming to reform sex offender laws has started suing municipalities across California to force the removal of ordinances that bar sex offenders from many public facilities, including parks, swimming pools and bus stops.Janice Bellucci, who practices in Santa Maria and is president of the group California Reform Sex...
TX: Sex-offenders not allowed in San Antonio city parks anymore
SAN ANTONIO -- The new San Antonio law that bans people who have been convicted of sex offenses from enjoying city-owned facilities went into effect Saturday. The law prohibits sex-offenders from entering any land operated, or managed, by the city, including: parks, trails and natural areas. Cemeteries and golf courses are not included in the ordinance.Woodlawn Lake is a favorite west-side destination and the site of the...
VA: Norfolk case highlights aging sex offenders debate
____ ____ ____ arrived at Norfolk Circuit Court on a cold December morning, guilty and worried. On his mind was a pink slip buried in his mailbox for days - maybe weeks. The small piece of paper was a receipt for a registered letter from the state. His freedom depended on it. ____, 68, is a convicted violent sex offender. The letter represented his remaining...
Casual cruelty to children
Children suffer when a parent goes to prison but who would expect that the suffering can be worse when that parent is released from prison? After the parent has been away from home for years, the anticipated reunion is often prohibited, even when the child was not a victim of the parent's crime.A man who was convicted of possession of child pornography, released to...
FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGES SOUTH LAKE TAHOE ORDINANCE
A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of South Lake Tahoe is the subject of a lawsuit filed today in federal district court on behalf of a registered sex offender (“registered citizen”). This is the second in a series of lawsuits filed in federal court challenging city ordinances that include presence restrictions. The first lawsuit was filed on March 24 challenging a similar...
Georgia private probation companies expand sex offender industry
In 1994 the Jacob Wetterling Act established the first national sex offender registry law, and Indiana’s “Zachary’s Law” placed their state registry online. In 1996 “Megan’s Law” was passed at the federal level, forcing states to maintain publicly accessible registries and allowing all levels of community notification. In 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld civil commitment in Kansas v. Hendricks, and a year later,...
NE: Norfolk man gets chance to be free of the label ‘offender’
LINCOLN — ___ ___ stands before two rare opportunities that could change the course of his life. One could restore his reputation. The other could revive a dream. The 25-year-old Norfolk man recently participated in a free-agent tryout for a chance to punt in the National Football League. His odds of making it, though slim, would improve if not for three words that turn up on...
Ask Amy: Young girl is at risk during visitation with dad
DEAR AMY: I have a 6-year-old granddaughter whose parents are not together. In a couple of months, when she goes to visit her dad (my son), she may be in proximity to a man who was incarcerated for molestation. This man is the brother of my son’s girlfriend, and the two siblings live together in their parents’ home. I am very anxious about this....
MI: Sex offender fee change is an idea whose time has come (Op-Ed)
Beginning April 1, registered sex offenders in Michigan will be required to pay an annual fee. Last year, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation requiring the state's more than 40,000 registered sex offenders to come with a $50 per year registration fee. The fee, which is applicable to registered sex offenders who are out of prison is not meant as an additional punishment to those...
Visiting Child Pornography Websites Is a Crime—Appeals Court
Viewing child pornography on the Internet constitutes the crime of “possessing” or “controlling“ such matter, in violation of Penal Code §311.11, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday. The court also said that viewing the images constitutes possession inasmuch as a PC automatically captures the images, downloading them to the cache, and that causing them to be visible on the screen amounts...
Federal lawsuit calls for repeal of Pomona’s sex offender ordinance
POMONA >> A Santa Maria lawyer filed a federal lawsuit against Pomona this week calling for the repeal of a 2008 ordinance regulating the presence of sex offenders in the city. According to the lawsuit, the city’s ordinance goes beyond what is contained in the ordinances of other cities by prohibiting sex offenders from being on private property, such as arcades or movie theaters....
Appellate court rejects “past as prelude” myth
In a strongly worded ruling, a federal appellate panel has ordered that a Native American man be freed from civil confinement due to evidence of his rehabilitation while in prison. Both a judge and an expert witness had downplayed this evidence, condemning the man as a future risk based on long-ago transgressions, the Fourth Circuit panel concluded. Byron Neil Antone, a 41-year-old member of...
MN: Federal judge calls Minnesota civil commitment program “draconian”
Three weeks ago, a federal judge issued his long-awaited ruling in a civil rights case brought by civil detainees over the constitutionality of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP). Although stopping short, for now, of declaring the program unconstitutional, the judge ordered new procedures to make release attainable for the 700 detainees. He warned that he may ultimately find the program to be unconstitutional if he...
Annual Registration Procedure
Annual Registration: I just went for my annual registration in OC. I literally had to read about the 5 -day statue. Is it 5-working days or 5 days period. Its 5-working days. I showed up on a Monday morning, office was empty and the woman was dressed in an almost uniform. This was my first time to see this. The women in the office...
IL: Agency proposes to remove convicted juveniles from sex offender registry
(KMOV) --A new report from an Illinois agency recommends removing juveniles from the state’s sex offender registry, but law enforcement officials have concerns. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission was assigned by the General Assembly to study the laws and remedies for juvenile sex crimes and released its report Tuesday saying, “Illinois should remove young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry and end...
MA: Court Says Sex Offender Law Not Retroactive
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court has ruled that Massachusetts cannot retroactively post information about thousands of registered sex offenders on the Internet. Full Article Related: July 2013 Ruling / Preliminary InjunctionAppellant's Brief SJC ruling keeps 6,000 Level 2 sex offenders off state web registry
Living with 290: My Story
My story goes back to 1968, when my oldest uncle Bobby, home from reform school, forced me to orally copulate him while his younger brothers watched in horror and disbelief. I was five years old and that day has stuck with me in my memory to this day. Before this happened I was a happy boy. Everyone commented to my parents how happy I...
Here’s Why It’s ‘Counterproductive’ To Put Juveniles On The Sex Offender Registry
CHICAGO -- Requiring juveniles to register as sex offenders can hinder rehabilitation efforts and have significant, long-term negative consequences for young perpetrators who are statistically unlikely to re-offend, according to a study released Tuesday. Among the most significant outcomes of the new 150-page report released by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission is a recommendation that the state end its "counterproductive" practice of requiring juvenile offenders to...