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
Finding sex offenders via Facebook app
A new Facebook app helps you find out who your "friends" really are. It scans your list of "friends" and notifies you if any of them are on the national sex offender register. In a world where more friends and more views helps you get your name out there, there's always the potential for danger. Full Article Related: This app told me my uncle, roommate, and...
OK: Removes 2,400 Registered Sex Offenders After Supreme Court Ruling
Oklahoma has removed 2,400 sex offenders from its registry since a state Supreme Court decision six months ago. The legislature passed a law in 2007 increasing the number of years sex offenders have to register and it was applied to people already convicted, but the Oklahoma Supreme Court said the law could only apply to people going forward. Full Article
Living with 290: 1st Annual Registration
As every registrant knows visiting local law enforcement for annual registration can be a pain in the butt. The law says registration updates must occur within five days before or after a person's birth day each year. For me this meant calling the local police station and setting up an appointment. I figured calling five days prior to my birthday should have automatically provided...
OH: Ex-Sex Offender Comes in Solid Third Place in Cuyahoga County Executive Race
Tim Russo ran one hell of a race. A race worthy of a vote. I am not afraid to say that, yes, I voted for a sex offender to run Cuyahoga County. There were many more people out there who punched a ballot with Russo's name on it. He gathered 9,171 votes in the race, well behind Armond Budish, who was pretty much anointed...
TX: Burned body, missing sex offender linked
The investigation into the death of a man found in a burning storage building behind a home on County Road 495 continued today as detectives try to determine how he died. Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said he had not received official word as to the man's identity, but the Tyler Morning Telegraph has learned the person listed at the residence is a 36-year-old...
NH: Sex offender registry law is unconstitutional (Editorial)
Today, New Hampshire’s Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that will turn on the basic constitutional principle that criminal laws cannot be retroactive, thus punishing someone for an act that was legal at the time. Nor can the punishment for a crime be changed after the fact. Full Article
MO: My Son, the Sex Offender: One Mother’s Mission to Fight the Law
In the run up to Halloween one year, Sharie Keil saw something that really made her jump: Missouri governor Jay Nixon, then the attorney general. He was on television to announce that registered sex offenders were hereby banned from participating in her favorite holiday. On threat of a year in jail, they had to stay inside and display a sign saying they had no...
CO: Reasonable residency rules for sex offenders in Commerce City
Commerce City's solution to deciding where sex offenders can live is a model for how communities can reasonably handle residency requirements. Commerce City on Monday passed an amendment to its residency requirements, allowing registered sex offenders who aren't sexually violent to seek exceptions to rules that ban them from living within 1,000 feet of a school, park, playground or day care center. Full Op-Ed...
Santa Ana Ordinance Challenged in Federal District Court
The City of Santa Ana was sued today in federal district court challenging a city ordinance that prohibits some registered citizens from being on or within 300 feet of city libraries, learning centers, schools, parks and museums. Santa Ana is the 7th city or county to be sued in a period of seven weeks. "The City of Santa Ana ordinance violates both the federal...
SC: Sex offender’s killers kiss after verdict, would have ‘killed more’
UNION, S.C. —A man and his wife pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a registered sex offender and his wife and kissed in court after they were sentenced Tuesday. Full Article
Fullerton Council to Revise Sex Offender Ban in Parks
Fullerton’s ban on convicted sex offenders in city parks will likely be revised in the wake of court rulings and a potential lawsuit. Since the 1940s, California has wrestled with laws that deal with convicted sex offenders and what they can and cannot do after they are released from prison and complete parole. In the past four years, about half of Orange County cities adopted...
MO: Area Counties to Charge for Sex Offender Registration
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Sheriff's departments from nine counties across northwest Missouri will be taking advantage of a law allowing them to charge sex offenders for maintaining the Sex Offender Registry program. Representatives from four of those counties met at the Buchanan County Sheriff's office Monday to talk about the charges. Full Article
CO: Sex offender residency restrictions being scaled back
Less than 10 years after many cities rushed to draw restrictions and boundaries on where registered sex offenders could live, the trend is now reversing after a court case ruled one city's restrictions in conflict of state interests. Full Article
TX: Mom fighting sex offender label in kidnapping
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman's case is raising questions about whether parents who are convicted of kidnapping their own children in custody disputes should be automatically registered as sex offenders. ____ ____ was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to five years in prison after fleeing with her son to Mexico in 2002. She was freed from prison in 2010 but must...
PA: Juvenile sex-offender registries are challenged
Though tried in juvenile court, with its focus on privacy and rehabilitation, he was later required by a 2012 Pennsylvania law to register as a sex offender — branded a long-term danger to society, with no way off the list for at least 25 years. Juvenile law advocates campaigning against such automatic registries argue that they undermine the rehabilitative purpose of juvenile law and...
NH: New Hampshire sex offender fights registry rules
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of sex offender registry requirements for convicts whose crimes were committed before the legislature imposed more stringent rules. Lawyers for "John Doe" contend the registry requirements — which have been overhauled numerous times since 1998 — amount to new layers of punishment that weren't in place when he...
Kids, Cops, and Sex Offenders: Pushing the Limits of the Interest-Convergence Thesis
Abstract: Sex offenders are today’s pariahs – despised by all, embraced by none. During the past twenty years, society’s dislike and fear of sex offenders has resulted in a flood of legislation designed to protect communities from them. These laws include residency restrictions, which bar convicted sex offenders from living near places where children are expected to be found. Given this climate, do lawyers who for sex offenders have any hope...
Grand Theft O.C. – The Ballad of Tony Rackauckas
I don't live in Orange County, but I've been there. I enjoyed a couple of trips to "The OC" after my mom passed away about 3 1/2 years ago. The beaches are nice and there is a lot to see and do. I even visited a couple of the parks while I was there on 2011. The year 2011 was a landmark year for...
Court hammers operator of Internet intimidation sites
A Valley man accused of running an Internet extortion racket was dealt a blow last month when a judge found he posted information on websites suggesting a decorated combat veteran with no criminal record was a child molester. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper imposed several sanctions against Charles "Chuck" Rodrick, saying evidence showed he controlled websites where operators demanded money from sex...
Are police catching pedophiles, or creating straw men?
Then they claim to be 14. Even if the man balks or expresses qualms at this unexpected news, the cops continue to push. They press on with more enticements — photos — making it clear how ready and willing the fictional 14-year-old is. Some try not to take no for an answer. Full Article