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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The Evolution of Unconstitutionality in Sex Offender Registration Laws
More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary. This Article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this Article posits that, even if sex offender registration...
Today’s Untouchables: Sex Offenders
Sex offenders are the foremost pariahs of our current day. In opinion polls, even intravenous drug users place higher. A recent series of high profile cases involving child sexual abuse have revealed the maddening frequency of the problem. My hometown newspaper now exists in electronic format, and as I read the local news, it seems that every other week brings a report of a...
CA RSOL Meeting – May 17 in Berkeley
California RSOL's Meeting will take place on May 17 at 10 am in Berkeley. The location is Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709. The meeting will cover general topics of interest, as well as specific issues pertinent at meeting time, in addition to offering invaluable opportunities to network with others affected by this issue, as well as activists and professionals. One topic...
WA: Yakima County judge blocks release of sex offender information
YAKIMA, Wash. — A Yakima County judge has blocked the release of names and addresses of low-level sex offenders to a Mesa woman who wants to post the information on a website. Ruling Friday, Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson permanently blocked Donna Zink’s request for low-level sex-offender registration forms from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. The move had been sought by 22 low-level offenders...
CITY OF CARSON SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL COURT
A sex offender ordinance adopted by Carson, a city located within Los Angeles County, is the subject of a lawsuit filed today in Federal district court. This is the fourth lawsuit to be filed in four weeks challenging a city’s sex offender ordinance that includes restrictions regarding where more than 105,000 individuals can be present. Specifically, the Carson ordinance prohibits registered citizens from being...
Do sex offender registries, like new ‘OffenderWatch,’ make us safer? (Op-Ed)
Today the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office announced it was launching “OffenderWatch,” a brand-new way to be scared of your neighbors. ... I have a few questions: Why? And what, exactly, are you to do with this information? Do you commit these names and faces to memory? What are you supposed to do when you meet one of these guys on the street? Do...
WA: Yakima County judge to hear arguments on request for sex-offender data
YAKIMA, Wash. — A Yakima County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today on whether to give a Mesa woman names and addresses of all low-level sex offenders in the county. Judge Blaine Gibson will also hear a request from attorney Greg Scott to certify his suit to block the release of the names as a class action on behalf of all 688 Level...
WI: Man convicted of setting sex offfender’s house on fire
STURGEON BAY – A man who didn’t like that a sex offender moved into the neighborhood, so he set that man’s home on fire, was convicted Thursday. T.J. Robert Hunt pleaded no contest to arson, according to online court records. Three other counts were dismissed. Sentencing is scheduled for July 14 in Door County Circuit Court. Hunt and Justin Baker set fire to the residence...
Sex offender wants parks proximity (National City)
A registered sex offender in San Luis Obispo County is suing cities across the state, claiming he has every right to go near schools and parks — and National City has become his latest target. ____ ____, 61, of Grover Beach, was convicted in 1979 of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14. His attorney, Janice Bellucci, says he has relatives in National...
Feds settle with local firm over inaccurate background checks
(AP) — It's tough enough landing a job these days, so imagine if that background check provided to your potential employer wrongly identified you as a possible sex offender. That's what the Federal Trade Commission says happened in a case it's settling with InfoTrack Information Services of Deerfield. The company provides employment background screening services. The FTC says InfoTrack gave inaccurate information suggesting that...
Scan Your Date’s Photo, Learn If He Is A Sex Offender
A few years ago I attended an annual conference of Balkan political leaders. Middle-aged men filled the room. In the back a younger woman who could certainly have adorned the cover of a fashion magazine stood out in stark contrast. I wondered: who could she be? Those sitting beside me had no idea. I wondered if one day technology could identify any stranger at...
UT: Man arrested after living as unregistered sex offender for 20 years
CEDAR CITY — A man was arrested after living under the radar in Cedar City for 20 years as an unregistered sex offender. Incarcerated in California for sex offense, ____ ____ moved to Utah and failed to register with Utah. Full Article
WA: Exonerated Father Awarded $9 Million after 20 Years in Prison on False Sex Abuse Charges
A father who spent 20 years in prison based on sex abuse evidence fabricated by two former Clark County, WA, sheriff’s detectives was awarded $9 million by a federal court jury that ruled that the authorities violated his constitutional right to due process. Full Article
FL: Daytona Beach park to keep neighborhood safe from sex predators
DAYTONA BEACH -- A nationally recognized child abuse survivor — and abuse prevention advocate — is hailing a Volusia County children's park as a great tool to keep child sex predators away from neighborhoods. Lauren Book is walking from Key West to Tallahassee as part of her fifth-annual Walk In My Shoes campaign aimed at raising awareness about prevention and pushing for change in...
A Better Path to Community Safety (CASOMB Tiering Paper March 2014)
CASOMB first recommended in its 2010 report to the Legislature that revisions to California’s registration laws are needed and recently selected the issue as one which deserves increased focus and effort. The effectiveness of sex offender registration policies and practices has also been the subject of national focus recently, with a variety of jurisdictions addressing the importance of updating registration practices to reflect new research...
LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX (OFFENDERS)
First, let’s put some things on the table. There is wide consensus that sexual assault is under reported. There is some disagreement about just how under reported sexual assault among adults is (and some controversy about how it is defined and measured), but there are good estimates that only about a tenth of sexual abuse against children is ever reported. Abuse against children is especially heinous because of the...
VA: ACLU questions validity of massive child pornography investigation in Louisa
LOUISA, VA (WWBT) - The American Civil Liberties Union is speaking out, saying it's concerned with how police are handling a massive child porn investigation in Central Virginia. NBC12 was the first to tell you that authorities are looking into more than one thousand inappropriate pictures and videos posted online involving teens in Louisa, Hanover and Goochland. The ACLU goes as far to say that minors have the constitutional right to...
OH: Law would mandate sex-offender alerts at nursing homes
State lawmakers want to close a loophole that requires neighbors to be notified when a registered sex offender moves into a nursing home but not the people who live there or their families. “As it stands now, if I live next to a nursing home, I’m going to be notified if a sex offender moves in. But if I’m in the room with a sex...
SB 1027 (Hill) – Criminal record information: commercial use
Existing law requires a business to take reasonable steps to protect unintended disclosure of customer information and limits theway personal information on customers can be used and disseminated. This bill would prohibit a person who publishes criminal record information, as defined, via print or electronic means from soliciting or accepting a fee or other consideration to remove, correct, or modify that information, as specified. The bill would establish civil...
India: Call for US-type curbs on offenders
MUMBAI: As sex crimes rise, a section among the legal fraternity and activists is asking if sex offenders in India must have some restrictions imposed on them as is done in the US. In America, the law requires states to register and regulate sex offenders residing within its borders. Full Article