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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MO: Gladstone woman on a crusade for change following Hailey Owens’ death
GLADSTONE, Mo. — Donna Roesle is a mother of three adult kids. Hours after the murder of Hailey Owens, she organized an online petition in hopes of getting a law passed that will get tougher on criminals who commit crimes against children. “It’s just awful that somebody can go out there and grab an innocent baby and do this,” Roesle said. Roesle has a daughter...
TX: Constitutional or not, court allows registration requirement for sex-offenses predating registry law
The Texas District and County Attorneys Association's weekly case summaries last week described a new Court of Criminal Appeals decision which required sex-offender registration for offenses committed before the creation of the registry. The decision, though, failed to address the question of whether the underlying statute is constitutional, an issue dissenters said they should have confronted. Full Article
GA: Bill would allow sex offenders at schools
CANTON — Brand new state Rep. Sam Moore (R-Macedonia) is pushing a sweeping law that would allow registered sex offenders to go anywhere they want — even to schools.Moore, in his first week in office, has turned in a bill that would overturn the crime of loitering and make it so registered sex offenders who aren’t otherwise barred from going to schools or places...
NH: House Votes 231-97 To Prohibit Sex Offender Restrictions
Twelve towns have passed ordinances to limit where sex offenders can live -- barring offenders from living near schools, or child-care centers. But law enforcement oppose such bans. Renny Cushing of Hampton, a Democrat, told House colleagues that police know restrictions make monitoring offenders harder. "The chiefs of police do not want to have a situation where you take away one of the tools they...
MN: Judge lets Minnesota sex offender suit proceed
A federal judge allowed a constitutional challenge to Minnesota's sex-offender program to proceed Thursday and issued a strongly worded challenge to the Legislature to step in and fix "a system that is clearly broken." U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank didn't rule on the merits of the constitutional claims brought by participants in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, but he ordered a panel of court-appointed...
WI: Scott Walker’s administration fires new sex offender administrator
Madison — Gov. Scott Walker's administration Wednesday dropped a controversial new hire charged with evaluating sex offenders for release back into Wisconsin communities, a move that came only hours after Walker said he opposed the psychologist. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on the hire of Daniel Montaldi as "evaluation director" at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, a state facility for sex predators. Montaldi,...
IL: Reflections on the Campaign to Stop Jail Construction
When we began our campaign to stop jail construction in Champaign County in early 2012, I thought we were doomed. The grand plan to spend $20 million on this project seemed like a done deaI. The Sheriff was driving the initiative; the leading lights in the County Board seemed to think jail construction was the only prudent course. Yet, nearly two years later we have...
Capitol Punishment: The Troubling Consequences of Federal Child Pornography Laws
Until Dec. 11, 2013, Jesse Ryan Loskarn was a popular chief of staff for a Tennessee senator. But on that winter day, police broke down the door of his rowhouse in southeast Washington, D.C., and searched for the illegal digital items that had led them there: explicit videos of boys posing nude and engaging in sexual acts. On Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, Ryan was...
MO: Sex offender from Ballwin area faces legal limbo
STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY • There is a special wing here at the county jail that holds nine detainees who were convicted long ago for sex crimes. They already served their time in prison. Still, they wear bright orange jumpsuits as they await another kind of trial. Flagged as possible sexually violent predators, the Missouri attorney general’s office wants them held indefinitely at a secure state mental institution...
OK: Convicted sex offender sues to stay in his home
PRYOR, OK — A convicted sex offender has sued the district attorney and city of Pryor over housing dispute. ____ ____ bought a home near Jefferson Elementary School in Pryor before the sex offender law was passed which would prevent him from living within 2,000 feet of the school.He was convicted of a child sexual offense in 2008. When he was released from prison in...
D.A. Wants Top Court to Review Rulings Overturning Ban on Sex Offenders in Parks
Orange County prosecutors petitioned the state Supreme Court to review two appellate court rulings striking down a ban on registered sex offenders in the county's parks and in more than a dozen of its cities. “The people of the state of California respectfully petition this court to grant review of an important issue affecting every city and county in California,” Deputy District Attorney Brian Fitzpatrick wrote...
Costa Mesa repeals law banning sex offenders from public parks
The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday night agreed to repeal an ordinance that banned registered sex offenders from entering city parks without permission from law enforcement. The council's unanimous vote comes after state appellate court rulings against similar ordinances adopted by the Irvine City Council and the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Costa Mesa is facing its own lawsuit, John Doe vs. City of Costa Mesa, filed...
Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status after Conviction (Survey)
NACDL (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) is in the midst of a major study that will lead to a report issued in 2014 on the countless ways in which a person’s rights, ability to work, and the like, are affected by a criminal conviction. As part of this effort, NACDL needs your help. If you are interested in sharing your story of lost...
Sex Offender’s Case Won’t Face En Banc Rehearing
PASADENA, Calif. (CN) - The full 9th Circuit should have been called to consider whether to let a sex offender challenge his parole conditions, as the question imperils "our constitutional system's respect for state sovereignty," five judges said Tuesday. ____ ____ alleges that California prison officials violated his civil rights by imposing residency and GPS monitoring restrictions typically reserved for sex offenders, even though...
WI: Sexting can be considered child porn, so what penalties should kids face?
MILWAUKEE —Research shows one in five teens are sexting -- the sending of sexually explicit text or email messages. WISN 12 News investigative reporter Colleen Henry looks into the problem facing parents, police and prosecutors -- what to do with kids caught sharing these explicit messages. It's a digital world, which can change as quick as the click of a camera. "I do think it has...
IN: Special Report – Stopping Near Sex Offenders
VANDERBURGH CO., IN (WFIE) - Thousands of students in the Tri-State ride the bus to and from school each day. Many of those stops are alarmingly close to registered sex offenders. 14 News followed several bus routes throughout the Tri-State and found children, some as young as five-years-old, waiting for the bus just feet away from registered sex offenders. Some parents are already vigilant, but for...
The Public Flaw in Megan’s Law
What illegal behavior is part of your past? Speeding? Underage drinking? Leaving a store with an item you didn't pay for? If you got caught, were you punished by a state-run website listing your offense and notifying others where you lived? Probably not. But what if those were your punishments? Would they have stopped your objectionable behavior in the future? Probably not. Because public humiliation generally doesn't...
UK: Children as young as 10 arrested for rape as 10 cautions given out for child sex crimes
Ten offenders have been given a ‘slap on the wrist’ by Cambridgeshire police over sex crimes involving children, as tough new rules are brought in over cautions for serious offences. New data has also revealed children as young as 10 have been arrested on suspicion of rape. A total of 52 under 16 year- olds have been arrested over alleged rape since 2009 and of...
FL: Village becomes refuge for sex offenders
Pahokee (United States) (AFP) - Deep in the swamps of southern Florida, Miracle Village lies miles away from the nearest town, surrounded by sugar cane fields. Nearby, the irrigation canals are swarming with alligators. While the name suggests an idyllic rural getaway, the former plantation near Pahokee now is almost exclusively home to men who spent time in prison for sex crimes. Full Article
Sexual Predators Online
Myth #4: Social media put teens at great risk from sexual predators. In a nationwide survey, boyd and her colleagues found that 93 percent of parents were concerned that their child might meet a stranger online who would hurt them, while only one percent of them indicated that any of their own children had ever had such an experience. By far the biggest fear...