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
Canada: Conservatives propose public sex offender registry, despite its failure in the U.S.
The federal Conservatives have announced they are continuing their pursuit of the lowest of low-hanging fruit: registered sex offenders. The Tougher Penalties for Sexual Predators Act, which was formally tabled in the House of Commons Feb. 26, includes nine proposals for dealing with those convicted of sexual offences, including increasing prison sentences for certain child sexual offences and harsher penalties for violations of release...
The Sex Offender Shuffle
Washington Post Opinion Section: I know the term Kafkesque is overused, but I mean come on.The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting — for hours and hours —...
MN: Against Publicly Registering Children
Letter to the Editor - What if the worst thing you ever did was posted on the internet for the whole world to see? What if you did that thing as a child but have to wear it like a scarlet letter forever? Full Letter
One Man’s Fight to Prove His Innocence
Katie Couric - One man opens up about his fight for freedom after being accused of sexual assault by his own children. Find out how he was finally freed and reunited with his family. Website
IL: Crowded Chicago Police office forces sex offenders to violate parole
The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting -- for hours and hours -- outside police headquarters and watching a Kafkaesque process play out. Every morning sex offenders start...
FL: State senators fast track sex offender legislation
State senators are poised to pass landmark legislation aimed at better protecting Floridians from rapists and child molesters Tuesday, the first day of the annual Legislative session. "I don't want to let one more day go by without making Florida scorched earth for sexual predators," said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. The package of four bills would toughen sex-crime sentences, increase community monitoring, and keep...
Wrongly convicted man free after 8 years
Every day behind bars was torture, but holidays hurt the most. It wasn’t just missing Thanksgiving or Christmas with his family. It was that he’d miss out next year, too, and the year after that, and the year after that. Every year for the rest of his life. Prison isn’t supposed to be easy, of course. If you can’t do the time, don’t do...
MA: Porn debate over National Geographic photo goes to SJC
The question of whether a photo of a naked boy in National Geographic constitutes child pornography when found in the troubling jailhouse stash of a convicted sex offender goes before the state’s highest court today. “After a summer day’s swim, a boy returns to his new bike,” reads the caption under award-winning photojournalist Lynn Johnson’s picture in “Inside the Dragon,” the magazine’s 2008 special...
General Comments March 2014
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of March 2014. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
VA: Flaws in the state’s sex offender registry
The Virginia Sex Offender Registry exists to keep society safe, especially its children. Sometimes, it does just the opposite. Sometimes, the law that prevents sex offenders from being on school property and around kids isolates and stigmatizes innocent people. It can ruin lives. Full Article
OR: Teen sexting – A photo sent, life changed forever
A law creates a three-tiered sex offender registration system BEND — Sexting — sending nude pictures or arousing text messages — has become part of our modern-day life. But for one Central Oregon teen, who wants to remain anonymous, sending one picture changed his life. “I’m on supervised probation for 120 months, which is 10 years — and I sent a picture,” he said. Last...
Talk Radio: NATIONAL REFORM SEX OFFENDER LAWS – “The Big Picture affecting our nation.
Part 1: March 2, 2014 - 8 pm PST The vision and mission of this organization. www.nationalrsol.org The effect sex offender laws have on the community. Call in to speak with the host (619) 393-2837 A national organization sees the issue and the affect demoralizing a sex offender has on communities, and why it is imperative to change this thinking to heal society, the...
CO: With 2 Different Bills, Colorado Will Get A ‘Jessica’s Law’
DENVER (CBS4) – Colorado lawmakers from both parties are working on different versions of a bill that would lay out mandatory sentences for child sex offenders. Similar bills have failed before. Last year’s bill, brought by Republicans, died in an end-of-session drama that left Democrats struggling to explain why they opposed a bill that went hard on sex offenders. So this year there are dueling...
PA: Third Judge Rules Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Unconstitutional
Under current Pennsylvania law, juvenile sex offenders have to comply with lifetime registration requirements. But this month, a third Pennsylvania judge ruled that law unconstitutional, setting the stage for the issue to be addressed by the state supreme court. Judges from York, Monroe, and Lancaster counties have now all written opinions stating that the law fails to take juveniles’ greater capacity for reform into account. Full...
Canada: Proposed sex-offender registry will not deter crime, criminal lawyer warns
The Conservative government’s plan to create a publicly-accessible database of child sex offenders will do little if anything to deter sex crimes and could actually lead to an increase in offences, an Ottawa-based defence lawyer warns. Michael Spratt, who has testified at numerous parliamentary committees on criminal legislation, says the sex registry is being sold as a way to protect children and assist parents,...
Op Ed: Tennessee Rep. Wants to Print “Sex Offender” in Red on Every Sex Offender’s Driver’s License
Matthew Hill, a Tennessee state representative who ran for office with an image of a fetus on his campaign fliers, has entertained the notion that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and previously proposed legislation to force Tennesseans to exclusively speak English while at work, has got another bright idea. Hill is sponsoring a bill that would print the words sex offender—in three places, and in...
END State Sanctioned Sexual Assault, Rape Culture and Law Enforcement Impunity
The San Diego police department’s scandal involving officers accused of preying on women who they came in contact with while in uniform and on duty. ... We deserve to be safe. The recurrences of sexual assault committed by the above named officers as well as the investigation of San Diego police department’s facility concluded that we are not. Putting a woman or anyone in a...
Probation officials concede failures in GPS tracking of felons
Los Angeles County probation officials Tuesday conceded widespread failures in their electronic monitoring of felons, in which probation deputies were deluged with meaningless alerts while offenders went untracked for days and weeks at a time. "This is a blueprint of how not to implement a GPS program," Probation Chief Jerry Powers told the county Board of Supervisors. He said deputies were not at fault,...
TX: Registered sex offenders banned from San Antonio parks
SAN ANTONIO -- More than 80 parks across San Antonio will turn into restricted zones for registered sex offenders. The new ordinance takes effect Saturday, March 1. City council unanimously approved it in December as the best interest of public safety.Texas Voices, a group which advocates for non-violent offenders, says analysis of similar ordinances in other states suggest restrictions do not create safer environments....
IN: Sex offenders told to move after I-Team 8 investigation
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Dozens of sex offenders are being told they are in violation of the law and need to move after an I-Team 8 investigation. Tuesday night, I-Team 8’s story showed sex offenders living near schools and day cares. After seeing the I-Team 8 evidence showing where sex offenders live, Sheriff John Layton launched his own investigation and is taking immediate action: 41 sex offenders...