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
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
MN: Minnesota Sex Offender Program marks 30 years of failure and injustice
Source: minnesotareformer.com 8/30/24 As Minnesota marks 30 years of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this week, let’s think of its true impact: a waste of vast resources under the guise of public safety. MSOP supposedly provides residential treatment after prison for those convicted of sex crimes deemed too dangerous to release into the public, but it is actually an unconstitutional nightmare — a life...
CA DOJ to Send Notices to Those Convicted of Attempted Offenses
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) will send notices to those convicted of an attempted offense regarding the lowering of their tier assignment, according to a message received from that agency. The notices will be mailed to the homes of those who are affected by this change. CA DOJ sent an email message yesterday to an attorney who requested in June...
AL: Bill would prohibit sex offenders from serving as first responders
Source: aldailynews.com 8/29/24 Convicted sex offenders could not be first responders under legislation pre-filed in the Alabama Legislature. State law already prohibits sex offenders from working in schools, child care centers or other businesses that cater primarily to children. Rep. Kerry Underwood, R-Tuscumbia, said the law needs to be amended to cover first responders, including those at volunteer fire departments. “Without (this legislation) for...
CA: California Supreme Court upholds law that treats rapists more harshly than some murderers
Source: sfchronicle.com 8/29/24 Prisoners serving life terms for violent sex crimes committed between ages 18 and 25 are not entitled to a parole hearing after 25 years, even though such hearings are available for some convicted murderers, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The so-called one-strike sentences, approved by the California voters in 2006 and expanded by the Legislature in 2010, made violent sex...
CA: Background Check Vendors Reckon With Increased Job Bias Scrutiny
Source: bloomberglaw.com 8/23/24 Third-party employee screening companies are finding themselves more in the litigation fray in California for blocking job seekers with criminal records thanks to a growing advocacy and legal movement that’s pushing to hold them accountable alongside employers. A group of background check companies—DISA Global Solutions Inc., the Health and Safety Council, and the North American Background Screening Consortium—and three oil refinery...
Watchdog: FBI continues to fail child sex abuse victims despite reforms after bungled Nassar investigation
Source: kcra.com 8/29/24 WASHINGTON —The FBI has continued to mishandle allegations of child sexual abuse in the years after the bureau’s notorious bungling of the investigation into disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, according to an audit by the Justice Department’s inspector general released Thursday. Because of those failures, allegations of sexual abuse against children were left unaddressed for months while minors continued to...
OR: Accused child molester’s conviction overturned because judge wouldn’t remind jury that he was innocent until proven guilty
Source: oregonlive.com 8/26/24 A Washington County judge’s attempt at saving time by declining to read aloud a lengthy set of legal principles to a jury — including that the defendants are presumed innocent unless they are proven guilty — has prompted the Oregon Court of Appeals to throw out a man’s convictions for repeatedly sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl. In reversing the convictions and...
CA: California courts now required to advise defendants of possible SVP plea consequences
Source: kpbs.org 8/26/24 The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that trial courts will be required to advise defendants of the consequences of pleading guilty to crimes that could make them eligible for designation as a sexually violent predator, in a ruling stemming from a case out of El Cajon. The state's highest court found that typically, defendants are not informed that their pleas to...
AZ: I sent an Arizona man to prison for 290 years. His case still haunts me
Source: azcentral.com 8/26/24 I sent plenty of people to prison during my career as a judge. Now I'm working to get one man out, and not because I think he's innocent. I participated in hundreds of sentencing hearings in my 44-year career as a prosecutor and as a judge. Most of the sentences imposed were within the range I thought reasonable given the crime...
Restricting Freedom of Movement Is a Favorite Tool for Repressive Regimes
Source: reason.com 8/26/24 Needing permission to travel hands a dangerous tool to authoritarians. When you don't like the rules—or rulers—where you live, and trying to change things isn't worth the time, effort, or danger, one good response is to get the hell out. Find someplace that's more to your taste by voting for something different with your feet. But what if the local powers-that-be...
Janice’s Journal: We Did It!
Thanks to almost 50 individuals, we did it! We raised $10,175 for the matching grant program in about two weeks. As a result, ACSOL has a total of $20,175 to apply toward significantly increasing the number of registrants who are eligible to petition for removal from the registry. This is not the first step, but it is an important step, in a multi-step process...
ACSOL National Action Alert: Lend your support to H.R.2899 Second Chance Reauthorization Act
Source: bop.gov [from p2a.co:] For formerly incarcerated individuals, reentering society is filled with uncertainties. Those include gaining access to life’s basic needs like housing and a career, proven ways to ensure they don’t return to prison. But too often, they are unable to take advantage of what is offered to others without a criminal record and end up back behind bars, adding more costs...
New Speakers Added to ACSOL Conference
Two new speakers have been added to the ACSOL conference to be held on Friday, September 20, and Saturday, September 21. The first of those speakers, Kathleen Hambrick, will address law enforcement stings from the perspective of a layperson. Ms. Hambrick's presentation will include what's trending in proactive sting tactics as well as a brief history of sting operations. Ms. Hambrick will speak on...
NY: Third County Sex Offender Registration Decision Overturned
Source: observertoday.com 8/20/24 A third designation of a sexually violent offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act in Chautauqua County has been reversed upon appeal. Fourth Department Appellate Division judges reversed their third such case in three months in late July. Once again, the case cites precedent the court set in a June case involving a decision made by Judge David Foley – though...
IN: Interesting Stay Dispute in Seventh Circuit Minors’-Access-to-Porn Case
Source: reason.com 8/20/24 From Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Rokita, decided Friday by Judges Frank Easterbrook and Amy St. Eve: Indiana seeks a stay of the preliminary injunction that a district court entered preventing the enforcement of Ind. Code § 24-4-23, which requires web sites to limit minors' access to certain sexual materials. Indiana's statute is functionally identical to one adopted by Texas. That...
ACSOL Online Meeting CANCELED September 21, 2024 due to conference
Our conference will be held September 20 and 21, so our next online meeting will be in October. We look forward to joining us at the conference. Click here to signup today. - Janice
CA: Sacramento County DA’s Office accuses judge of creating an illegal plea deal with a man accused of grabbing five different women
Source: msn.com 8/17/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A disagreement in a courtroom is spilling out into the public arena. The Sacramento County District Attorney (SCDA) is accusing a judge of creating an illegal plea deal with a man accused of grabbing five different women from behind in the Natomas area. “After five incidents of him approaching five separate women, touching their buttocks,” said Sonia Martinez-Satchell, Deputy District Attorney...
ACSOL CA Good News Alert: Senate Bill 1128 Stopped in Committee Hearing
CA Senate Bill 1128 was stopped today during a hearing conducted by the Assembly's Appropriations Committee. The committee did not provide a reason for stopping the bill, but it has been reported that strong opposition to the bill by ACSOL and its leaders was an important part of that decision. "ACSOL thanks every person who showed up at the committee hearing on July...
IL: New Illinois law clarifies rules on AI-generated child pornography
Source: myjournalcourier.com 8/13/24 Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed into law legislation clarifying that Illinois’ existing child pornography laws apply to images and videos created using artificial intelligence technology. “I initiated this legislation because AI-generated child sexual abuse images are an increasing concern that need to be addressed before technology outpaces our ability to distinguish between AI images and images of real children,” Attorney General...
NC: Appeals court rejects challenge to North Carolina sex offender registration law
Source: portcitydaily.com 8/12/24 Three judges on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of North Carolina’s sex offender registry statute against a lawsuit from two organizations based in the state. The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws, headquartered in Raleigh, and its state-affiliate North Carolina for Rational Sexual Offense Laws joined anonymous plaintiffs John Doe 1 and 2 in the case....