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
NY: City repeals sex offender law
With little options, the City of Lockport Common Council voted to repeal a local code regarding sex offender restrictions Wednesday. In July, City Attorney John Ottaviano recommended this decision based on the recent overturning of similar local laws throughout New York state because they are more restrictive than the state law. He said courts will not uphold this local law and will not enforce...
Film festival opts to show movie despite concern about producer’s past
A movie filmed partly at Oceanside's El Camino High School will be screened as planned at the Oceanside International Film Festival next week, despite concerns that the San Diego man who made it is a registered sex offender. Full Article
Film festival troubled over whether to show sex offender’s movie
A movie filmed partly in Oceanside and featuring some local residents could be pulled from the Oceanside International Film Festival set for later this month, after organizers learned it was produced, written and directed by a registered sex offender. Full Article
Orange County DA (Tony Rackauckus), where does he get his info?
"Anybody who has worked in the system for a while knows that sexual crimes are the ones that are repeated the most - we've had case after case of recidivist sex offenders..." Video of Santa Ana City Council Meeting here - OCDA @13:30 Article
OK: Supreme Court Decision Could Knock Thousands Of Sex Offenders Off Oklahoma Registry
OKLAHOMA CITY - There's a fear thousands of sex offenders could drop off the Oklahoma registry and go unchecked. Some have been convicted of rape and child molestation, but want the state Supreme Court to give them a fresh start. Right now the state Supreme Court is looking at two specific cases and whatever the high court decides will set a precedent for all...
Carlos Bustamante Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Assault Charges
SANTA ANA, Calif. (KTLA) -- Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante pleaded not guilty on Thursday to sexual assault charges involving multiple former female co-workers. Bustamante, 47, a married father of three, is currently free on $100,000 bail. A pre-trial hearing date has been scheduled for Aug. 30. He is charged with more than 12 felonies in connection with the alleged sexual assault of seven...
On TV: Our America / Labeled For Life
Lisa Ling: Our America Previews: Labeled For Life Lisa Ling investigates the case of a teenage boy who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for touching a girl's breast - and is now a registered sex offender. Lisa will try to piece together what happened and find out: did the punishment fit the crime? Tune in Tuesday, August 7th at 10/9c for this...
RI: Defendants Agree not to Enforce Sex Offender Residency Law Against ACLU Plaintiffs
At a court hearing today on the ACLU’s request for a preliminary injunction, the state and the Providence Police Department have agreed not to arrest and/or prosecute the plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that makes it a felony for any person required to register as a sex offender to reside within 300 feet of any school. Across...
MN: Judge certifies sex offender suit as class action
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A federal judge has certified a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program as a class action on behalf of everyone committed to the program. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ruled Tuesday that the lawsuit meets the legal requirements to be certified as a class action. He pointed out that the proposed class includes about 600 people...
No Need for Civil Commitment Warning in Plea Bargain
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held this week that a judge is not required to inform a child pornography defendant that his plea bargain could lead to civil commitment as a sexually dangerous person at the end of his prison term. According to the appellate court, due process and Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure do not require the district...
A Call For Courage
Those who choose to serve the public are often confronted with unpleasantness and difficult decisions. Oftentimes those decisions, in order that they be correct ones which benefit society as a whole rather than one small segment of it, must fly in the face of public sentiment. The issue of child pornography is a highly volatile, emotionally charged one, but where it is the right...
Would you Consider it Punishment?
A SOSEN Production. Pass it on. On YouTube
Man accused of groping girl in park restroom could face life term
A man who allegedly followed a 13-year-old girl and her 7-year-old sister into a park bathroom and fondled one of them was charged Monday with multiple counts of committing lewd acts on a child, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Frank Zsemlye, 27, allegedly followed the girls into the women’s restroom at Modjeska Park in Anaheim on July 19 and pulled the...
NJ: Due Process: Megan’s Law
It began in New Jersey 15 years ago when the murder-rape of 7-year-old Megan Kanka launched a nationwide movement - and laws in all 50 states. The idea was to keep tabs on sex offenders through town by town registries ... and, in the cases of those deemed most likely to strike again, to notify neighbors, schools and community institutions that a potential sexual...
List of Problems with the Sex Crime/Offender System
October 13. 2011 - There are so many problems with the current sex crime/offender system that it is overwhelming to think about it. You can’t truly understand how dark life can be until you’ve been charged with a sex crime. Once charged, you will be shocked at the new world in which you live, and the new identity you have assumed. You will look...
Sex offender law is wrong
In the Santa Maria Times - Your reporter wrote a fair and balanced article regarding Lompoc’s sex-offender ordinance, which prohibits sex offenders from residing in most parts of the city. The article was balanced in that it included statements from both sides of the issue. As the head of the California Reform Sex Offender Laws organization, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to restoring the rights...
[UPDATED with Video] Simi deleting part of Halloween sex offender law (back to First Reading)
[highlight bg="#ff9900" color="#fff"]Admin Note: [/highlight] CA RSOL spoke in opposition to the ordinance. It will go back to first reading and public comments. Simi Valley is deleting part of a proposed law that would make the city the first in Ventura County to ban registered sex offenders from having contact with trick-or-treating children on Halloween. The section would have required the 119 registered sex offenders...
DC: Register Now for Reentry Summit Sponsored by U.S. Department of Labor
Reentry through Employment: A Comprehensive Approach to Reintegrating the Formerly Incarcerated - Supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance An Event Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Register now for this summit event, which will focus on successful state and local approaches to reentry, challenges to reentry for special populations, and model programs adopted by the business community. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis...
RI: ACLU to challenge sex offender law
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The Rhode Island Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is holding a news conference Monday afternoon. The RI ACLU plans to announce the filing of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that makes it a felony for a sex offender to reside within 300 feet of a school. The suit is being brought on behalf of...
NC: Supporters rally around convicted child sex offender
A Gaston County jury said that Pastor Keith Devon Pettis used his role as a foster parent to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl. A group of Pettis’ parishioners and family disagrees. That group has hosted rallies in support of the 45-year-old man, and his case will be at the center of a march and rally scheduled for Saturday. Full Article