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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NJ: Emails show FBI investigating Sen. Bob Menendez for sleeping with underage Dominican prostitutes
Documents published online for the first time Thursday indicate that the FBI opened an inquiry into New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on August 1, 2012, focusing on repeated trips he took to the Dominican Republic with longtime campaign contributor and Miami eye doctor Salomon Melgen. The DC reported in November that Menendez purchased the service of prostitutes in that Caribbean nation at a...
IN: Facebook Sex Offenders Ban Ruled Unconstitutional By Indiana Court
INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from using Facebook and other social networking sites that can be accessed by children is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Chicago overturned a federal judge's decision upholding the law, saying the state was justified in trying to protect children but that the "blanket ban" went...
Huntington Beach changes sex-offender ordinances after lawsuit [updated with video]
HUNTINGTON BEACH – The city has changed its sex-offender park ban after the law's constitutionality was challenged in court. City Council members on Tuesday approved an amended ordinance that will allow police Chief Kenneth Small to write case-by-case exemptions to the sex-offender ordinance based on his discretion. The change comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by a convicted sex offender in October,...
Huntington Beach to consider changes to sex offender rule
HUNTINGTON BEACH – City Council members will discuss changing an ordinance to allow some exceptions to a ban on sex offenders in city parks. The council will meet on Tuesday to discuss allowing Police Chief Kenneth Small to make exemptions to the rule based on his discretion, according to city reports. The changes come on the heels of a lawsuit filed in October, naming...
IN: RSOs and Social Media Prohibition
A recent Indiana statute prohibits most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites, instant messaging services, and chat programs. John Doe, on behalf of a class of similarly situated sex offenders, challenges this law on First Amendment grounds. We reverse the district court and hold that the law as drafted is unconstitutional. Though content neutral, we conclude that the Indiana law is not...
WY: Committee defeats banning sex offenders near child care sites
CHEYENNE -- A Wyoming legislative committee on Monday defeated a bill that would have banned sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of child care facilities. The House Judiciary Committee voted 7-2 against the bill sponsored by Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne. "The intention of this bill is to have the same protection for under school aged children that we do for school children," Eklund...
The Science of Sex Abuse
On a Saturday night in the summer of 1998, an undercover officer logged in to a child-pornography chat room using the screen name Indy-Girl. Within minutes, a user named John introduced himself and asked her, “Are you into real life or just fantasy?” Indy-Girl said that because of the “legality of it” she had never acted on her fantasies. But she soon revealed an...
Pornography and Contact Offending
Many people have grave concerns about the potential for a relationship between pornography and inappropriate sexual behavior. For obvious reasons, there are apprehensions about the sexual behaviors of those who have sexually abused. As a result, it is not uncommon for persons who have sexually abused to be restricted from certain activities that would have remained available to them had they not sexually offended....
TX: Proposed law would force sex offenders to list crimes on social media profiles
SAN ANTONIO -- Texas Voices, a group dedicated to supporting registered sex offenders and their families, estimates 111 new names hit the sex offenders registry every week in the Lone Star State. "We've already put their names and their faces and all of their information on the public registry for the world to see," said Mary Sue Molnar, who serves as president of Texas...
International Travel 2013
In an effort to keep this site organized and the comments on the topic of each post, comments, questions and suggestions regarding International Travel will be moved to this post. Please use this for all further immigration / emigration / customs related contributions. NEW: International Megan’s Law – International Travel Action Group Also see: International Travel – Mexico Living with 290: Traveling to Cabo...
TX: Former Ellis County Observer Publisher Gets Three Ten-Year Sentences For Sexual Assault and Indecency With a Child
Two years ago, Joey Dauben was full-time small-town muckraker, publishing the Ellis County Observer and a string of other small papers, blending investigative stories with vicious gossip and baseless speculation at a rate of speed that thrilled and enraged his target audience. He focused intensely on child pornography and child sex abuse, alleging that child porn rings were rampant on Facebook, which he called...
OK: Sex offender law changes may be coming to Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY – A stunning change involving sex offender laws could be making its way to Oklahoma. “I think it can open up an opportunity but being in prison around other sex offenders, if they want to reoffend, they’re going to find a way,” sex offender _____ _____ said. “If a person want [sic] to do something, they’re going to find it, if it’s the...
NH: Ex-convicts complain of treatment after their release from jail at legislative hearings
CONCORD - Supporters of the rights of criminal offenders turned out at legislative hearings on procedural matters Tuesday to complain about the way they are treated after serving their time. The House Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony on bills to study the state's use of the sex offender registry and to add another means of notifying victims that an offender is up for parole....
CT: Montville rescinds sex offender ordinances
Montville — The town avoided a potential civil rights lawsuit when it rescinded two ordinances Monday that placed restrictions on where registered sex offenders would be allowed in town.The Town Council voted to repeal the ordinances that created so-called child and senior safety zones. Marked by signs, these zones were designed to keep registered sex offenders from town-owned and town-leased property such as the...
CYPRESS ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL COURT
A registrant and his fiancée filed a lawsuit today in federal district court challenging the ordinance passed by the City of Cypress that prohibits most registrants from residing in the city as well as visiting public places such as parks, libraries and senior centers. The ordinance was passed unanimously by the City Council on March 12, 2012. “The ordinance passed by the City of...
European courts spare accused pedophile, hacker from American justice
_____ _____ is a fugitive and accused pedophile, and to some, he's also a poster child for a European judicial system that often would rather let criminals roam their streets freely than see them subjected to American justice. Nearly 20 years ago, _____, who is now 43, fled to Ireland after being charged with raping a 14-year-old girl and molesting two boys in Minnesota....
New Mexico mulls Facebook ban on SOs as Texas ponders law forcing them to reveal their crime in profiles
New Mexico lawmakers are now mulling a ban against registered sex offenders on Facebook and other social networking sites, while states, like Texas, are considering forcing them to identify their crimes in their profiles. The Texas bill would reportedly force certain sex offenders to embed in their profile the type of their offence, the location where it occurred, their full name, date of birth,...
Ban repeal sparks applause, frustration
On Dec. 18, Lake Forest repealed a year-old ordinance banning registered sex offenders from its public parks. The city was one of more than a dozen in Orange County to add such a ban to their books since April 2011. Last month, in the face of a lawsuit challenging the ban's constitutionality, Lake Forest became the first of those cities to reverse course. Proponents...
UT: No more online mug shots, SL County sheriff says
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Using words such as "bullies," "extortionists" and "trash," Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder on Thursday blasted tabloid magazines and websites that post mug shots from his jail and then demand money for the pictures to be removed. "In my opinion, what we're seeing today is nothing short of extortion in our county," Winder said. "This practice must be stopped."...
Prop 35: Preliminary Injunction granted
Late Friday, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit EFF filed with the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) that challenges the unconstitutional provisions in Proposition 35, a ballot measure passed by California voters in November that restricts the legal and constitutionally protected speech of all registered sex offenders in California. EFF and the ACLU-NC filed the lawsuit the morning after Election...