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
Sex offender residential requirements unconstitutional, court rules [updated with Court Decision]
A blanket restriction prohibiting sex offenders from living near places where children congregate is unconstitutional, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday, throwing a surprising wrench into a popular law. The decision by Division 1 of the 4th District Court of Appeal concerns the 2006 ballot measure known as Jessica's Law, which barred registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or...
A Letter to the Lancaster City Council
This was sent to the Lancaster City Council before the City Council Meeting on September 11: It has recently come to my attention that the city of Lancaster wishes to prohibit registered sex offenders from entering their town. It seems that excluding registered sex offenders is one of those bipartisan issues that everyone can agree on. I frankly don't understand why. Liberals and progressives...
“Gary Blanton Jr. – Beyond The Label” Sneak Preview
Sneak Preview of the upcoming independent film project tentatively titled "Gary Blanton Jr.- Beyond The Label." On June 2, 2012, a career criminal named Patrick Drum killed two people and planned to kill a third along the Washington state peninsula. Because his victims were listed on the state's public "sex offender" registry, Drum was labeled a "hero" by many in the community. But they...
Lancaster furthers restrictions on registered sex offenders [with Video]
LANCASTER – The Lancaster City Council Tuesday approved an ordinance that imposes restrictions and regulations upon registered sex offenders in addition to those imposed under state law. Specifically, the new ordinance prohibits registered sex offenders: From living within 2,000 feet of any school, park or day care center. From living at a residence or hotel/motel/inn where another registered sex offender already lives (with a...
Sex offender arrested in attempt to meet girl, 13
Agents with the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force arrested a registered sex offender suspected of arranging a meeting at the Huntington Beach Pier with an undercover officer he believed to be a minor, authorities said Monday. The arrest came after an investigation into a teen chat room that allows users to have private webcam chats, according to a written release from the Orange...
Simi Valley becomes first city in county to pass Halloween sex offender law
Simi Valley on Monday night became the first city in Ventura County to pass a law that aims to prevent sex offenders from having contact with trick-or-treating children on Halloween. The ordinance, adopted by the City Council on a 4-1 vote, applies to the several dozen convicted child sex offenders who live in Simi Valley and are on the Megan's Law website. Championed by...
Council Focuses On Child-Related Issues
LANCASTER - On Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 5, a teenage girl was walking home from school in Palmdale when she was confronted by a man grabbed her and tore her blouse as she struggled to get away. The man was later found and arrested for attempted rape and assault to commit rape. The city council will decide Tuesday whether to approve an addition to Lancaster’s...
IN: Court rules state sex offender registry unconstitutional
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal court appeals ruling may push state legislators into finding a fix for some long-standing problems with Indiana’s sex and violent offender registry. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled the state’s registry was unconstitutional because it violated the due process rights of ex-offenders in the registry who have no way to correct mistaken information. The registry is a publicly accessible...
Commentary: The Mayor’s Two Hats: Hysteria In Lancaster?
From Norm Pattis Blog: The general counsel of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College has some explaining to do. As general counsel and board member of the college, R. Rex Parris professes a dedication to the college’s mission statement. That statement pledges a commitment to seeking justice for “the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned.” It is hard to...
Child porn evidence unreliable: study of Playboy
A commonly used method of judging a woman's sexual maturation may not be good enough in child pornography prosecutions. That, at least, is what a group of pediatric endocrinologists concluded from a study of more than 500 Playboy centerfolds. "So often these people get convicted on what I refer to as felonious bad taste," said Dr. Arlan Rosenbloom, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University...
Simi Valley City Council Meeting – 9/10 [Halloween Ordinance]
City Council meetings are held on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, California 93063 (map). September 10, 2012 6D. Second reading of Ordinance No. 1201 adding Title 5, Chapter 43, to the Simi Valley Municipal Code establishing restrictions on registered sex offenders on October 31 of each year (Baxter) (CC) Staff Report
TX: Texas Students Revolt Against Mandatory RFID Tracking Chips
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (NBC) -- Students and parents are rallying against new ID badges that track student movement on the campuses of two San Antonio, Texas schools. Father Steven Hernandez does not agree with the district’s new pilot program called Radio Frequency Identification System, or RFID. The new identification tags are designed to help the district improve safety by locating students at any time,...
Sex offender arrested in Irvine park
IRVINE – A registered sex offender was in custody after visiting a park to play tennis, the first such arrest in the city since it adopted a law that banned sex offenders from city parks. The 51-year-old Garden Grove man was taken into custody Thursday, after police officials said he drove to Citrus Glen Park to play tennis. Full Article
Drum pleads guilty to double murder
At a last-minute hearing in Clallam County Superior Court Thursday, Patrick Boyd Drum, 34, of Sequim, pleaded guilty to all charges stemming from a June double murder. Drum shot and killed Gary Lee Blanton Jr., 28, and Jerry Wayne Ray, 55, before fleeing four miles up Blue Mountain Road and eluding law enforcement for several hours June 3. Blanton and Ray were both registered...
Lancaster City Council Meeting – 9/11 [Presence, Residency, Halloween Ban]
It’s time to Show Up, Stand Up and Speak Up! The first two cities in L.A. County have proposed ordinances that would prohibit all registrants, regardless of type or date of offense, from visiting parks, libraries, museums and other public areas. These ordinances must be stopped before L.A. County duplicates Orange County where most cities have such ordinances!! We effectively stopped the City of...
Meeting Draws Negative Attention
An organization aimed at reforming sex offender laws chose an Albuquerque hotel to host its fourth annual conference, but safety worries prompted the city to beef up security at nearby parks and schools. The city held a meeting Tuesday evening to address residents’ concerns, but it was sparsely attended. Albuquerque Police Cmdr. Kevin Rowe, who organized the meeting, assured the public that police were...
Locals remain concerned over reform sex offender conference
People have expressed concerns about Albuquerque hosting a national conference on sex offender laws this week. After the announcement Monday, Albuquerque police said they would hold a special meeting Tuesday to answer questions about safety and security surrounding the conference. The handful of people who showed up to the meeting said they left feeling even more disappointed and confused than before. Full Article
Federal Sex Offender Civil Commitment Process Under Fire
Among other provisions, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 allows the federal government to indefinitely detain “sexually dangerous” offenders through a civil commitment process, which requires mandatory court hearings after such offenders have been certified by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as eligible for commitment. The Adam Walsh Act was named for the kidnapped and murdered son of America’s...
UK: Ruling allows sex register appeals
Sex offenders can appeal against having to register with police for life from Saturday, despite concerns raised by a children's charity that they must "always be considered a risk". Thousands of sex offenders will be able to apply to have their names removed after the Supreme Court ruled it was a breach of offenders' human rights to be put on the register for life...
TX: “A Child Protection Act That Doesn’t”
On June 29, 2012, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 6063, a bill which, on its surface, is as noble and well-intentioned as a piece of legislation can possibly be. Titled “The Child Protection Act of 2012,” it would be difficult for anyone to find fault with its lofty purported goal – to protect children. While I cannot find fault with the goal, the...