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
The US might restrict social media in prisons and inmates are worried: ‘I may lose my voice soon’
Source: theguardian.com 5/28/24 A proposed change to US prison rules is threatening to punish inmates for using social media or directing others to do so on their behalf, severing what some view as a vital link to the outside world. Delores Eggerson manages her son’s social media accounts while he serves a life sentence in Arkansas. For almost 22 years, she’s logged into his...
CA: Beware of attorneys offering applications for gubernatorial pardons
Source: ACSOL Beware of attorneys offering to submit applications for gubernatorial pardons in California based upon the promise that a pardon will remove you from the registry. The California Department of Justice recently announced that it “will not terminate the requirement to register on the basis of a gubernatorial pardon unless it includes a finding of innocence.” The announcement is reflected on the Governor’s...
NY: Supreme Court rules for NRA in New York government coercion battle
Source: nbcnews.com 5/30/24 [ACSOL is posting this as it could relate to eventually making the registry non-public] WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the National Rifle Association can pursue a claim that a New York state official’s efforts to encourage companies to end ties with the gun rights group constituted unlawful coercion. The justices unanimously found that the NRA can move forward with arguments that...
CA: CDCR Agrees to Change Treatment Requirements for Registrants on Parole
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed in writing to change treatment requirements for registrants while on parole. As a result of this agreement, the number of registrants who are discharged early from parole is expected to increase significantly. The improvements to which CDCR have agreed include the possibility of ending treatment in as little as one year. The...
NY: RAA Applauds NYCLU & Plantiffs for Lawsuit Challenging Banishment Law
Source: restorativeactionalliance.org 5/29/24 Restorative Action Alliance (RAA) applauds the brave plaintiffs and legal professionals of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) who have recently brought a class action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of New York Executive Law § 259-c (14), known as “SARA.” This banishment law affects thousands of individuals with certain sex offense convictions preventing them from being in proximity to restaurants, stores,...
MI: Police use license plate readers to arrest 6, including Wyandotte teacher, in undercover sex sting
Source: detroitnews.com 5/29/24 Six people, including a teacher in Wyandotte and two Venezuelan nationals, have been arrested on sex and prostitution charges after Taylor police and Homeland Security officials posed undercover and then used license plate readers and live-time cameras to pinpoint the suspects. The arrests stemmed from an investigation that ran from April 24-26 and involved both Taylor police and the U.S. Department...
SC: South Carolina family of boy, 13, who died by suicide sues Snapchat over sextortion scheme
Source: foxnews.com 5/26/24 A South Carolina mother is suing Snapchat after her 13-year-old son died by suicide last year. The family says young Timothy Barnett took his own life April 6, 2023, at his Sumter home after he fell victim to a sextortion scheme on the social media app. "On April 6 … it was a typical morning," Betsy Hauptman, Timothy's mother, told Fox...
International Living 2024
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Living ONLY. Please give your account of a country's expenses, environment, requirements, advantages, limitations, and so on. Each year we will start a new page, just like we do for International Travel.
Alabama Court Rules Residency Restrictions Violate Constitution
Source: ACSOL A federal district ruled yesterday that a state law in Alabama that restricts where registrants may live violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court's ruling was made in a 162-page decision that carefully reviewed the language of that state law as well as its impact upon more than 20,000 individuals required to register. According to the court, one part...
Get the Facts on Mass Incarceration
Source: sentencingproject.org 5/22/24 Report highlights the growth in state and federal prison populations since the early 1970s, and its far reaching effect on families, communities, and society as a whole. The United States is unparalleled historically and ranks among the highest worldwide in its dependence on incarceration.1 Over five million people in total are under supervision by the criminal legal system.2 Of these, nearly...
Editorial: A felony conviction should not come with a life sentence on voting rights
Source: latimes.com 5/20/24 Voting is not a privilege. It’s a right. But one group of citizens has been long denied that right in parts of the country. In half the states, including California, people convicted of felonies who have served their time in prison re-enter their communities with the right to vote automatically and immediately restored. In Vermont, Maine and the District of Columbia,...
A Widely Used Criminal Justice Algorithm For Assessing Child Pornography Recidivism Is Flawed
Source: scientificamerican.com 5/20/24 The CPORT algorithm, commonly used to estimate the risk that a child pornography offender will offend again, hasn’t been validated for use in the U.S. In today’s criminal justice system, there are more than 400 algorithms on the market that inform important legal decisions like sentencing and parole. Much like insurance companies use algorithms to set premiums, judges use risk assessment...
CA: Hysteria over a registrant formerly labeled SVP
Source: abc30.com 5/17/24 MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A convicted sex offender is about to be released in the Central Valley. On Thursday, a Merced Superior Court judge ruled that Ciro Camacho should no longer be classified as a sexually violent predator. The judge ordered Camacho to be released from the California State Hospital. ... "He intended to reside with his family here in...
TN: Tennessee Governor OKs Bill Allowing Death Penalty for Child Rape Convictions
Source: usnews.com 5/14/24 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has approved legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, a change the Republican-controlled Statehouse championed amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases. Lee, a Republican, quietly signed off on the legislation last week without issuing a statement. The new Tennessee law, which goes...
Number of CA Registrants Continues to Diminish, Number of Petitions Granted Continues to Grow
Source: ACSOL The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) met today and during that meeting several positive trends were noted. First, the number of people required to register continues to diminish and the number of petitions granted continues to grow. Second, CASOMB continues to work toward improving the Tiered Registry Law . According to the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ), the total number...
TN: Sixth Circuit vacates sweeping injunction against Tennessee sex offender registry laws
Source: courthousenews.com 5/15/24 The appeals court panel ordered a federal judge to review the statutory scheme one requirement at a time to determine if any portion violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. CINCINNATI (CN) — The entirety of Tennessee's sex offender registry law cannot be thrown out because a handful of requirements may be unconstitutional, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday. In...
Norway: Sex offender asks Norway’s Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right
Source: abcnews.go.com 5/1/24 STAVANGER, Norway -- A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare that social media access is a human right. The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging app to connect with young boys. The unidentified offender was sentenced last year to 13 months in prison and banned...
Barbados: Youth Minister calls for a sex offender’s registry
Source: starcomnetwork.net 5/15/24 There is a call for a national register for child sex offenders in Barbados. It came from the Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith during the debate on the report of the Child Protection Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday. Mr. Griffith stressed that the Government needs to move a step further and implement the register. Read...
CA: L.A. County puts 66 probation officers on leave for misconduct, including sexual abuse, excessive force
Source: nbcnews.com 5/14/24 [ACSOL is posting this to show abuse of authority] LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Probation Department announced Monday that it has put 66 of its officers on administrative leave in the past five months for alleged offenses including excessive force, sexual abuse and drug possession. The department said the announcement was intended as an effort to “regain public trust”...
Janice’s Journal: Reaching the Goal of 100
It happened. I have reached my goal of helping 100 registrants obtain a court order terminating their requirement to register. That goal was met yesterday in Los Angeles County under the sweetest of circumstances when a Superior Court judge who previously denied a registrant’s petition granted the same registrant’s petition. The judge’s initial decision denying the registrant’s petition was flawed because it was based...