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
U.S. Sentencing Commission Seeks Comment On Proposals Addressing The Impact Of Acquitted Conduct, Youthful Convictions, And Other Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Today the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to seek comment on several proposals that would, among other things, limit the federal courts’ consideration of acquitted conduct and youthful convictions under the federal sentencing guidelines. The bipartisan Commission voted today to publish for public comment several options to address the use of acquitted conduct for sentencing purposes. The proposed amendment comes after the Commission took...
OH: Ohio prosecutors broke rules to win convictions and got away with it
Source: npr.org 12/14/23 Ernie Haynes never imagined that taking care of his three grandsons after his daughter's drug overdose death would turn him into a felon at the hands of a longtime Ohio prosecutor known to sidestep the rules intended to protect a defendant's rights in criminal trials. A week after his daughter died in December 2017, the court granted temporary custody of the...
U.S. Probation System a “Quagmire” That Sets Defendants Up to Fail
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 11/15/23 An article published in Reason on January 26, 2023, cited numerous problems in probation systems nationwide, describing them as a “quagmire.” For the article, the magazine, a publication of the Libertarian California-based Reason Foundation, profiled Jennifer Schroeder, who was handed a drug charge in Minnesota and ended up placed on probation for 40 years. There she joined over three million Americans...
3 Myths About Hiring People with Criminal Records
Source: hbr.org 12/13/2023 Summary. Research suggests that generalized fears about hiring people with a criminal history — such as fear they’ll commit another crime — are tough to square with the facts. An expansion of what’s often called “second-chance” or...Employers are desperate to recruit hundreds of thousands of workers who seemingly have vanished from the workforce. People with criminal histories represent a large pool...
CA Court Denies Government’s Demurrer
Source: ACSOL A judge in Los Angeles Superior Court today denied a demurrer filed by the government in a case that challenges CDCR's blanket policy that requires all registrants on parole to continue treatment the entire time they are on parole. Treatment includes group counseling, individual counseling and/or polygraph examinations. According to the lawsuit, CDCR's policy is in violation of state law because that...
Report: “Mass Supervision” Driving Mass Incarceration
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 11/15/23 A May 2023 report by Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) counts nearly 3.7 million Americans on probation or parole – nearly twice the nation’s total imprisoned population. This “mass supervision” brings the total number under control of the nation’s criminal justice system to about 5.5 million people – over 2,100 of every 100,000 citizens aged 18 and over. While touted as alternatives...
US DOJ SMART Office SORNA Case Law Study 2023 revisited
Source: Florida Action Committee and US DOJ 12/10/23 The US DOJ updates this publication each July. Previous year’s issues have been written up. Even if covered already, please find a reminder to take a look at this document. Recent case decisions and the anticipation of potential new case activity are good reasons to revisit this publication. The document does a fair job of compiling...
UK accuses Meta of empowering child sexual abusers with encryption rollout
Source: theguardian.com 12/7/23 Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has been accused by the UK government of empowering child sexual abusers after the tech firm began rolling out the automatic encryption of all messages on its Facebook and Messenger platforms. The home secretary, James Cleverly, described the move as a “significant step back” for child safety after Meta said it would introduce end-to-end encryption on the apps....
IL: Sex offenders on probation challenge Illinois policy on contact with children
Source: courthousenews.com 12/7/23 The parolees complain they have to wait months or more before a therapist deems them fit to see their own children — and can't even speak to them by phone before then. CHICAGO (CN) — Sex offenders on supervised release argued before a Seventh Circuit panel Thursday that Illinois' policy limiting when they can see their children is unconstitutional and should...
TN: Tennessee argues to reinstate sex offender registry requirements at Sixth Circuit
Source: courthousenews.com 12/7/23 CINCINNATI (CN) — Reporting requirements for sex offenders convicted before 1995, which can include in-person reporting, administrative fees and movement restrictions, do not violate the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Volunteer State argued Thursday at a federal appeals court. The state sought to overturn the ruling of a federal judge who found the exhaustive regulations punitive in...
The government is launching a review of the porn industry – here’s what that means
Source: cosmopolitan.com 12/8/23 The porn industry is to be scrutinised as part of a government review that hopes to tackle abuse, exploitation, and the harmful impact of pornography, it has been announced. From human trafficking to illegal pornography and questions around age limitations when it comes to accessing to graphic content, efforts into how to tackle the dangers associated with the online sex industry...
AL: Warning from father of teen who took his own life after being sextorted online
Source: wbrc.com 10/4/23 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A grieving dad is hoping the story of his son’s loss and traumatic last few hours can be a warning to us as parents of teens, and prevent another tragedy like the one his family is now enduring. “Coming up on that one-year anniversary, it’s another day, that’s all it is, another day, but that day will...
UK: Behind the Crime: The Silent Suffering of a Sex Offender’s Family
Source: bnn.network 12/4/23 On a day that was meant to usher in a joyous celebration, a mother named Sarah found her world crumbling. Her husband, the father of her children, was arrested in a police raid on charges of involvement in child sexual abuse material. The chilling discovery of hundreds of illegal images, including Category A content, the most egregious forms of child pornography,...
IA: Prisoner advocates feel more hopeless after sex offense civil commitment presentation
Source: newtondailynews.com 12/5/23 Families and advocates of incarcerated individuals at Newton Correctional Facility had been waiting months for the Iowa Board of Corrections to provide some semblance of an answer to their questions regarding the state’s civil commitment program. It was finally put on the agenda. Open for all to see. Although the department of corrections and its board members acknowledged their concerns, advocates...
OH: LGBTQ+ advocates worried about vague language in Ohio’s new ‘grooming’ bill
Source: ohiocapitaljournal.com 12/4/23 A new bill in the Ohio House aiming to punish sexual grooming may have vague enough language that it harms LGBTQ+ youth, some advocates worry. Community is essential for many LGBTQ+ teens. Kaleidoscope Youth Center (KYC) aims to provide that by holding educational programming and discussion groups. “They’re looking for those mentorship-type relationships that all of us need,” said Erin Upchurch, KYC...
UK: ‘I can’t defend what he did’: Why I stayed with my child sex offender husband
Source: news.sky.com 12/4/23 Sarah, not her real name, was shocked when her husband was arrested and later convicted of viewing hundreds of illegal child abuse images. After agonising over her future, she decided to stay with him. Watch the video
The Disturbing True Story Behind the Movie “May December”
Source: menshealth.com 12/3/23 Todd Haynes' new film May December stars Julianne Moore and Charles Melton as a married couple with a complicated history (to say the least), and Natalie Portman as an actress who inserts themselves into their lives while preparing to perform in a movie about the beginning of their relationship. The detail which makes this marriage so unusual, and which drives much...
FL: V.M. Ybor residents get little help with sex offender problem
Source: wfla.com 12/1/23 TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The residents of V.M. Ybor have been coming to Tampa City Council for years to ask that something be done about a high concentration of convicted sex offenders living in their neighborhood. On Thursday, the city council held a workshop to talk about the issue, but the results were not what residents were hoping for. “Would that...
TN: U.S. Dept. of Justice says Tennessee HIV law discriminates
Source: wlns.com 12/1/23 LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The U.S. Department of Justice has notified the state of Tennessee it has determined the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing a law targeting sex workers living with HIV. A 1991 Tennessee law considers sex workers who are HIV-positive to be violent sex offenders, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. “Tennessee’s...
ME: Orrington residents to choose if they want to limit where sex offenders live
Source: bangordailynews.com 12/1/23 Orrington residents will choose if they want to enact an ordinance that prohibits people on the sex offender registry from living within 750 feet of schools and churches About 35 residents, the board of selectmen, Town Manager Chris Backman and town attorney Andrew Hamilton gathered at the Center Drive School on Thursday to discuss which of three ordinances voters should choose...