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
Bureau of Prisons director slated to resign amid controversy
The director of BOP is resigning after 30 years in the bureau The director of the federal Bureau of Prisons plans to resign amid reports of widespread corruption in the federal prison system. Michael Carvajal, who was appointed to his present position under the Trump administration, told Attorney General Merrick Garland he is resigning from the bureau after serving in it for 30 years,...
IA: New advocacy group emerging in Iowa
Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 1/5/22 My name is Heather Wagner, and I'm a new Iowa contact for NARSOL. I have a passion for fighting the injustices surrounding those who have committed a sex crime, as well as the unfair laws forced upon our Registered Citizens (aka "Sex Offenders"). I have been an advocate on this topic for nearly three years, lending my voice as the first to speak...
U.K. expands ‘Turing’s Law’ to pardon past same-sex convictions
Source: nbcnews.com 1/5/22 In a long-awaited triumph for the U.K.’s LGBTQ community, the government on Tuesday announced that anyone convicted of consensual same-sex activity under now-defunct laws will soon be eligible to be pardoned and have their records wiped clean. This week’s announcement follows a less-expansive 2017 measure that was limited to nine former offenses that targeted gay and bisexual men. The new amendment...
Canada: Opinion: Quick-fix laws following horrific crimes are seldom effective
Source: edmontonjournal.com 1/4/22 On Sept. 17, 2021, Mchale Busch, 24, and her son, Noah were tragically confirmed dead. The accused, Robert Keith Major, 53, is facing two charges of first-degree murder and two counts of indignity to human remains. In response, Cody McConnell, Busch’s partner and Noah’s father, and his family are calling for changes to Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act to allow a...
ID: Sex offender freed after appeal
Source: cdapress.com 1/4/22 COEUR d’ALENE — A man previously convicted of sexually abusing two children is free after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial. A jury convicted 39-year-old Robert J. Farrell-Quigle in 2018 of two counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16, a felony punishable by up to life...
ALI Leaders to Consider Revised Model Penal Code
Source: ACSOL The leadership of the American Law Institute is scheduled to consider during its meeting on January 20 and January 21 the revised model penal code approved overwhelmingly by its members in June 2021. The revised model penal code includes recommendations that state penal codes be changed in a number of ways, including but not limited to, reducing the number of sex offenses...
SC: It’s 2022 and these gay men are still on the sex offender registry for consensual sex
Source: queerty.com 1/3/22 A lawsuit filed last month revealed that at least 19 people are still required to register as sex offenders due to past convictions under South Carolina’s “buggery” law for having consensual gay sex. The SC law, along with other states’ anti-sodomy laws, were made invalid in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas’ anti-sodomy law was unconstitutional. While pardons...
CA: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to resign from position
Source: fox5sandiego.com 1/3/22 SAN DIEGO — Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who represents the 80th Assembly District in San Diego, announced Monday she will be resigning from her position. ... According to Gonzalez, she will leave her position effective Wednesday and plans to lead the California Labor Federation starting in July. Read the full article
FL: Homeless offenders in Brevard County struggle to find resources and shelter
Source: floridatoday.com 1/3/22 Jason ____ is sitting in Brevard County Jail waiting to appear before a judge on a charge of violating parole. He’d rather be anywhere else, but the reality is he’s not wanted many other places. A charge against him made in 1998 at 15 years old, of which he was convicted in 2000, has marked him as a sex offender. He is...
VA: Professor’s redefinition of pedophilia could help offenders demand rights
Source: nypost.com 1/1/22 On Nov. 8, Old Dominion sociology and criminology professor Allyn Walker gave an interview in which he asserted the need to destigmatize pedophiles by redefining them as “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs). Walker stated, “We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt,” and that when people “hear the term ‘pedophile,’ they automatically assume that...
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IL: Changes will deny probation for some child pornographers
Source: wgem.com 12/29/21 QUINCY (WGEM) - There’s a change to a law that has to do with possession of child pornography. Legislators closed a loophole that allowed family members found to be in possession of child pornography to escape jail time. Starting on Jan. 1, possession of child pornography when the child is a household or family member is a non-probational offense. This means...
General Comments Jan 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Jan 2022. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Utah Action Alert: Support Senate Bill 52 to lessen restrictions on sex offenders
Source: ksl.com 12/30/21 SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that could come up in the 2022 legislative session would change restrictions for sex offenders. The bill is sponsored by Utah state Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine. The bill that could come up in next month's legislative session would amend the state's sex offender registry. Senate Bill 0052 would allow registered sex offenders to go to...
PA: Another Blow to SORNA I with Failure to Register Conviction Relief
Source: parsol.org 12/28/21 December 22, 2021 has seen the release of many case opinions from the PA Supreme Court (SCOPA) with Commonwealth v. David Santana being the biggest win for our advocacy efforts. In a 5-2 decision, SCOPA affirmed the Superior Court’s opinion that “Mr. Santana’s registration requirement under SORNA was an after-the-fact punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Accordingly, he had no duty to comply...
The Collateral Consequences of Exoneration
Source: thecrimereport.org 12/23/21 The holiday season is often a time for family gatherings, and while many will be preparing for reunions in the coming days, it is important to remember the roadblocks returning citizens face. For instance, background checks cause thousands of potential collateral consequences that can impact things like housing or employment. As my story explains, these consequences can even inappropriately spill over...
Antigua: Sex offense registry to be established
Source: antiguaobserver.com 12/27/21 Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin says residents will soon be alerted when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood by the creation of a sex offenders registry. ... Now, the AG says that once convicted, the names of all sexual offenders will be placed on a public registry from early next year. Read the full article
MI: Former Detroit City Council president just before prison release: ‘What I did was wrong’
Source: freep.com 12/24/21 Clouds hovered overhead on the morning Charles Pugh, 50, took his first steps to freedom outside the doors of the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility into the brisk December air. Pugh was met by his friends and family who were waiting to pick him up in Ionia from the place where he had spent the last 5½ years following his 2016 convictions...
Transparency Laws Let Criminal Records Become Commodities
Source: wired.com 12/23/21 For millions of people, details from an arrest—even a mistaken one—live on after being sold to data brokers. And the state profits. In April 2018, Adnan (a pseudonym) was wrongfully arrested in Newark, New Jersey, on the basis of an incorrect arrest warrant. A brief period in jail led to the criminal court judge dismissing the incident and moving to have...
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SC: Lawsuit: SC man says he still has to register as sex offender for having sex with another man
Source: live5news.com 12/22/21 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A South Carolina man is suing Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel, claiming that he still has to register as a sex offender for a buggery charge in which he says he was convicted, and later pardoned, for having consensual sex with another man. The man, identified as “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says...
ACSOL President Honored in Wall Street Journal
Source: ACSOL ACSOL President Chance Oberstein was recently honored in the Wall Street Journal after being selected as a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is provided to individuals based upon their career longevity, philanthropic endeavors and lasting contributions. "We congratulate Chance Oberstein for this well deserved recognition," stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. "ACSOL is indeed fortunate to...