The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today in which it declared retroactive a law in The Village of Hartland, Wisconsin, that severely limits the number of registrants who can reside in that town. Today’s decision signaled a reversal of that Court’s prior decisions which held that a new law can be applied to individuals convicted of a sex offense prior to the passage of that law. The Court noted that its ruling today meets the requirements of only one of the two requirements necessary to determine that…
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ACSOL Conference to Feature Distinguished Speakers, Important Panels
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will conduct its annual conference on Saturday, October 1. The cost is just $25. The conference will be virtual on Zoom and feature distinguished speakers including attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation, Ilan Meyer of UCLA, criminal defense attorneys Chance Oberstein and Alex Landon as well as civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci. Mr. Kruckenberg is the lead attorney in the case challenging the SORNA regulations. At the conference, he will make a presentation about the ongoing litigation and its potential…
Read MoreGeneral Comments Aug 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Aug 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.
Read MoreACSOL Board Votes to Discontinue Support for March 2023 Conference
The board of directors for the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) unanimously voted yesterday to discontinue its support for the March 2023 conference in Washington, D.C. Prior to that vote, ACSOL had donated $5,000 to the Women Against Registry foundation for that conference. The ACSOL board’s decision yesterday followed a decision made a few weeks ago to withdraw its support for the vigil planned to be held in March 2023 near the U.S. Supreme Court. The purpose of the vigil was to educate the U.S. Supreme Court regarding…
Read MoreThis Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind.
Last September, a psychiatrist named Edward Gripon traveled to Texas’ death row to meet a man he helped put there. He had testified at the 2006 trial of Ramiro Gonzales, who was facing a death sentence for kidnapping, raping and killing Bridget Townsend when they both were 18 years old. “This is a man who has demonstrated a tendency to want to control, to manipulate, and to take advantage of certain other individuals,” Gripon told the jury at the time, predicting that Gonzales would pose a risk of harming more…
Read MoreSC: Sex offenders begin applying to get off South Carolina registry
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — Sex offenders have begun petitioning the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to be removed from the state sex offender registry, according to a spokesperson with the department. Offenders are now able to apply to be removed from the registry after legislation signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in late May set up parameters to do so. The bill was in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling that said it was unconstitutional for the state not to have a process that allows sex offenders to be removed from the registry.…
Read MoreGeneral Comments July 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of July 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.
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals: Don’t Bother Us With the Facts
The requirement to wear a GPS device is often levied upon individuals required to register. That requirement, however, is usually temporary and lasts no longer than the time in which a registrant is supervised under parole. The duration of that requirement was dramatically changed, however, in a recent decision issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a Wisconsin law that requires individuals convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions to wear a GPS for life. In that decision, the Court approved this Draconian requirement. …
Read MoreVandenberg SFB commander sued for denying retired veteran access over molestation conviction
(Tribune News Service) — A retired Air Force veteran in Santa Barbara County has filed a lawsuit against Vandenberg Space Force Base, accusing its commander of denying him access to the installation last year over a 30-year-old child molestation conviction, according to federal court documents. In a lawsuit filed May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 75-year-old plaintiff Joseph Simonson accused Col. Robert A. Long, commanding officer of Vandenberg SFB, for denying access over the 1992 conviction. Additionally, Simonson said Long denied access to “constitutionally” protected retirement benefits by preventing physical access to the…
Read MorePreliminary Injunction Motion Sought in SORNA Regulations Challenge
A motion for preliminary injunction has been filed in the pending challenge to SORNA regulations that became effective in January 2022. The motion was filed on June 3 by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) in federal district court. The motion requests a hearing date of July 18. If that request is granted, the hearing will take place in Riverside county. “The Pacific Legal Foundation is to be commended for filing this important motion,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “If the motion is granted, it could stop the enforcement of…
Read MoreBahamas may change legislation after sex offender dies days after being released from prison
NASSAU, Bahamas, Jun 1, CMC – The Bahamas government says it is likely to re-examine the measures under which sex offenders are publicly released from prison after one man died in hospital a few days after his release. The authorities said that Alden Scott was found unresponsive on a dirt road while bleeding through the nose, but it is not known if he was attacked or the origin of his injuries. Scott was released last Friday after being added to the sex offender registry. He served nine years in prison…
Read MoreGeneral Comments Jun 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Jun 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.
Read MoreNC: Petition started to ban musician, registered sex offender from headlining Burke Co. festival
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BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Organizers of the largest festival in Burke County are responding Tuesday after allowing the Artimus Pyle Band to headline one of the nights. Channel 9 spoke with Pyle who denies the allegations. The Historic Morganton Festival in September attracts tens of thousands of people each year, filling the streets of downtown Morganton. This year, an online petition is trying to keep the band from performing because Pyle is a registered sex offender in North Carolina. He’s also a former drummer for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. According…
Read MoreNumber of CA Registrants Continues to Decrease
The number of individuals required to register in California continues to decrease, according to the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB). During the past two months, the total number of individuals required to register decreased by 532 and the total number of registrants who are homeless decreased by 422. “It appears that the Tiered Registry Law is having the desired effect, that is, it is leading to the removal of registrants who do not pose a current danger,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. In addition, the California Department of…
Read MoreLawsuit Filed Challenging SORNA Regulations
Nearly 20 years ago, Congress passed a law requiring people convicted of certain sex offenses to register with their states. But Congress also left it entirely up to the U.S. Department of Justice, a part of the executive branch, to write the rules governing who must register, how often, what information they must provide, and when they have broken the law. But the DOJ’s job is also to criminally prosecute people who fail to follow the same rules the agency has written. It is unconstitutional for the nation’s chief prosecutor…
Read MoreSex offender registration continues for ranch manager near Idyllwild
A judge ruled Keith Harper, 72, must register until at least 2025. MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — The former boyfriend of Dia Abrams, the woman who went missing almost two years ago from her ranch near Idyllwild, will have to continue to register as a sex offender. Keith Harper represented himself in court Tuesday in San Juan County, Colorado, where he was convicted 10 years ago of misdemeanor sexual contact for groping two women on snowmobile tours. “I did a year in jail. Misdemeanors are not meant to be a life…
Read MoreRegisterants address county commission after rule changed to allow them
Registered sex offenders had their day to be heard before Brevard County commissioners and explain how an ordinance banning them from certain locations in the county has negatively affected them. In their statements to commissioners on Tuesday, petitioners pleaded with the commission to reverse an amendment to an ordinance passed in 2020, barring them from entering within 1,000 feet of businesses where children typically congregate. Their comments included examples of barriers they face because of the county regulation, and the negative impact that is having for their families and other loved…
Read MoreOklahoma woman busted for planting lewd images on husband’s phone
Over the years, we’ve criticized cops for disregarding the rights of innocent people. But it’s equally important to applaud cops for doing the right thing and remembering that they are supposed to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty. One such example comes from Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where a woman reported her husband for having hundreds of child sex abuse images on his phone. But her story didn’t pass the smell test with police and Garvin County sheriff’s deputies. After further investigation, the woman is now in jail herself, and faces charges that could…
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