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.
Important News / Announcements
Janice's Journal
General News Feed
20
Dec
2020
[mlive.com - 12/20/20] DETROIT - Approved changes to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act are unconstitutional and ineffective at stopping offenders, argues the state’s ACLU chapter in an appeal for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to veto. State lawmakers approved altering registration protocols for sex offenders during the Legislature’s Wednesday, Dec. 16 session, fulfilling a 4-year-old mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal court ruled...
19
Dec
2020
[lagrangenews.com - 12/15/20] Decades ago, our state established the Georgia Sex Offender Registry (SOR). The purpose of SOR is to protect our citizens from sexually dangerous predators by identifying offenders that present the greatest risk of sexually re-offending. However, many people who are registered with SOR should not be because they pose no danger to society. Read the full opinion
[houmatoday.com - 12/18/20] Legislators began Thursday looking at changes to state law that would address inaccuracies in the registry that alerts neighbors that someone convicted of sex and/or child predatory crimes lives nearby. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that the severity of the crime, called a tier, wasn't accurate for 61% of the sex offenders tested. The information listed on the registry wasn't updated...
17
Dec
2020
[coloradopolitics.com - 12/14/20] The Colorado Supreme Court has clarified that no matter how many pornographic images an individual possesses, sexual exploitation of a child merits a single charge, which prosecutors had derogatorily deemed a “volume discount on child pornography.” Following the decision, multiple state legislators agreed that the guidelines for prosecuting the crime should spark a conversation given the court's interpretation. "What does justice look...
[vice.com - 12/16/20] Rocked by intense protests after a violent gang rape in September, Pakistan’s president has approved a new anti-rape law that seeks to double down on sexual crimes against women and children in the country. Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 will give speedy trials to women and children, create a national registry of sex offenders, give privacy to victims and survivors, and also allow...
[mlive.com - 12/16/20] The proposed amendments to SORA in House Bill 5679 are: Giving sex offenders no more than three days to register or report status changes in person with local law enforcement. Requiring offenders to report all email addresses, social media names or other forms of “internet identifiers.” That would not apply retroactively to offenders prior to July 1, 2011, but anyone required...
[yahoo.com Fox News - 12/15/20] Sheriff Don Barnes, Orange County, Calif., reacts to judge's order reducing prison population amid coronavirus pandemic. Fox Newscaster (at 3:40): "We don't want anyone to get COVID, but we don't want anyone murdered or molested". Sheriff: "I have no intention of releasing them." Watch the video
[calmatters.org - 12/11/20] In summary: More than 7,500 prisoners sent home in the program — which aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 — would have been released within months anyway. Thousands with health conditions remain in prison, and the virus keeps spreading. In July, amid an epidemic of coronavirus cases, California’s corrections agency rolled out early-release programs touted as a solution to protect...
[yahoo.com - 12/11/20] A World War Two veteran has avoided jail for sexually assaulting five women because of fears he may catch coronavirus in prison. Richard ____, 97, walked free from court despite "passing the custody threshold" and was instead given a 16 month sentence, suspended for two years. He was also put on the sex offenders register for ten years. Read the full...
[detroitnews.com - 12/11/20] Detroit — Two federal prison inmates and the estate of a third are suing the government, claiming officials at a Monroe County lockup failed to prevent a 2019 attack on the sex offenders, one of whom was stomped and stabbed to death. Christian Maire, Michal Figura and Craig Evans were attacked in January 2019 in the East Unit of The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan....
10
Dec
2020
[thesouthern.com - 11/27/20] SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ sex offender registry, which now includes more than 32,000 people — most of them men, though some women, as well — has rapidly expanded since its first iteration in 1986. Then, it included four qualifying crimes. Today, there are more than 30 crimes that trigger mandatory registration, including some repeat misdemeanor offenses. In recent years, policy makers and...
[newpaltz.edu - 12/10/20] Following the influx of multiple sex offenders to a motel in New Paltz, the Town of New Paltz passed a law that would limit the number of sex offenders allowed to live in one building. Seven registered sex offenders moved into the Econo Lodge Motel in New Paltz between Oct. 10 and Nov. 2. Following the publication of an article notifying...
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a federal trial court erred when it dismissed a case involving 134 registrants in Idaho who claimed that the state's sex offender laws violated their civil rights. In its ruling today, the Court opened up the possibility that the Idaho laws at issue violated both the federal and state constitutions. One of the claims in...
[freep.com - 2020-12-10] In early 2012, more than eight years ago, five people challenged Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) in court, arguing that the registry branded them as dangerous “sex offenders” without any individual review. One was a man — we’ll call him John — who met a woman at a club open only to those 18 and older. They slept together and only...
[phoenixnewtimes.com - 12/7/20] Justin _____, seen here mopping the floor at a basketball tournament he hosted, is trying to escape the stigma of his criminal past. Will society let him? Are there some breaches of trust one can never come back from? Or is there a point when the stigma associated with a crime does more harm than good? These questions have renewed attention...
06
Dec
2020
Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next phone meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, Dec 19, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. Discussion topics will include: proposed SORNA regulations in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic the upcoming...
[abc7.com - 12/5/20] Orange, Calif. (KABC) -- A former legislative aide is accusing Assemblyman Bill Brough of raping her in 2015. Patricia Todd, whose last name at the time was Lenkiewicz, is speaking publicly for the first time, after sending a complaint this week to law enforcement. Sacramento police confirm they are investigating the allegations. "I've survived this for five years and five years...
[wfmj.com - 12/3/20] COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The ability of a judge to hold a hearing on a juvenile's sex offender classification status doesn't automatically expire when the child turns 21, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. At issue before the court was a Cincinnati-area defendant who sexually abused two young relatives when he was 14, according to court records. The defendant was convicted...
03
Dec
2020
[churchexecutive.com - 11/30/20] Our church just completed a Registered Sex Offender (RSO) Policy. Will you review it and tell us if it’s adequate? We frequently encounter this (seemingly simple) question in our law practice. In reality, the issue is multi-faceted and complex, and tends to kick off a broader discussion. In the larger conversation, this ‘simple’ query should be preceded by a half-dozen more...
Joe Biden promised us an FDR-sized presidency—starting with bold action to halt the spread of COVID-19, end the worst economic downturn in decades, and stop the climate crisis. Biden could use regulation and executive action to move quickly to decarbonize the economy, cancel student loan debt, and raise wages. But a Biden administration has an even bigger problem than two long-shot special elections in...