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
28
Jun
2020
How dare they! How dare the CA Department of Corrections[1] once again deny rights to individuals solely because they have been convicted of a sex offense. Didn’t they learn? The department has recently lost every case in which another of their “mistakes” involving registrants was challenged. Those cases were focused upon the department’s regulations which denied the benefits of Proposition 57 to every person...
26
Jun
2020
Researchers at NCBI/National Institute for Biotechnology Information have suggested that Post-Incarceration Syndrome/PICS should be considered a specific sub-cluster of psycho-social problems that share or overlap symptoms with PTSD/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PICS symptoms are specific to those incarcerated and those recently released from incarceration. For registrants diagnosed with PICS, cluster symptoms seem magnified due to not being able to fully reintegrate back into society...
[wxii12.com - 6/25/20] GREENSBORO, N.C. —A Greensboro man's death is under investigation after he died in custody at the Guilford County Detention Center Tuesday morning. Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers said Jeffery Johnson, 61, died as the result of a lengthy and chronic medical condition at the Greensboro facility at about 10:20 a.m. Johnson was arrested by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office on May...
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed an application today for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that, if granted, would stop the exclusion of all registrants from early prison release granted by the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The basis for the releases is to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 infections for both prisoners and staff. "CDCR has declared that...
The state’s criminal code completely bars child sex offenders from entering public parks, despite an exception written into a similar but separate part of the law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week. The 5-2 majority held that the exception in Section 11-9.3(a-10) of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012, which allows child sex offenders to visit public parks with their minor children when...
[sun-sentinel.com - 6/24/20] TALLAHASSEE — Citing First Amendment rights, an appeals court Wednesday overturned an injunction that state Sen. Lauren Book obtained because of alleged cyberstalking and harassment by an activist who opposes laws dealing with sex-offender registries. The full 4th District Court of Appeal, in an 8-3 ruling, said a Broward County circuit judge improperly granted an injunction that, in part, was designed...
[chillicothenews.com - 6/23/20] Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 589 covers issues with Sex Offender Registration requirements. By statute, the sheriff is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for each 3rd class county and one of the sheriff’s duties is to oversee sex offender registration. At the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office we strive to make this task as easy and routine as possible for both our staff...
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) filed a lawsuit today challenging the early release plans of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The agency plans to begin releasing from prison on July 1 anyone convicted of a non-violent offense who has a release date no later than December 31. The agency's plans, however, exclude anyone required to register as a sex...
23
Jun
2020
[jacobinmag.com - 6/22/20] The “sex offense legal regime,” which has developed alongside mass incarceration over the last forty years, has failed. US sex offender registries now list nearly one million people. Federal, state, and local ordinances prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, parks, day care centers, and other spaces where children might congregate. In places like Miami–Dade County,...
23
Jun
2020
Nature of Case: Mr. Torsilieri — the Appellee in this case — was convicted of a sex offense and, as such, was required to register as a sex offender under Pennsylvania’s sex offense registration scheme. He brought a post-conviction challenge alleging that, because Pennsylvania’s sex offense registration law essentially used an irrebutable presumption of dangerousness that if violated several constitutional provisions related to punishment...
The Utah Supreme Court has struck down a state law that allowed victims of sexual abuse to sue decades later, siding against a woman who alleged a former federal judge raped her when she was a teenage witness and he an attorney prosecuting a white supremacist serial killer. The state’s high court ruled the 2016 law unconstitutional, finding the Utah Legislature did not have...
A new report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) analyzes a November 2020 ballot measure that seeks to roll back key elements of recent justice reforms, including Public Safety Realignment, Prop 47, and Prop 57. As California continues to disproportionately arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate Black, Indigenous, and Latino people, this proposal will particularly harm communities of color. Full Article Report -...
18
Jun
2020
[law.com - 7/17/20] A peculiar dispute between two South Florida neighbors came before the Fourth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday when it found that a registered sex offender’s three-year “campaign of harassment” against the couple next door violated his probation and warranted a prison sentence. Read the full article (must sign up)
18
Jun
2020
For many registrants on parole, the basic flip phone” is the only type cell phone allowed by parole officers. You can make phone calls, you can send texts, but beyond that, you are relegated to the dinosaur age. Internet access is for bidden. Recently a registrant on parole needed a new phone, his trusty old “flip phone” no longer held a charge. It wasn’t...
[dailypress.com - 6/16/20] A superintendent at a local shipyard wants access to the internet at work despite being convicted of a child pornography charge 12 years ago. Willoughby Warren “Billy” Colonna IV, of Colonna’s shipyard in Norfolk, is asking that his prison release terms be amended to allow him to use the internet at his family’s Norfolk ship repair business. The Virginian-Pilot reported in...
[bakersfield.com - 6/17/20] The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will implement a community supervision program to eligible inmates in order to further protect staff and inmates at state prisons from the spread of COVID-19. CDCR’s community supervision plan will be for inmates who have 180 days or less to serve on their sentences and aren’t currently serving time for domestic violence or a...
[globalcitizen.org - 6/17/20] Governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have unanimously declared a state of emergency, after a series of high-profile cases of violence perpetrated against women sparked nationwide protests by activists both online and at rallies. The governors made the commitment, announced on Friday, via an umbrella body the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) which “exists to foster collaboration amongst the country's executive governors on...
[ACSOL] A ballot proposition that will appear on the November 2020 ballot in California, if passed, would significantly increase the number of violent felonies as well as require the collection of DNA from individuals convicted of some misdemeanor offenses. The title of the ballot proposition is "Violent Crime, DNA Collection and Parole Initiative." The proposition has not yet been assigned a number or a...
16
Jun
2020
[newsmax.com - 6/16/20] The Tampa Bay Times will stop publishing its online mugshot gallery, which features people who have been arrested in the newspaper’s coverage area. The Times made the announcement on Monday. “The galleries lack context and further negative stereotypes,” said Tampa Bay Times Executive Editor Mark Katches. “We think the data is an important resource that our newsroom will continue to analyze and...
[amberspeaksup.com] This free virtual event will feature a discussion with Judith Levine and Erica Meiners, authors of the recently released book, The Feminist and the Sex Offender - Confronting Sexual Harm and Ending State Violence. The conversation will feature concepts from the book, as well as the voices of those impacted by both sexual harm and the criminal legal system, including the impact of significant...