Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc.

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Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc.
File:Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. logo.png
Formation 2007
Type Non-profit organization
Purpose Civil rights advocacy, Reforming sex offender laws
Headquarters Cambridge, Massachusetts
Chair
 Paul Shannon
Executive Director
 Brenda Jones
Website nationalrsol.org

Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. is a national level civil rights and justice reform organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with 38 state affiliates.[1] RSOL and its affiliates are part of the growing movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States. They assert that while sex offender registries in the United States were originally well-intentioned and for the most heinous and dangerous sex offenders only, their reach has exponentially widened to include petty offenses such as teen sexting and consensual relations between young people.[2][3] RSOL has generated media attention by arranging multiple annual conferences in several large cities including Albuquerque,[4] Los Angeles[5] and Dallas,[6] and by being involved in numerous lawsuits.[7][8][9]

Purpose

While RSOL believes that offenders should be held accountable in court of law, it criticizes current sex offender registry laws in the United States. RSOL asserts that current sex offender laws are not based on scientific evidence.[3][10][11] These claims are supported by scientific research[12][13][14][15] and professional organizations such as Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers have presented similar critiques.[16][17]

Support Hotline

RSOL originally began a Support Hotline to offer support and encouragement to registrants, families, and others affected by current sex offender laws.[18] The Hotline later was managed by SOSEN (Sex Offender Solutions and Education Network),[19] and is now run by Women Against Registry (W.A.R.). It is an all volunteer project staffed by private citizens concerned about the damage sex offender laws impose on registrants, families, and friends of registrants. Currently the Support Hotline is entirely funded and maintained by Women Against Registry.[20]

Lawsuits

RSOL's Californian chapter CA RSOL challenged ordinances governing registered sex offenders in federal court across the state of California.[6][7][8] During 2014 over 20 municipalities has been sued by RSOL.[21] As of October 11, 15 of the lawsuits had been settled, 38 cities had avoided litigation by revoking their sex offender ordinances, and 6 cities had chosen to discontinue enforcing the ordinances. At the time, sex offender ordinances were under review in 18 additional cities.[22] These efforts culminated in March 2015 when Supreme Court of California declared residency restrictions unconstitutional citing their unfairness and counterproductive effects.[23] Similar lawsuits by the RSOL's Texas chapter forced some Texas towns to ease their residency restrictions in early 2016.[24]

RSOL's Maryland chapter, FAIR (Families Advocating Intelligent Registries)[25] has played a significant role in reversing the retroactive application of registry laws in the state of Maryland. They were part of the Amicus Curiae cited in the March 2013 Court of Appeals decision Doe v. DPSCS[26][27] which declared that Maryland's existing sex offender registry laws are punitive in effect, and therefore could not constitutionally be applied retroactively to persons whose crimes pre-dated registration. This decision was further solidified in 2014 with the "Doe 2" decision.[28] The full impact of these decisions in Maryland is still being effected.

See also

References

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  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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