The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is an organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina with operations based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with affiliated organizations, advocates, and contacts in the vast majority of states. NARSOL and its affiliates are part of a movement to reform sexual offense laws in the United States. NARSOL has generated media attention by arranging national conferences in multiple cities including

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, and by being involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of sex offender registration and notification laws.

Positions

While NARSOL believes that offenders should be held accountable in court of law, it criticizes current sex offender registry laws in the United States. NARSOL asserts that current sex offender laws are not based on scientific evidence. Organizations such as Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers have presented similar critiques. NARSOL asserts that while sex offender registries in the United States were originally well-intentioned and only meant for the most dangerous sex offenders, their reach has widened over time to include other offenses such as teen sexting and consensual relations between young people. Among other assertions, they also argue that sex offender registry requirements are

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

when they are extended beyond an individual's sentence.

Support Assistance

NARSOL is an advocacy organization, not a support organization. Additionally, NARSOL is not a legal organization and is unable to provide legal advice or help with individual legal cases or issues. NARSOL encourages the development of Fearless Groups, which are dynamic self-sustaining support groups. NARSOL publishes a newsletter called the ''Digest''. NARSOL also has a number of other online resources such as "NARSOL in Action" which is a YouTube Podcast series with updates about national litigation, and "Resources" which is an online reference site for legal counsel, news and events, educational resources, employment resources, financial resources and other support groups.

Lawsuits

NARSOL's former Californian chapter, CA RSOL, challenged ordinances governing registered sex offenders in federal court across the state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. During 2014 over 20 municipalities were sued by CA RSOL. 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. These efforts culminated in March 2015 when

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

declared residency restrictions unconstitutional citing their unfairness and counterproductive effects. Similar lawsuits by the RSOL's Texas chapter forced some Texas towns to ease their residency restrictions in early 2016. NARSOL's

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

chapter, FAIR (Families Advocating Intelligent Registries) 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 An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

cited in the March 2013 Court of Appeals decision Doe v. DPSCS 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.

References

External links

National Association for Rational Sexual Offense LawsVivante EsperoRegistrants and Families Support Line
{{DEFAULTSORT:NARSOL Sex offender registration Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Sex offender registries in the United States

Positions

Support Assistance

Lawsuits

See also

References

External links