National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws

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, Albuquerque,[1] Los Angeles[2] Dallas,[3] Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, and Raleigh, and by being involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of sex offender registration and notification laws.[4][5][6]

National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws
AbbreviationNARSOL
Formation2007
Founded atBoston, Massachusetts
TypeNon-profit corporation
PurposeCivil rights advocacy, Reforming sex offender registry laws
HeadquartersRaleigh, North Carolina
Chair
Robin Vander Wall
Executive Director
Brenda Jones
Websitehttps://narsol.org
Formerly called
RSOL, Reform Sex Offender Laws
This article is part of a series on the
Sex offender registries
in the United States
Legislation
  • Federal
  • State
  • Other
Constitutionality

Constitutionality of sex offender registries
in the United States

  • Supreme Court decisions
Effectiveness
Social issues
  • Homelessness
  • Controversial designations as offender
Reform activism

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.[7][8][9] Organizations such as Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers have presented similar critiques.[10][11]

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 when they are extended beyond an individual's sentence.[7]

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 is publishes a newsletter called the Digest.[12]

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"[13] 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.[3][4][5] During 2014 over 20 municipalities were sued by CA RSOL.[14] 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.[15] These efforts culminated in March 2015 when Supreme Court of California declared residency restrictions unconstitutional citing their unfairness and counterproductive effects.[16] Similar lawsuits by the RSOL's Texas chapter forced some Texas towns to ease their residency restrictions in early 2016.[17]

NARSOL's Maryland 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 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.

See also

References
  1. Zakalik, Lauren (Aug 29, 2012). "National conference aims to soften, reform sex offender laws". KOAT. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  2. Lovett, Ian (October 1, 2013). "Restricted Group Speaks Up, Saying Sex Crime Measures Go Too Far". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  3. Blow, Steve (17 July 2014). "We can do better on sex offender laws". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  4. Belluci, Janice (21 July 2013). "CA RSOL Challenges El Dorado County Sex Offender Ordinance". In Eldorado County News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  5. Howes, Rebecca (April 24, 2014). "Attorney files sex offender lawsuit against Lompoc". Lompoc Record. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  6. Case, Stephanie (September 19, 2013). "City of Orange Sued Over Sex Offender Halloween Restrictions". KTLA 5. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  7. "Assertions". Nationalrsol.org. Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  8. "Education is Key". Nationalrsol.org. Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  9. "Are We Looking at Sex Offender Management Backwards?". Nationalrsol.org. Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. April 15, 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  10. "The Registration and Community Notification of Adult Sexual Offenders". Atsa.com. Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. April 5, 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  11. "Sexual Offender Residence Restrictions". Atsa.com. Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. April 5, 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  12. "NARSOL Digest – NARSOL Resources".
  13. "NARSOL Resources – NARSOL Resources". Resources.narsol.org. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  14. Johnson, Shea (Oct 21, 2014). "County sued over sex offender ordinance". Daily Press. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  15. Nelson, Joe (10 November 2014). "Special Report: Pair seeks repeal of sex-offender laws in California". Daily Breeze. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  16. "Housing Restrictions For Sex Offenders Unconstitutional, California Court Rules". The Huffington Post.
  17. "20 Texas towns ease restrictions on sex offenders". KFOR.com. 7 February 2016.
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