FAIR, Inc. is working year-round to educate Maryland’s lawmakers about the wide range of people on the public registry, and how damaging it is to innocent family members. We are also working to monitor and encourage legal challenges to the unconstitutional aspects of public registration laws as well as raise funds to support any legal injunction we may need to file, should our legislative efforts fail. We are especially busy during Maryland’s legislative session, from mid-January through early April.

Learn more Join us TODAY!

Registry and other restrictions on “sex offenders” serve punitive, not safety, purpose

By Jacob Sullum . . . The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear Louisiana’s appeal of a decision against its 2006 law requiring that people on the state’s sex offender registry carry IDs or driver’s licenses that say “SEX OFFENDER” in orange capital letters. A year ago, the Louisiana Supreme Court concluded that the requirement amounted to...

NARSOL E.D. Brenda Jones interviews on MO’s Halloween restrictions for registrants

By Liam Garrity . . . Across the nation and the Ozarks, police departments are checking in on sex offenders to make sure they are compliant with Missouri’s Halloween law. Buffalo’s police chief, Chris Twitchell, said the Halloween law in Missouri was put in place in 2008 to limit sex offenders from contact...

Person-first language takes hold in CO

By Colette Bordelon . . . A board created by Colorado’s state legislature, which develops standards for the treatment and supervision of convicted sex offenders, is changing the language surrounding the term “sex offender.” The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) was created in 1992 and works with around 500 treatment providers within the state,...

The reviews are in! A message from the author September 15, 2022
Gary Hardy, author of Silence in the Face of Injustice: A Vision of Mercy and Hope, reports on the reviews of his book: I have exciting news! Kirkus Reviews, a New York based literary magazine and the gold standard of book reviewers, has posted its review of Silence in the Face of Injustice: A Vision […]
A morality tale; teens, take heed: Improper teenage behavior on Snapchat can lead to many decades in prison September 14, 2022
Printed in full with permission. By Emily Horowitz . . . Let’s say you’re a 17-year-old boy asking two 16-year-old girls to sext you on Snapchat—well, that’s pretty normal these days, right? Let’s agree that it is. Now, let’s say that you possibly paid the girls for their sexts, and then allegedly threatened to expose them […]
Of “sex offender” residence restrictions and other foolish things September 13, 2022
By Sandy . . . How many times have we seen it happen. There have been too many to count, going back years, among them Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and more recently Joliet, Illinois. Now there is Lakeside, California: “Neighbors angry to find five sex offenders secretly placed in their Lakeside neighborhood.” The plot is virtually […]
NARSOL honors Donald Surrett, Jr., a registrant and a hero September 7, 2022
By Sandy . . . On August 28 a man went to an Oregon shopping center armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun; more weapons and bombs were found in his automobile. Before he was stopped, he had wounded two and killed two. The first man killed was a customer in the Safeway store […]
Show of support for Littlefield, TX civil commitment detainees was an awesome event! September 2, 2022
On September 13, Mary Sue Molnar and Phil Taylor of Texas Voices attended the FACTS (Families Against Committing Texans StandUp!) public awareness event at the capitol in Austin, Texas, to support the families who have a loved in civil commitment at the Littlefield, Texas Civil Commitment Facility. The FACTS group members were able to educate […]
PARSOL’s Analysis of Commonwealth v. Torsilieri September 1, 2022
Pennsylvania Assc. for Rational Sexual Offense Laws . . . Here in Pennsylvania (PA), we have been given hope for significant improvement, possibly even abolishment, of SORNA. Judge Allison Bell Royer of Chester County has written an eloquent opinion on the June 2021 evidentiary hearing involving this case. This analysis summarizes all the key points; however, […]
NEWS RELEASE: Judge declares PA Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act Unconstitutional August 24, 2022
NEW FREEDOM, Pa. – Today [8/23/22] Chester County Court Judge Allison Bell Royer ruled that Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is unconstitutional in Commonwealth v. George Torsilieri. “PARSOL and our affiliates across the country have long advocated against sex offender registries due to their punitive nature and ineffectiveness. Research indicates that most sexual […]
Serious questions asked about Tennessee’s sex offender registry August 16, 2022
By Levi Ismail . . . Attorneys have called for a change to the Tennessee sex offender registry they said created an unconstitutional punishment as legislators added more restrictions each year. Thomas has lived in Nashville almost all his life, but he’s rarely seen beyond work and the occasional grocery store run. . . . […]
Scams targeting registrants: 2022 updates August 13, 2022
These are the ones I have identified. If you know of one in a state not here, send a link to a 2022 news article to communications@narsol.org Virginia; July: https://www.wakg.com/2022/07/27/vsp-warns-of-sex-offender-phone-scam/ Tennessee; June:https://www.greenevillesun.com/news/local_news/sex-offender-registry-scams-widespread-in-state/article_4b83fef2-ed9a-11ec-822c-3f0177e9866b.html Alaska; March: https://www.akp.uscourts.gov/2022/03/21/news/us-marshals-and-alaska-state-troopers-warn-scam Michigan; March: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/sheriff-scam-going-around-targeting-sex-offenders Louisiana; February: https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2022/02/23/ouachita-parish-phone-scam-targeting-registered-sex-offenders/6914245001/ Kansas; January: https://www.kwch.com/2022/01/20/wichita-police-warn-sex-trafficking-phone-scam/ Ohio; January: https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/01/14/ashtabula-county-sheriffs-office-warns-scam-targeting-registered-sex-offenders/ Texas; January: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/convicted-sex-offenders-the-latest-targeted-in-gift-card-payment-scam/2875187/ 2021 and earlier: June 2021: New […]
In Wisconsin: Important Seventh Circuit Decision on the Ex Post Facto Clause August 10, 2022
By Adele Nicholas . . . We achieved a small but important victory in the Seventh Circuit this week. The Seventh Circuit found that a municipal ordinance enacted by the Village of Hartland, Wisconsin, that banned registrants from establishing a home in the Village is retroactive within the meaning of the ex post facto clause. The […]