Criminal Law

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 59

Posted on November 18, 2008
It's up at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section:In Rape Is Never the Fault Of the Victim posted at Womanist Musings, we get a discussion of a gang rape case in the UK where a14 year old girl was assaulted...

10th Circuit Rules on SORNA's Retroactivity

Posted on November 18, 2008
In U.S. v. Husted, the 10th Circuit has gone against the majority of courts reviewing SORNA prosecutions by finding that retroactive application of the statute to interstate travel before the passage of the Act was in conflict with the plain...

Technical Difficulties

Posted on November 17, 2008
It seems like blogging software of all types is failing me lately. I'm heavily dependent on Bloglines yet it has been a disaster for the last couple of weeks. Sometimes, it shows 200 new posts for every subscribed blog. Then,...

Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Law Barring Single Parents From Living With Sex Offenders

Posted on November 17, 2008
In a divided opinion, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a law barring single parents from living with convicted sex offenders. You can read the opinion here. From Chicago Tribune:The Iowa Supreme Court, in a split opinion Friday, upheld a law...

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Colorado Newspaper Says "Naked Pumpkin Run" Streakers Are Not Sex Offenders

Posted on November 13, 2008
A Colorado newspaper is running an editorial asking that a dozen streakers who were arrested in Boulder's annual Naked Pumpkin Run not be charged with indecent exposure, as it "carries the penalty of having to register as a sex offender."...

New South Carolina Law Restricts Residency, Reduces Penalty For Failure to Register

Posted on November 13, 2008
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has signed a new bill into law that prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a church, school, daycare center, or playground. The law however, reduces the penalty for sex offenders who fail...

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 58

Posted on November 13, 2008
With Carnvial 59 about to come out, I realized I never posted the Legal section from 58. Here it is:In On Those Supposed ?Rape Exceptions? posted at The Curvature, we get a discussion about the South Dakota anti-abortion measure which...

Lawsuit Challenging Parole Board Review of Sex Offender Cases

Posted on November 13, 2008
Grits has the details on a very interesting lawsuit challenging the lack of individualized review in parole restriction decisions for sex offenders in Texas. Here is the Dallas Morning News's account of some of the history of the issues involved:It's...

What's Happening in Vermont?

Posted on November 12, 2008
As my colleague Colin Miller has indicated, quite a bit is happening in Vermont. Colin focuses, not surprisingly, on the evidence law related issue. While members of the Vermont Senate have proposed a 34-point plan, among the ommitted suggestions was...

Former Congressman Mark Foley Apologizes

Posted on November 12, 2008
Mark Foley, the former Republican congressman from Florida who resigned two years ago after sending sexually explicit instant messages to a 17-year old page, gave an interview this week in which he apologized for his behavior. TalkLeft sums up the...

Sex Offender Attacks Reporters

Posted on November 12, 2008
A California sex offender who moved from Fresno to Oakdale is in custody after apparently attacking TV reporters and cameramen who showed up at his residence. The man recently moved to the area, but told officials that he did not...

Sex Offender Sues Over Long Airport Detention

Posted on November 11, 2008
A sex offender who was detained for almost 14 hours due to his criminal record at London's Heathrow Airport is now suing airport officials. From United Press International:An Indian man who admitted sexually assaulting a sleeping woman is suing after...

Constitutionality of Park Ban Upheld in Kentucky

Posted on November 11, 2008
A Kentucky judge has upheld the constitutionality of a city ordinance which prohibited convicted sex offenders from using the city's parks. From The Courier-Journal:The ruling last week by Superior Court 1 Judge Vicki Carmichael came in a lawsuit brought by...

Six Years For Heavy Petting Cruel and Unusual?

Posted on November 10, 2008
Sentencing Law and Policy has an interesting article discussing a case where an Oregon adult female counsel was convicted of unlawful heavy petting of her underage ward. The woman was sentenced to sex-plus years in prison, which her attorney argues...

Spitzer Escapes Federal Prosecution

Posted on November 10, 2008
The U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York has announced that Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will not be charged in connection with the prostitution scandal that resulted in his resignation. From CNN: "After a thorough...

Feds Want All Ninth Circuit Judges Off Obscenity Case

Posted on November 10, 2008
Federal prosecutors in the criminal trial over adult filmmaker Ira Issacs are asking for the recusal of every judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A mistrial was declared after reports surfaced that Chief Judge Alex Kozinski posted sexually...

No Blogging Until Monday

Posted on November 07, 2008
I'm out of commission with a nasty cold, so there won't be any new blog posts until Monday. See you all then.

Texas Decides Not to Seek Cert in Sex-Toy Case

Posted on November 06, 2008
The State of Texas has decided not to seek a writ of certiorari following the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision which overturned Texas's sex-toy ban. The Fifth Circuit's opinion can be viewed here. I can't seem to find the...

DOJ Gives Tribes Over $3M in AWA Grants

Posted on November 06, 2008
The Department of Justice has announced that it has awarded more than $50 million dollars in grants to assist Native American communities. Of that award, more than $3 million are marked for the implementation of the sex offender registry and...

ACLU Asks Indiana Supreme Court to Review Town's Park Ban

Posted on November 05, 2008
The ACLU has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision which upheld one town's ban of a sex offender from its parks. From The Indianapolis Star:Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union warn that if Plainfield's...

California Proposition 6 Fails

Posted on November 05, 2008
This is from the L.A. times summary of Proposition 6: Increase the annual state funding of state and local criminal justice programs by $365 million to $965 million, adjusting for inflation. It also would boost penalties for gang activity and...

Florida Senate Report Weighs Pros, Cons of Adam Walsh Act Compliance

Posted on November 05, 2008
A helpful reader directs us to a Florida Senate Report entitled: Fiscal, Policy, and Legal Considerations Regarding State Compliance with the Adam Walsh Act. From the report's Background section:The [Adam Walsh Act], of which [the Sex Offender Registration and Notification...

Editorial Argues That Sex Offender Laws Go Too Far

Posted on November 05, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running an interesting op-ed piece which discusses how Georgia's sex offender law goes too far. From the editorial:Andrew Norton grew up in a brutish household. His stepfather beat him and his brothers and made them watch...

Nevada AG To Appeal Decision Barring Retroactive Enforcement of Sex Offender Law

Posted on November 03, 2008
The Nevada Attorney General's Office has announced that they will appeal decision by a federal judge that enjoins the state from applying its new sex offender law retroactively. You may view our previous coverage of this decision here. From The...

Racial Disparity in Child Porn Prosecutions?

Posted on November 03, 2008
A federal judge has raised the issue of a racial disparity in two criminal cases involving child pornography. In one case, a white University of Pennsylvania student was charged for a hacking scheme, but spared from a possible decade-long sentence...

Oklahoma Reflects on First Year Since Enacting AWA-complaint Law

Posted on November 03, 2008
An Oklahoma newspaper looks at what has happened in the year since the state has passed an Adam Walsh Act-complaint law. From Tulsa World:One year has passed since Oklahoma began classifying sex offenders into a three-level ranking system that designates...

Closing Out the Halloween Crackdown Coverage

Posted on October 31, 2008
As I am done handing out candy for the night, I leave you all with Grits' post about the panic involved in the annual Halloween restrictions:I'm glad to see this year more thoughtful critiques popping up of grandstanding by law...

Woman Accused of Bringing 3 Year Old to "Sex Party"

Posted on October 31, 2008
A woman from southern Illinois is now facing federal child exploitation stemming from an incident where she allegedly brought a three-year-old girl to an Indiana "sex party." From the Chicago Tribune Breaking News Blog: A 32-year-old Midlothian woman faces federal...

WSJ Looks At Child Porn Sentences, Threat

Posted on October 30, 2008
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article discussing the tough sentences given out to 'consumers of child pornography,' and the potential threat they pose to society. From the article:Are people who download and view child pornography -- but aren't...

Former Killer, Rapist Gets Life Without Parole

Posted on October 30, 2008
A California man who committed murder in the 1970s, was eventually let out, committed rape in the 1990s, got out, and then stabbed his wife to death and wounded two others, has been sentenced to life without parole. From the...

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