Criminal Law

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 57

Posted on October 15, 2008
It's up at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section:In Mixed signals or ignored signals? posted at Change Happens: the SAFER blog, we get a discussion of the common belief that most non-stranger rapists are merely confusing signals which ignores the...

New Article about Kennedy v. Louisiana

Posted on October 15, 2008
Bidish Sarma has written a short article at the Yale Journal Pocket Part about the legacy of the Court's decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana. Sarma was involved in the litigation, so the article comes from an interesting perspective. I think...

Sex Offenders Required to Register Internet Details

Posted on October 14, 2008
Under a new law signed by President Bush ("Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008" or the "KIDS Act of 2008,"), social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace will be able to track and expel potential...

Victims as Defendants

Posted on October 14, 2008
A few weeks ago, we mentioned a new bill signed into law by New York Gov. David Paterson which shields sexually exploited children from being charged with prostitution. A Stitch in Haste ties together the law with a different case...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Rape Victim Devotes Herself to Science After Misidentifying Her Attacker

Posted on October 13, 2008
A Texas rape victim, who discovered that she misidentified her attacker nine years after his death in prison, has decided to study the science of human memory. From The Dallas Morning News:Michele Mallin said she was "100 percent sure" when...

Sex Offenders Required to Wear Blue Wristbands at Mayo Clinic

Posted on October 13, 2008
Convicted sex offenders who are receiving care at the Mayo Clinic will now be required to wear blue wristbands in order to identify them. The rule also applies to other 'predatory offenders.' From Rochester Post-Bulletin: Convicted sex and other predatory...

Florida Teacher Avoids Jail, Sex Offender Registry

Posted on October 10, 2008
A Florida former middle school teacher avoided jail and registering as a sex offender by pleading no contest to felony battery charges. The woman was accused of having sex with a 14 year old student. She was sentenced to five...

Second Circuit Finds Lack of Probable Cause in Child Porn Warrant

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Second Circuit, in United States v. Falso held that a child porn search warrant did not show probable cause under the Circuit's precedent. From the opinion: Absent any allegation that Falso accessed the cpfreedom.com website, and with little or...

Ohio Teen who Sent Nude Pics of Self May Have to Register

Posted on October 09, 2008
A 15 year old Ohio girl, who is accused of sending nude pictures of herself to other youths, may have to register as a sex offender if she is convicted. From The Newark Advocate:[The girl] was arrested Friday after school...

Utah Residents Protest Sex Offender Rehab Center

Posted on October 09, 2008
Residents of a Utah town are protesting a zoning law allowing for sex offender rehab centers in some neighborhoods. Alliance Youth Services intends to establish a sex offender rehab center about 300 feet from a childcare center. From Fox News:Residents...

ACLU of Pennsylvania Files Suit Against Residency Restrictions

Posted on October 09, 2008
The ACLU has sued a Pennsylvania county, claiming that sex offender residency restrictions effectively bar them from living almost anywhere. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has more. From UPI:The American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh...

The Lessons of the Iowa Sex Assault Scandal

Posted on October 08, 2008
I've blogged before about the sexual assault at my alma mater by former football players. abyss2hope has an interesting post about the policy lessons we can draw from the incident:To see what can go wrong when a university has a...

Another Variation in Child Porn Sentencing

Posted on October 08, 2008
At SL&P, Berman continues to track the variations in prosecutor's requests for child porn sentences at the federal level. The latest data point was described as follows:Regular readers may get tired of my regular anecdotal reports on federal child porn...

Army Seeks to Lower Incidents of Sexual Assault

Posted on October 07, 2008
The U.S. Army is launching a new effort to decrease incidents of sexual assault. The move is comes in response to new data showing disparate sexual assaults in the Army relative to the other military branches. From The Wall Street...

Indiana Teacher Gets Two Years Home Detention for Sex with Student

Posted on October 07, 2008
An Indiana middle school teacher has been sentenced to two years of home detention, with four years on probation after her sexual 'tryst' with a 15 year old boy. The woman, 36, who taught at an alternative school, must also...

When Residency Restrictions Aren't Enough

Posted on October 06, 2008
Florida jockeys with Georgia for the overall most restrictive residency restrictions in the United States. Florida's state laws aren't the harshest, but the actions of local governments to supplement the state law makes for a very onerous scheme of restrictions...

Child Porn Sentences

Posted on October 06, 2008
Sentencing Law & Policy (which seems to be having some RSS feed problems for me) has a post discussing the oddities and uncertainties with child pornography sentencing in federal courts:Regular readers may recall some of my recent posts discussing my...

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 56

Posted on October 03, 2008
It's up at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section:In District Court Finds 30 Year Mandatory Minimum in AWA Unconstitutional posted at Sex Crimes, we get a discussion of the Northern District of Georgia court ruling based on the 8th Amendment...

A New Error in Kennedy

Posted on October 03, 2008
CAAFlog has the details on an error (albeit a less significant one) in the majority's statement regarding rehearing in Kennedy:I'm not sure what the word "final" means in that sentence (does he mean "approved"?). But regardless of what "final" means,...

Grits For Breakfast Responds To Texas Registry Change

Posted on October 03, 2008
Grits For Breakfast via Pegasus News has a response to a story which we previously discussed about the State of Texas posting the employers of sex offenders, along with other information. From the post: This is a foolish move by...

Kennedy Rehearing Roundup

Posted on October 03, 2008
To finally put the blogger's nail in the Kennedy v. Louisiana coffin, here are some interesting links about rehearing (including a couple that were actually posted before the Court voted against rehearing):Death Penalty for Child Rape: How to Measure Consensus?Kennedy...

Father Who Killed Sex Offender In Daughter's Bedroom Won't be Punished

Posted on October 02, 2008
Not surprisingly, an Indiana man, who found and killed a man inside his daughter's bedroom, will not be prosecuted. From the Indianapolis Star:A Northwestside man who killed a would-be rapist in his home last weekend was justified in his actions,...

Maine Committee Studies How To Manage Sex Offenders

Posted on October 02, 2008
The Kennebec Journal is running an article discussing a committee of Maine legislators tasked with the problem of how the state should manage sex offenders. From the article:Victims of sex crimes and the offenders often live in the same home,...

DOJ To Give States $4M Grant For Adam Walsh Act Compliance

Posted on October 02, 2008
The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has announced a nearly $4.3 million grant to assist states in creating and/or enhancing their sex offender registry and notification programs. The grants will help states implement provisions of the federal...

Iowa's Residency Restrictions Has Unintended Consequences

Posted on October 02, 2008
A Nebraska TV News station (which evidently likes to repeat its name) has an article discussing the un-anticipated consequences of Iowa's residency restrictions. From the article:Convicted sex offenders whose victims were minors can not live within 2,000 feet of a...

Sex Offender Put in Charge of Kids Area at Pot Festival

Posted on October 01, 2008
Sentencing Law and Policy is reporting an unusual story out of California where a female sex offender was apparently placed in charge of a children's play area at a marijuana festival. The Contra Costa Times has more. From Fox News:A...

Washington To Monitor All Potentially Violent Sex Offenders

Posted on October 01, 2008
The ABA Journal notes that Washington state plans to require all newly released sex offenders who are considered potentially violent to wear tracking bracelets, for at least the first 30 days. The Seattle Times has more:The state of Washington plans....

Spain Conducts Large Child Porn Crackdown

Posted on October 01, 2008
CNN has an article detailing a Spanish investigation that uncovered an international network of child pornography traders. From the article:Spanish police have arrested 121 men and seized millions of computer files in the country's biggest operation against child pornography on...

Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Registration Statute Against Ex Post Facto Challenge

Posted on October 01, 2008
Sentencing Law and Policy reports that the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that amendments to the state's sex offender registration and reporting law apply retroactively and do not violate prohibitions on ex post facto laws. The decision itself (which split...

Court Modifies Kennedy Decision

Posted on October 01, 2008
From SCOTUSBlog, the Court has modified both the majority and dissenting opinions in Kennedy v. Louisiana by adding footnotes to each opinion. The modifications can be seen here in the modified opinion. Footnote * of the majority opinion now reads:When...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.