Criminal Law

Vermont Sex Offender Wins Residency Restriction Battle

Posted on September 10, 2009
A Vermont court has ruled that a sex offender could not be barred from living in areas near where children are often found. You may view the ruling here. From the Brattleboro Reformer: A sex offender who fought a city...

New Sex Offender Registration Scholarship

Posted on September 10, 2009
Thanks to Sentencing Law & Policy, we see a new article on SSRN by Amanda Agan (of the University of Chicago Department of Economics) entitled Sex Offender Registries: Fear Without Function? From the abstract: I use three separate datasets and...

Seventh Circuit Skeptical of Indiana Law Restricting Adult Businesses

Posted on September 09, 2009
The Seventh Circuit, via Chief Judge Easterbrook, has issued an interesting opinion in Annex Books v. City of Indianapolis, a challenge to an Indianapolis ordinance that restricts when "adult entertainment business" may operate. The Appellate Court ruled that the city...

Globalizing Sex Offender Registration

Posted on September 08, 2009
Time has an interesting article detailing growing support for an international sex offender registry. A bill, H.R. 1623, was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) earlier this year to do just that. The bill, which you can read about here,...

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

Opinion Piece Argues Economist Article Misleading

Posted on September 01, 2009
Wendy Murphy, an Adjunct Professor at New England Law School, has an opinion piece entitled Sex offender laws flawed but critical. The editorial criticizes the recent Economist article (previously mentioned here), which Professor Murphy describes as a "puff piece about...

Sex Offender Drives Drunk To Register at Police Station

Posted on September 01, 2009
Drinking and driving is never a good idea, especially when you show up at a police station to register as a sex offender. From Philadelphia Inquirer: A convicted child sex offender has been charged with drunken driving because he allegedly...

TX Law Bypasses Statute of Limitations For Old Sex Assualt Cases

Posted on August 31, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has an article about a new Texas law which allows prosecutors and parole boards to link DNA evidence to suspects in sex assault cases, despite the fact that the statute of limitations has expired and the...

Georgia Sex Offender Challenges Online Registration Requirement

Posted on August 31, 2009
Sex offender banishment seems to be catching up with the information age. A Georgia sex offender has brought a constitutional challenge in federal court against a new state law that forces sex offenders to register their passwords, screen names, and....

Girl Held Captive Since 1991, Had Two Kids with Captor

Posted on August 28, 2009
CNN has a tragic story of a young girl who was kidnapped and had two children with her alleged kidnapper in a secret backyard shed. The accused man is also a registered sex offender. From CNN: The 18-year mystery of...

Knowledge is Power by Wayne Logan

Posted on August 26, 2009
Wayne Logan, who regular readers know has authored many of the most important articles about sex offender laws, has a new book coming out titled "Knowledge is Power: Criminal Registration and Community Notification Laws in America." This is from the....

9th Circuit Rejects Challenge to SORNA

Posted on August 26, 2009
In U.S. v. George, the 9th Circuit rejected the constitutional challenges to a SORNA prosecution. You can download the opinion here. The Commerce Clause analysis by the court was particularly disappointing: SORNA was enacted to keep track of sex offenders...

Indiana Supreme Court Declines To Hear Ordinance Challenge

Posted on August 25, 2009
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Indiana Supreme Court has declined to review an appellate court decision which upheld an ordinance banning registered sex offenders from parks in the suburb of Plainfield. From the Tribune: The court declined to...

Death Penalty for Repeat Sex Offenders?

Posted on August 25, 2009
After the Supreme Court held in Kennedy v. Louisiana that "a death sentence for one who raped but did not kill a child, and who did not intend to assist another in killing the child, is unconstitutional," you may have...

Welcome (Back)!

Posted on August 25, 2009
To all the JMLS students who began classes today, welcome or welcome back (as the case may be). If you happen to be in my Criminal Law class this semester, feel free to read along. Reading about the cases and...

Economist Article & Podcast About Sex Offender Laws

Posted on August 25, 2009
The Economist, which recently ran a great article, America's Unjust Sex Laws, now has an interesting podcast interview with Sarah Geraghty, a human rights lawyer in Georgia. In the podcast, Geraghty argues that America's sex-offender laws punish too many too...

Legal Educator Blog Census

Posted on August 19, 2009
My colleague, Colin Miller, at EvidenceProf, undertook the enormous task of compiling a list of all blogs authored by legal educators. His census is divided into two parts that you can find here and here.

Another Free Exercise of Religion Issue for a Sex Offender

Posted on August 19, 2009
These days, sex offenders can't even go to church in some areas. Not long ago the State of Georgia enacted a law prohibiting sex offenders from volunteering at church. Now a North Carolina sex offender is fighting for the right...

Sex Offender Registry? There [Was] An App For That

Posted on August 18, 2009
As Apple's iPhone gains ubiquity, strange applications are sure to appear. The Washington Post has an article about one of the most popular paid applications entitled Offender Locator (available here), which purports to show where sex offenders live in relation...

Illinois Bans All Sex Offenders from Social Networking Sites

Posted on August 18, 2009
Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn singed a new law yesterday which makes it a felony for a registered sex offender to use social networking sites. Like most other broadly worded sex offender restrictions, this new law is sure to raise all...

The Emerging Criminal War on Sex Offenders

Posted on August 17, 2009
I have just uploaded a draft of my new article, The Emerging Criminal War on Sex Offenders, to SSRN. You can find the article here. This is the abstract: This article addresses four central questions. First, what is the difference...

One of These Laws is Not Like the Others on SSRN

Posted on July 17, 2009
I have uploaded the final print version of my article, One of These Laws is Not Like the Others: Why the Federal Sex Offender and Registration and Notification Act Raises New Constitutional Questions at SSRN. This is the abstract: In...

Judicial Activism by Judges on the Courts of Appeals

Posted on July 17, 2009
Although this has nothing to do with sex crimes, I have posted another article of mine Defining and Measuring Judicial Activism: An Empirical Study of Judges on the United States Courts of Appeals on SSRN. This is the abstract: Existing...

AG Holder Extends Adam Walsh Compliance Deadline

Posted on July 17, 2009
Attorney General Eric Holder has extended the deadline for States to comply with the Adam Walsh Act to July 2010. States that fail to comply with the federal Walsh Act face the mandatory loss of 10% of its Bryne Justice...

Justice Department's SMART Case Law Update #27

Posted on July 17, 2009
As previously noted, the Justice Department's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) occasionally posts updates on case law developments in the sex offender realm. You can view the latest update here...

FL ACLU Sues Miami-Dade County Over Residency Restrictions

Posted on July 16, 2009
The Florida ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Miami-Date County over the growing colony of registered sex offenders who are forced to live under a bridge, due to strict residency restrictions. From the Miami Herald: [T]he American Civil Liberties Union...

Prosecutor Declines to Bring "Sexting" Charges

Posted on July 16, 2009
A Michigan prosecutor has decided not to charge several high school students who distributed nude cell phone pictures of a 14-year old girl. From Fox News: Prosecutor David Morse told reporters Monday that Pinckney High School and parents handled the...

MO High Court Rules Federal Sex Offender Registration Trumps State

Posted on July 07, 2009
Sentencing Law & Policy has an interesting post discussing a new Missouri Supreme Court ruling, which raises some interesting Tenth Amendment issues. You may read the opinion here. From the Kansas City Star: Thousands of Missouri sex offenders will have...

Texas Gov Vetoes Sex Offender Registry Reform Bill

Posted on July 07, 2009
Texas Governor (and potential seceder) Rick Perry vetoed a bill which would have given young sex offenders the opportunity to have their names removed from the state sex offender registry. From the El Paso Times: Aaron Jernigan had just started...

Justice Department's SMART Case Law Update #26

Posted on July 07, 2009
As previously noted, the Justice Department's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) occasionally posts updates on case law developments in the sex offender realm. You can view the latest update here...

PA Court: Homeless Sex Offenders Not Subject to Megan's Law

Posted on July 07, 2009
How Appealing reports that the Superior Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that homeless convicted sex offenders are not subject to Megan's Law registration requirements. You can read the Court's opinion here. From PennLive.com: The state appellate court found that William...

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