Criminal Law

Student Post - Will the European Union's Latest Attempts to Combat Human Trafficking Be Successful?

Posted on March 30, 2009
On March 25, the European Commission released a proposal designed to combat human trafficking and the sexual abuse of children. The proposal contained a series of laws that must be approved by member countries before being enacted into legislation. The...

Is There a Criminal War on Sex Offenders?

Posted on March 27, 2009
That's the question I posed at Concurring Opinions and will be the subject of my next paper (the draft will be up this summer). Rather than post here also, I'd direct you take a look at my post there. There...

Leahy Asks DOJ For Extension For the States to Comply with SORNA

Posted on March 27, 2009
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is asking Attorney General Eric Holder to provide an extension to the various states currently struggling to comply with the SORNA provisions of the Adam Walsh Act. You can read the letter here. From the Senator's...

Student Post - "Wait Until She's Sober": Pentagon Official on Sex Crimes

Posted on March 27, 2009
The military is launching a new crusade against sexual assault. The campaign, which comes after a reported 25% increase in sexual assault in combat zones, advises soldiers to ?ask her when she?s sober.? Last week the director of the Pentagon's...

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ACLU Sues DA Who Threatened Teen Girls with Child Porn Charges

Posted on March 27, 2009
Fresh off their victory over sex offender registry restrictions in the Pittsburgh-area, the ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a complaint in federal court against a Wyoming County district attorney who threatened three high school girls with child porn charges arising...

Student Post - Somali Islamic Court Publicly Lashes Four Accused of Gang Rape

Posted on March 27, 2009
A picture of a young man getting whipped by soldiers in front of a large crowd in Somalia was released to local and international news sources on March 9th, and brought controversies out in the open. The headline reads: Somali...

More On The Decision Striking Down A Pennsylvania County Residency Restriction

Posted on March 26, 2009
As noted yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Lancaster of the Western District of Pennsylvania struck down a Pittsburgh-area sex offender residency restriction. The decision, available here is a significant victory for several sex offenders who challenged the Allegheny...

U.S. v. Powers Ends with a Whimper

Posted on March 26, 2009
After a strong district court opinion finding that SORNA was an unlawful exercise of federal power under the Commerce Clause, I was optimistic that the 11th Circuit might be the first circuit to reach a similar holding. However, after a...

Castration Makes a Come Back

Posted on March 26, 2009
With Gov. Jindal putting sex offender policy front-and-center in Louisiana politics, the issue of castration has reemerged. The Daily Beast has more: Should we ?chemically castrate? sex offenders? Victims? rights groups, Governor Bobby Jindal?and even some sex offenders themselves?say yes...

News of the Weird

Posted on March 26, 2009
In case you were wondering what the likely sentence for having sex with a car wash vacuum in Michigan is, the answer is: 90 days in prison. From the Associated Press (via Fox News): A man police caught performing a...

AWA Coverage Coming to A Public Defender

Posted on March 26, 2009
Gideon is alarmed about what is happening in Connecticut and promises a lot of AWA coverage in the near future: I only just realized that there?s a bill currently in the legislature implementing the Adam Walsh Act. Folks, this is...

The False Imprisonment of a Minor Problem

Posted on March 25, 2009
There have been several news stories recently outlining the problem with state registries in that imprisonment of a minor is an offense justifying listing. That means an offender who robs a store with a minor present or someone who termporarily...

Ohio Ban on Material to Juveniles

Posted on March 25, 2009
Eugene Volokh at Volokh Conspiracy and How Appealing had recent posts about a Sixth Circuit decision concerning an Ohio statute which outlaws dissemination of material that is harmful to minors. From Volokh: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth...

Federal Judge Strikes Down Pennsylvania County Residency Restriction

Posted on March 24, 2009
A federal judge has struck down a Pittsburgh-area sex offender residency restriction. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: An Allegheny County ordinance limiting where sex offenders can live was politically popular, but a federal judge on Friday ruled it was illegal...

Student Post - On Romania's Consideration of Whether to Decriminalize Consensual Incest

Posted on March 24, 2009
All 50 United States and the District of Columbia have made incest, even when consensual, illegal. Yet, in Europe, incest is not always a crime. As a recent article by the Associated Press noted France, Spain, and Portugal do not...

NJ Supreme Court Hears Residency Challenge

Posted on March 24, 2009
Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard a challenge to residency restrictions enacted by various cities within the state. Those laws have been in a legal limbo ever since an appellate court ruled that such restrictions must be enacted only...

Woman Lives Under Bridge With Other Sex Offenders

Posted on March 24, 2009
Sex offenders in Florida do not have many residency options, as noted in this interesting article in the Miami Herald. The article discusses a peculiar colony of 52 male sex offenders that live in under a bridge and a woman...

Alaska and Florida Consider Laws against Bestiality

Posted on March 23, 2009
Due to their legal status as property, animals are subject to physical and sometimes sexual abuse. While human-animal sex is almost universally condemned, it is not explicitly illegal in 15 states. Florida and Alaska, reacting to incidents of human-animal sex,...

Student Post - Teacher and Student Relationships

Posted on March 23, 2009
It starts out innocently?.a woman meets a man. They go to school together and begin to get closer as they spend more time together. They start to confide in one another, telling each other secrets and personal feelings. As the...

Military Allows Convicted Rapists To Enlist

Posted on March 23, 2009
CBS has an excellent article covering the treatment of women in the military. The article notes that the U.S. military is issuing "moral waivers," which allows felons, including convicted rapists to enlist. From CBS: It's a potent environment, with female...

Justice Department's SMART Case Law Update #23

Posted on March 20, 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...

Student Post - Georgia Sex Offender Law Over-Inclusive

Posted on March 20, 2009
When the average person thinks of a sex offender or pedophile they conjure up thoughts of some middle aged man lurking in the shadows, waiting for just the right moment to rape and kill any child in their path. To...

Gender Bias in Statutory Rape Cases

Posted on March 19, 2009
A helpful reader pointed me to an interesting article in the Daily Beast about gender bias in statutory rape cases: After a 17-year-old boy had sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend, he was charged with a felony for statutory rape. When...

Horrific Austrian Incest and Rape Case Ends with Life Inprisonment

Posted on March 19, 2009
The Austrian father who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered a total of seven children with her was convicted of homicide, rape, incest, and other charges today. He will be sentenced to life in...

Guilt by Marriage?

Posted on March 18, 2009
SexOffenderResearch points to this odd story where a sex offender's wife has had her application for a liquor license notated with a reference to her husband's criminal history. From a local news account: An application a Fort Smith woman has...

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 67

Posted on March 18, 2009
Congratulations to abyss2hope which just celebrated its third anniversary. Meanwhile, the new Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up and this is the legal section: In Proof That Men Who Say Rape Is Only A Women's Issue Are Fools posted at...

Probation Sentence Possible under Kansas' Jessica's Law

Posted on March 18, 2009
A Public Defender reports on a case where a defendant could receive probation on remand under Kansas' Jessica's law if their crime was committed before July 1, 2008. Here is the ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court. From the post:...

New Article About Sexually Deviant Behavior

Posted on March 18, 2009
A helpful reader sends word of a new article entitled: Inferring Sexually Deviant Behavior From Corresponding Fantasies: The Role of Personality and Pornography Consumption. Here is the abstract: Findings revealed that 95 percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one...

When a Robber is a Sex Offender

Posted on March 17, 2009
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interesting article discussing Georigia's sex offender law. The article notes that many registered "sex offenders" were convicted of non-sexual crimes, such as robbery. Ohio apparently has similar troubles. From the article: Child molesters, rapists and...

The Dangers of "Sexting"

Posted on March 17, 2009
The Orlando Sentinel has an article detailing the story of a teenager who received nude photos of his 16-year old girlfriend while they were dating and subsequently sent them to "more than 70 people, including her parents, grandparents and teachers"....

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