Criminal Law

"Implementing sex offender registration law may prove impossible"

Posted on March 17, 2009
The Providence Journal has an article discussing the difficulties states are having implementing provisions of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). From the article: In 2006, Congress enacted legislation to standardize the way states classify and register sex...

Obama Nominates District Judge in Indiana to Seventh Circuit

Posted on March 17, 2009
President Obama has nominated federal district judge David F. Hamilton (of the Southern District of Indiana) to the Seventh Circuit. Judge Hamilton received some notoriety last year for striking down an Indiana law requiring sex offenders to consent to a...

Student Post - Athletes, Violence, and Sex

Posted on March 17, 2009
The stance among universities and professional sports has always been that the number of incidents of sexual crimes committed by athletes is in line with the percentages of the rest of the population. The only reason why it may seem...

7th Circuit on Prostitution and Money Laundering

Posted on March 16, 2009
Michael O'Hear has a detailed and interesting discussion of two 7th Circuit opinions in prostitution cases in his weekly roundup: The next two cases both deal with spas in Rockford, Illinois, that were run as fronts for prostitution. (Yes, if...

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The SAFETY Act and Online Privacy

Posted on March 16, 2009
A Stitch in Haste raises questions about the proposed SAFETY Act in a post titled, "We Must Be Winning the War on Terror?": This proposed Internet SAFETY Act (which will almost certainly die in committee) is the height of government...

Student Post - Teacher Accused of Sexual Assault of Student

Posted on March 16, 2009
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13, 2009 for Linda Pithyou, who has been charged with sexual assault. Linda was a teacher at Lawrence Hall Youth Services. She is accused of having sex with one of her male students...

4th Circuit Reverses SORNA Convictions on Statutory Grounds

Posted on March 13, 2009
Doug Berman beat me to the punch in noting that the 4th Circuit, in U.S. v. Hatcher, held that SORNA did not apply the defendants at the time they committed the alleged criminal acts. From the decision: Because the Appellants?...

Student Post - Dominican Republic Rape Case has Similar Issues as in the United States

Posted on March 13, 2009
There are many issues and difficulties for rape victims in the United States that extend far beyond the trauma from the actual rape incident. Legal scholars continue to write about ways to reform rape law in America. Some of these...

Mass. District Court Finds Civil Commitment Law Unconstitutional

Posted on March 12, 2009
A helpful reader let me know that there was a new decision out of the District of Massachusetts finding the federal civil commitment scheme for sex offenders under the Adam Walsh Act was unconstitutional. You can read the opinion here....

AG Holder Talks About AWA

Posted on March 12, 2009
Stateline.org continues its great sex offender law coverage by covering the new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's comments about federal sex offender policy. From the article: Sex offender policy also could be revised in the states? favor under President Obama...

Sex Offender Ordered to Pay Victim $19M

Posted on March 12, 2009
A sex offender has been ordered to pay more than $19 million to a woman who accused him of sexually abusing her as a child. From the Palm Beach Post: A jury Wednesday ordered a registered sex offender to pay...

"Registry lists need to label offenders accurately"

Posted on March 12, 2009
The Newark Advocate is running an interesting op-ed arguing that current sex offender registries are inaccurate and need to be fixed. From the editorial: Convicted criminals don't deserve sympathy often, especially those who held people, including children, hostage...

Ohio Senate Approves Retroactive Residency Restrictions

Posted on March 12, 2009
The Ohio House will now consider a bill prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools or places where children congregate. The bill, which today passed in the Senate 30-0, will apply retroactively. From MSNBC: The Ohio Senate has passed a...

Federal Sentencing Reporter Sex Offender Issue is Out

Posted on March 11, 2009
As Doug Berman notes, the Federal Sentencing Reporter issue dedicated to sex offender issues is out. You can find the details here. I was honored to be one of the contributors and as I noted I have also made my...

SORNA and the Commerce Clause

Posted on March 11, 2009
The final version of my short Federal Sentencing Reporter article, The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and the Commerce Clause, is up on SSRN. You can find it here (click download to get the full article in PDF form)....

Castration in Europe

Posted on March 11, 2009
The New York Times has an article on the debate over castrated sex offenders in some European countries:Whether castration can help rehabilitate violent sex offenders has come under new scrutiny after the Council of Europe?s anti-torture committee last month called...

When is Circuit Agreement Really a Circuit Split?

Posted on March 10, 2009
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA), enacted in 2006, created a new federal crime of "Failure to register." Section 18 U.S.C. 2250 allows for prosecution of sex offenders who do not register as required by the Sex...

Ill. Reps Want Sex Offenders Off Facebook, MySpace

Posted on March 09, 2009
Sentencing Law & Policy mentions a newspaper article detailing efforts by Republicans in Illinois to ban sex offenders from social networking sites. From the State Journal-Register:Illinois House Republicans say state government should do more to keep sex offenders away from...

Scary Story about Prostitutes in New Mexico

Posted on March 09, 2009
Feminist Law Professors directs us to this interesting article concerning the mysterious disappearance of more than a dozen prostitutes. From the Associated Press:In the desert outside Albuquerque, hikers have sometimes stumbled upon human remains partially buried under the hardy scrub...

Ill. Sex Offender Busted for Not Registering His MySpace Page

Posted on March 09, 2009
The State of Illinois requires sex offenders to register with law enforcement various online identifying information, including "all blogs and other Internet sites maintained by the sex offender or to which the sex offender has uploaded any content or posted...

CNN Interview With Darfur Soldier Describes Atrocities

Posted on March 09, 2009
CNN has an interesting and disturbing interview with a former Sudanese solider who describes being ordered to rape and kill children. Rape continues to be an ugly weapon of war in Sudan. From CNN:Last year in Darfur aid workers told...

Student Post - Will the Victim Have a Role in the Osborne Case?

Posted on March 09, 2009
On Monday, March 3, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District, et al. v. Osborne. The Court is considering two questions on certiorari: 1) whether Osborne may use 1983 as a discovery...

Walsh Wants Walsh Act Funded

Posted on March 06, 2009
America's Most Wanted host John Walsh is calling on Congress to fund the Adam Walsh Act, a law named after his murdered 6 year-old son. From the Amarillo Globe-News: John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," told a standing-room-only crowd...

APA Praises Comstock Ruling, Criticizes Civil Commitment

Posted on March 06, 2009
We previously blogged about U.S. v. Comstock (opinion here), where the 4th Circuit struck down a provision of the Adam Walsh allowing the indefinite civil commitment of "sexually dangerous" persons. The American Psychiatric Association has now issued its response to...

Nevada Man Convicted of Filming Himself Raping Toddler

Posted on March 06, 2009
A Nevada man has been convicted of videotaping himself sexually abusing a toddler. From CNN:After deliberating for more than four hours, a jury convicted a Nevada man of 22 counts Tuesday for videotaping himself sexually assaulting a toddler, CNN affiliates...

11th Circuit Rejects Constitutional Challenges to SORNA

Posted on March 06, 2009
In United States v. Ambert , the 11th Circuit reviewed and rejected all of the major constitutional challenges to SORNA prosecutions under 2250(a). I had never heard of this case before, perhaps because the defendant was represented by a private...

Diaper-Flashing Sex Offender Evades Prosecution

Posted on March 06, 2009
Prosecutors in Utah are frustrated by the recent actions of a diaper-wearing sex offender, who recently exposed his diaper to some young children. While the man has a history of exposure, prosecutors are having difficulty charging him with an actual....

Cook County Sheriff Sues Craig's List

Posted on March 05, 2009

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 66

Posted on March 05, 2009

Student Post - Romeo and Juliet: Sex Offenders?

Posted on March 05, 2009

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