Criminal Law

The End of COPA

Posted on January 23, 2009
COPA, the Online Child Protection and Safety Act, has finally met its end. The 3rd Circuit repeatedly struck down the statute and the United States Supreme Court has finally put the 1998 Act out of its misery. From SCOTUSBlog:The Supreme...

Sleepwalking as a Defense to Child Molestation Charges?

Posted on January 23, 2009
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant in a child molestation case can use expert testimony to support sleepwalking as a defense. From a local news account:The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a Nashville firefighter is entitled...

Kate Winslet Offended By the Term "Statutory Rape"

Posted on January 22, 2009
In a recent interview with actress Kate Winslet on ComingSoon.net, the following discussion took place:Q: Do you ever have any trepidations about approaching controversial material like abortion in "Revolutionary Road" or statutory rape?Ms. Winslet: I'm so sorry, "statutory rape"? I've...

"Blow-up doll sex suspect arrested in Australia"

Posted on January 22, 2009
In Australia, a man is accused of breaking into an adult shop and having sex with the blow-up dolls. CrimProf Blog also has the story. From CNN:The 23-year-old allegedly broke into the Laneway Adult Shop in the northen Australian city...

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Woman who was Involved with Minor and Sex Offender Receives Probation

Posted on January 22, 2009
A 19 year old Wisconsin woman will receive two years of probation, but no jail time for her participation in "three-way sexual encounters" with a 15-year-old girl and a sex offender. From the Sheboygan Press: Johanna N. Peters, of 23...

Gary Glitter Gives up Fight, Will be Registered Sex Offender

Posted on January 22, 2009
Gary Glitter, the British glam rock star whose legal troubles have been previously discussed, has given up his fight to have his name taken off Britain's sex offender registry. As you may remember, Glitter spent nearly three years in a...

New Posters Coming to Sex Crimes

Posted on January 21, 2009
This semester, I'm doing a little experiment in blogging. I'm teaching for the first time a seminar titled "Sex Crimes." I currently have the maximum 24 students in my class. During this semester, a small portion of their grade will...

Welcome Back JMLS Students!

Posted on January 21, 2009
Classes began yesterday at JMLS. So, if you are one of my Criminal Law or Sex Crimes students, feel free to read along this semester (and feel free to do so even if you aren't one of my students).

California Appellate Court Agrees To Hear Polanski's Argument

Posted on January 21, 2009
The ABA Journal is reporting that a California appellate court has "agreed to hear a claim by fugitive film director Roman Polanski that the criminal system has been biased in its handling of a decades-old child-rape case against him." The...

Character Evidence in Child Molestation Cases

Posted on January 20, 2009
Colin Miller at EvidenceProf has a post about a recent effort in South Dakota to allow the use of prior child molestation evidence in certain instances in criminal prosecutions:South Dakota does not currently have a rule of evidence that allows...

When a GPS Bracelet isn't Enough

Posted on January 19, 2009
A helpful reader alerted me that some Washington lawmakers are pushing for a brave new world in sex offender punishment:Lawmakers are considering a controversial bill that would outfit sex offenders with a surgically-implanted device that tracks their movement...

L.A. Times Calls for Jessica's Law to be Rewritten or Dropped

Posted on January 19, 2009
The Los Angeles Times is running an interesting editorial calling for Jessica's Law to be dropped or rewritten, since it "is unaffordable and doesn't improve safety." From the Los Angeles Times:Of all the ill-considered ballot initiatives approved by California voters...

Washington Lawmakers Seek to Close Teacher-Student Sex "Loophole"

Posted on January 19, 2009
Lawmakers in Washington state have proposed a new law which criminalizes sexual relationships between school employees and students. The move comes as a result of a state Court of Appeals decision (previously discussed here) finding that a law banning teachers...

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Very Long Child Porn Sentence

Posted on January 16, 2009
Sentencing Law & Policy has a post about a Eleventh Circuit decision involving a more than 27 year sentence for one count of receiving child pornography. You can view the opinion here. As the SL&P post notes, the case offers...

All California Sex Offender Parolees To Wear GPS Ankle Bracelets

Posted on January 16, 2009
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has announced that all 6,622 sex offender parolees in the state will now be fitted with GPS ankle bracelets. From MSNBC:Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the move as an added layer of protection for...

Residency Restrictions Causing Increased Homelessness

Posted on January 16, 2009
As expected, laws meant to restrict where sex offenders live are having an unintended consequence: increased homelessness. Sentencing Law & Policy has more. From the Washington Post:Strict new laws aimed at keeping track of sex offenders after they leave prison...

Judge in Northern Ireland Bars Newspaper From Publishing Sex Offender's Picture

Posted on January 16, 2009
A judge across the pond in Northern Ireland has enjoined a newspaper from publishing pictures of a convicted sex offender. From the Belfast Telegraph:A judge in the North has barred a newspaper from publishing photographs of a convicted sex offender....

Teens Send Nude Pics, Face Child Porn Charges

Posted on January 16, 2009
Ars Techinica has an article discussing a case in which two young girls sent nude pictures to two boys using their cell phones. The pictures were discovered when one of the kids was caught using a cell phone during school...

Do Residency Restrictions Work?

Posted on January 15, 2009
Every state that reviews the efficacy of residency restrictions seems less than enthusiastic about the results thus far. Add California to the list of states wondering about the value of these statutes:A state panel is urging the governor and legislators...

Mayor is Busted for Sex Crimes

Posted on January 15, 2009
A Wisconsin mayor has allegedly committed some very bad crimes from possession of child pornography to attempted sexual assault of a child. From a local news account:Mayor Gary Becker has been arrested on multiple felony charges related to attempted sexual...

Eighth Circuit Issues New SORNA Opinion

Posted on January 15, 2009
I was a bit disappointed with the Eighth Circuit's opinion in United States v. May because it didn't address in depth the legitimate constitutional arguments against SORNA prosecutions. To some degree the court's opinion in United States v. Howell cures...

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 63

Posted on January 15, 2009
The 63rd edition of the Carnival Against Sexual Violence is out at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section:In Senator Alquist introduces Statute of Limitations for Sex Crimes (SB 46) posted at CALCASA Public Policy, we get a discussion about a...

11th Circuit Issues a Puzzling SORNA Opinion

Posted on January 15, 2009
There has been a lot of federal appellate court action in relation to SORNA lately (I'll be covering the 8th Circuit's notable Howell opinion later today). Normally, the cases go in favor the government. However, when the defendant wins at...

Sex Between Teacher and 18 Year Old Student Legal In Washington State

Posted on January 15, 2009
A unanimous all-female panel on the Washington Court of Appeals found that a state law banning teachers from having sex with minors does not apply to 18-year-olds. You may view the opinion here. Cradle-robbing teachers in Iowa however, should be...

Sex Offender Wins Lottery, Suffers Severe Beating

Posted on January 14, 2009
Earlier we reported that an Alaskan sex offender won a $500,000 lottery sponsored by a rape support group. Police are now saying that the sex offender was attacked on a downtown Anchorage street with a tire iron or metal pipe....

Ice

Posted on January 14, 2009
The Supreme Court issued an opinion today in a case where the underlying crimes were sexual in nature. However, the opinion in Oregon v. Ice had little to do with the sexual aspect of the crimes. So, since I don't...

Internet Not So Bad For Kids

Posted on January 14, 2009
The Internet may not be so dangerous for children as previously believed. "A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a...

Man Allegedly Sold Daughter for Beer, Meat, and Cash

Posted on January 14, 2009
And that's not the worst of it. He allegedly sold his 14-year old daughter to an 18-year old for purposes of sex. Thus, there is a human trafficking and statutory rape charge. From a brief news account:A Californian man arranged...

David Meggett, Say it Ain't So

Posted on January 14, 2009
Dave Meggett was one of those NFL players that I just liked for some reason when I was younger. Unfortunately, he is being charged with rape (after already being charged with another sexual assault). From ESPN.com:Several months after he was...

A Military Trial for Rape with a Twist

Posted on January 13, 2009
Out.com published a feature concerning the trial of Capt. Devery Lane Taylor based upon allegations that he raped a male soldier. The article describes the difficulties and oddities associated with such prosecutions in a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," military...

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