Criminal Law

Around the Web

Posted on May 29, 2008
In the R. Kelly trial today, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that "[t]he woman who had been scheduled to testify this week that she had a sexual threesome with R. Kelly and an underage girl will not testify today," but...

I Laughed

Posted on May 29, 2008
Someone sent this to me and it is so wrong. But I laughed anyway. Here are the details of Larry Craig "Bobblefoot" night (image and story courtesy of the Smoking Gun): Capitalizing on Senator Larry Craig's restroom bust, a Minnesota...

Will the Kennedy Court Take Notice?

Posted on May 29, 2008
One of the trickier parts of the "evolving standards of decency" analysis in Kennedy v. Louisiana concerns what should be made of those states that have considered, but not adopted capital child rape statutes. If Orin Kerr is right that...

The End of the Road for the Madera Case

Posted on May 29, 2008
I've been following the Madera case for a while now and when I was out of town, the decision from the 11th Circuit was filed. Basically, the court found for Madera because the prosecution was before a declaration of retroactive...

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

Around the Web

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Volokh Conspiracy has a post discussing a new California bill which "would impose a tax on the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, tangible personal property that is adult material, as defined, in this state...

Dorf on Williams

Posted on May 28, 2008
I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I took some extra time off after fulfilling my best man duties at my best friend's wedding. So, I have a lot of catching up to do today. First up is...

Ice Cream Trucks Now Sex Offender Free in California County

Posted on May 22, 2008
Updating this previous story, Dan Filler has the details of the California county that has joined other jurisdictions in banning sex offenders from being ice cream truck drivers: Nobody ever lost an election by adopting new punishment regulations for sex...

R. Kelly Trial has Finally Started

Posted on May 22, 2008
And there is obviously a lot of coverage around the Web. Here are some of the highlights so far. The infamous sex tape was shown to the jury: Prosecutors played the sex tape at the center of R. Kelly's child...

James Woodard

Posted on May 22, 2008
CNN has the story of James Woodard who was exonerated for raping and murdering his girlfriend after 27 years in prison: James Woodard is slowly returning to life. He is starting over after spending 27 years behind bars. He was...

Should a 17 yr. old be charged?

Posted on May 21, 2008
From the Lacrosse Tribune comes this story: Felony charges were filed today against a La Crosse teen accused of posting nude photographs of a 16-year-old female on his MySpace page. Alex Phillips, 17, of W4300 Hwy. M, No. 79, was...

GPS Devices and Probable Cause

Posted on May 21, 2008
EvidenceProf has the story of how the planting of a GPS device raised questions as to seizures of evidence in the case of the "wooded rapist": Tennessee authorities have apprehended Robert Jason Burdick, the man they suspect of being the...

Odd AWA Ruling From the 5th Circuit

Posted on May 21, 2008
Last week, Sentencing Law & Policy had the details about a 5th Circuit decision reversing a sentence under the SORNA provisions of the AWA. Here is a portion of the decision: Sanchez pleaded guilty to failing to register pursuant to...

Around the Web

Posted on May 20, 2008
School and law enforcement officials notified a Missouri man that he could not attend his son's eighth-grade graduation, because he was a convicted sex offender and wasn't allowed on school property. The man faces up to four years in prison...

Welcome to the Blogosphere

Posted on May 19, 2008
Frequent Sex Crimes commenter, David Hess, has started a new blog, Sex Offenders - A Reality Based Discussion. He already has quite a few interesting posts. I'll definitely be reading.

US v. Williams

Posted on May 19, 2008
I've recovering from a nasty cold, but the USSC issuing an opinion in US v. Williams was enough to wake me from my Sudafed-induced daze. You might remember this was the case that Doug Berman said had definite sleeper potential....

Around the Web

Posted on May 19, 2008
The New York Times has an article discussing a unique courtroom in Westchester County, New York that handles sex offender cases and almost nothing else. According to the article, the idea was that such courts might cultivate expertise among judges,...

Anonymous Rape Kits

Posted on May 15, 2008
Huffington Post has the story of how anonymous rape kit testing will go nationwide over the next year: Starting next year across the country, rape victims too afraid or too ashamed to go to police can undergo an emergency-room forensic...

Residency Restrictions and the USSC

Posted on May 15, 2008
Berman posts: It is clear based on lots of lower court litigation that the constitutionality of sex offender residency restrictions will come before the US Supreme Court sooner or later. It is thus interesting to speculate exactly when and how...

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 47

Posted on May 15, 2008
It has been posted at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section: In Amnesty International Calls for Protocol for Rape Victims at IHS posted at Falmouth Institute/American Indian Report Blog, we get a discussion of the request for people to join...

He Will Be Getting Out of Prison Around 3338 AD

Posted on May 14, 2008
Sentencing Law & Policy has the story of a rather lengthy sentence for one sex offender: A convicted sex offender could be sentenced to more than a millenium in prison for molesting two girls, a prosecutor said Thursday. Horace Mann...

Who Are the Online Predators?

Posted on May 14, 2008
I'd like to thank Corey for his warm welcome and his gracious offer to guest blog here at Sex Crimes. I often read Corey's fine work as I follow the ongoing social, legal, and political developments that have become our...

Guest Blogger: Steven Erickson

Posted on May 13, 2008
I hope you all will join me in welcoming Steven Erickson who will be guest-blogging here at Sex Crimes. Some of you might know him from his blog posts (which I often link to) at Crime & Consequences. Erickson is...

Beyond Rape

Posted on May 13, 2008
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a five part series titled Beyond Rape about one rape survivor's experience with the criminal justice system. Here is a portion of the second piece in the series: Six days after I identified David Francis,...

Congratulations . . .

Posted on May 13, 2008
. . . to my 144 Criminal Law students who took their exams today. Good job to all of you. I enjoyed teaching both of my sections a lot (I hope the feeling was mutual). Of course, over the next...

Court Rules Ohio's AWA Compliance Statute Unconstitutional

Posted on May 12, 2008
In Evans v. Ohio, a court in Cuyahoga County ruled that the state's AWA compliance statute is unconstitutional because it violates the Ohio Constitution's prohibition against retroactive punishments and violates the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution...

National Conference on Prostitution, Sex Work and Human Trafficking

Posted on May 09, 2008
The University of Toledo is hosting the 5th Annual National Conference on Prostitution, Sex Work and Human Trafficking on September 18-19, 2008: The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers and practitioners across the country and abroad to...

More on Massachusetts Rape by Fraud Statute

Posted on May 09, 2008
NPR has more on the Massachusetts proposal to make rape by fraud a felony: Massachusetts is the latest state to consider putting a new crime on the books: rape by fraud. Currently, a sex act only qualifies as rape if...

Difficulties with Enforcing City Residency Restrictions

Posted on May 08, 2008
A helpful reader sent me this article about some of the problems with enforcing residency restriction laws: It's one thing to adopt a bylaw restricting where convicted sex offenders can live. It's another matter to enforce the new rules. Southborough...

BJS Stats on Domestic Violence

Posted on May 08, 2008
Via Empirical Legal Studies, I see that the Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a report concerning domestic violence prosecution and punishment. Among the many notable findings is this tidbit: Prosecuted domestic sexual assault defendants had a higher overall conviction...

US v. Williams as a Sleeper Case

Posted on May 08, 2008
US v. Williams concerns the constitutionality of the PROTECT Act, yet another child pornography law which potentially runs afoul of the First Amendment. The Court granted cert to hear the case in March 2007 and heard arguments in the case....

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