Criminal Law

Don't Click that Link

Posted on March 25, 2008
Both Orin Kerr at Volokh Conspiracy and Jeralyn at TalkLeft recently covered the story of how the FBI is utilizing fake child porn links to get probable cause for home searches. This is from the media account of the story:...

Around the Web

Posted on March 24, 2008
How Appealing reports that a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel has recently ruled that "[d]ouble jeopardy prevents a criminal defendant from being convicted for the federal offenses of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography when the conduct...

I'm Back

Posted on March 24, 2008
I'm back in town and have a lot to catch up on. I'm weeding through all of my emails now. I hope you all enjoyed the auto-posting while I was gone. I have a bunch of things to post about...

Rape Shield Laws at EvidenceProf

Posted on March 20, 2008
EvidenceProf Blog has had quite a few posts on rape shield laws that raise very difficult questions. Here is another one: The Court of Appeals of Kansas' recent opinion in State v. Jackson, 2008 WL 538948 (Kan.App. 2008), contains an...

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People v. Madera (Part III)

Posted on March 19, 2008
On this last post about Madera, I cover the Appellant's reply brief. Sadly, the reply brief doesn't make any new arguments in regards to the commerce clause. There are a lot of interesting arguments that you should check out for...

People v. Madera (Part II)

Posted on March 18, 2008
Yesterday, I covered the Appellant's brief. Today I cover the government's response to the commerce clause argument. The government spends substantially more time on the commerce clause issue, so I will only excerpt key portions below. Madera concedes that 18...

Blog Against Sexual Violence Day

Posted on March 17, 2008
As abyss2hope notes, it is on April 3, 2008. I will definitely be participating again this year.

People v. Madera (Part I)

Posted on March 17, 2008
Some of you might remember an AWA case in Florida that I blogged about some time ago: People v. Madera. At the time, I remarked that, "I think to ignore Morrison and Lopez in its analysis puts the opinion on...

Problems in Sex Crime Policy Advocacy

Posted on March 14, 2008
I have advocated certain policy reforms that many would argue are "soft" on sex crimes. I've also advocated reforms that might be perceived as being unfairly "hard" on sex crimes. In each case, I may find myself agreeing with persons...

20/20 on Age of Consent

Posted on March 14, 2008
As seen on the new grey-at-law blog, 20/20 is showing a special program titled "Age of Consent" tonight. I won't be in the country to see it, so if you have any comments on the program, post them here.

Another Residency Restriction Article on SSRN

Posted on March 13, 2008
Proving that I really need to subscribe to various SSRN feeds (as opposed to checking periodically) so that Berman stops scooping me on sex crime articles, Sentencing Law & Policy directs us to this article on SSRN by Asmara Johnson:...

Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds

Posted on March 13, 2008
As noted on Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr has posted a very interesting article on SSRN about regulating virtual worlds. He is very much in favor of a hands-off approach: When does conduct by an online player in a virtual world...

Kennedy v. Louisiana Respondent's Merits Brief

Posted on March 13, 2008
As reflected in an update to the Patrick Kennedy v. Louisiana Resource Page, the Respondent's merits brief is now available here. You can expect more coverage of this brief in the near future.

Around the Web

Posted on March 12, 2008
LexisNexis has announced the release of Sex Offender Alerts, "a solution that provides law enforcement officials with automated notification of the location of sex offenders, especially as they move from one law enforcement jurisdiction to another." These alerts are designed...

Is There a Trend?

Posted on March 12, 2008
With the Respondent's brief in Kennedy v. Louisiana today, I have the case on my mind. One of the key points in the matter will be whether there is an "evolving" trend toward applying the death penalty to the crime...

Spitzer Resigns!

Posted on March 12, 2008
Here is the story from CNN: Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday that he will step down from the state's top office, saying he cannot allow his "private failings to disrupt the public's work." "I am deeply sorry that I did...

I'm Out of the Country - Blogging Will Continue as Normal

Posted on March 12, 2008
I'm going to be out of the country from tomorrow until the following Friday. I'll have no Internet access and won't be responding to emails. I'm already way behind on email (sorry about that), but I'll catch up when I...

Spitzer Roundup

Posted on March 11, 2008
I don't have much new to add beyond my initial post on the subject of Spitzer. I'm just waiting to see if and when he will resign (I think it seems likely) and if and when he will be indicted...

Around the Web

Posted on March 10, 2008
Sentencing Law and Policy notes an interesting New York Times article about sex offender tracking. The article discusses the person who runs Parents for Megan?s Law and the Crime Victims? Center. The organization "has been painstakingly compiling such information about...

Governor Spitzer Linked to a Prostitution Ring (Updated)

Posted on March 10, 2008
The New York Times has the details: Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning. Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top...

New Sex Offender Law in Virgina

Posted on March 10, 2008
French-kissing someone under the age of 13 if you are an adult will land you on the sex offender registry in the state if the recently passed bill is signed into law: State legislators passed a law Saturday that would...

So Long to "The Wire"

Posted on March 10, 2008
I echo Rick Garnett's sentiments after seeing the series finale to "The Wire" last night on HBO. While it was about drug crimes and not sex crimes, I think anyone interested in criminal justice should watch the series. It was...

New York Times on To Catch a Predator

Posted on March 10, 2008
The Times has a very interesting article about To Catch a Predator and the suicide that resulted during a raid. The article really focuses on a point that I think is the genuine problem with the show - the coordination...

Around the Web

Posted on March 07, 2008
Sentencing Law and Policy also reports that a split 10th Circuit panel has upheld the reasonableness of a below-guideline sentence in a sex offense case. The case (available here) is US v. Smart, No. 06-6120 (10th Cir. Mar. 4, 2008)....

Interesting New Article on Registration and Notification Laws

Posted on March 07, 2008
J.J. Prescott, of Michigan, and Jonah Rockoff, of Columbia Business, have posted a very interesting empirical study concerning the efficacy of sex offender registration and notification laws on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In recent decades, sex offenders have been...

Around the Web

Posted on March 06, 2008
CNN is reporting that 14 Americans are in custody after an FBI crackdown on a well-organized suspected child pornography ring. The group allegedly distributed more than 400,000 lewd pictures and movies. The Nevada Appeal has an article discussing state legislative...

Sex Offender Ghettos

Posted on March 06, 2008
I have long thought that sex offender ghettos are an inevitable result of residency restrictions. A while ago, there was an excellent New York Magazine article about a sex offender "cluster" in Long Island. Once these ghettos communities form, the...

Failure to Prosecute TYC Sex Abuse Cases Doesn't Stop Election Victory

Posted on March 05, 2008
Grits has the details: There's an old saying in politics that a gerrymandered incumbent can typically only be defeated if they're caught with a "dead girl or a live boy," which explains why the Pyote case generated such turmoil in...

New Article on Residency Restrictions

Posted on March 05, 2008
Concurring Opinions is nice enough to post the tables of contents of leading law reviews. Like Doug Berman, I noticed that the recent Northwestern University Law Review includes a student note on the subject of residency restrictions. I read through....

Carnival Against Sexual Violence 42

Posted on March 05, 2008
It's at abyss2hope. Here is the legal section: In First-ever global anti-human trafficking forum opens posted at Holly's Fight to Stop Violence, we get a discussion of the United Nations forum held in Vienna, Austria with 1200 experts, legislators, law...

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