CO: Freeing sex offenders (Opinion)

The backlog of sex offenders waiting for treatment in the Colorado Department of Corrections has gotten a lot of attention lately, and with some justification. If these child molesters and rapists want to admit to the grievous harm they’ve caused their victims and learn how to manage their deviant behavior, by all means, they should. And Colorado taxpayers ought to gladly ante up for more counselors to provide that treatment. But that doesn’t mean these offenders automatically should be released by their minimum eligible parole date. Note the word “minimum.”…

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Yet another effective review of the child porn restitution challenges facing SCOTUS

I have already blogged some previews of the fascinating Supreme Court case of Paroline v. United States even though oral argument is still six weeks away because the issues strike me as so interesting and dynamic.  (The parties’ main briefs and now lots of amicus briefs are now available via SCOTUSblog on this Paroline case page.)  And I suspect we are seeing other notable coverage of the case already because lots of others are also intrigued by the issues and arguments now before the Justices in Paroline.  The latest example comes via Emily Bazelon here at Slate, and it is…

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TEMECULA: Guilty pleas in vigilante baseball bat attack

A Temecula father, his teen daughter and her friend have pleaded guilty in connection with the vigilante beating of a man the girl had accused of raping her. The father, David Ray Mills, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 4, to being an accessory to the Jan. 13 attack at a Temecula park in which ____ ____ ____, 20, was beaten with a baseball bat. Mills was sentenced to four years’ probation and time served. Mills’ 16-year-old daughter, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced…

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TX: Sex offenders banned from S.A. parks, River Walk

SAN ANTONIO — City Council on Thursday unanimously approved an ordinance to restrict registered sex offenders from city parks and a portion of the River Walk. The ordinance creates park safety zones that registered sex offenders can’t enter. They can’t live within 1,000 feet or loiter, whether standing or in a car, within 300 feet of a park safety zone, the draft ordinance states. Full Article

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Certificate of Rehabilitation Help for Veterans – San Jose

The Veteran’s Administration is sending over a Veterans lawyer. His name is Andy Chin to do the Certificate of Rehabilitation paperwork to any Hon. Discharged Veteran with a 288(a) conviction. He will see if the veteran meets all the requirements and if so will do the Certificate of Rehabilitation paperwork free of charge to the veteran on a first come first served basis. He will be at the EHC Veteran Center at 2011 Little Orchard Street, San Jose, CA 95125 every Friday from 12:00 noon to 6 PM. Sent in…

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Sex offenders released in SF may soon have more programs offered to them

Sex offenders released in The City face increased supervision with requirements such as polygraph testing every six months and weekly group therapy sessions for at least a year — and those who are homeless may be sheltered in units run by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. The Adult Probation Department has begun implementing a so-called containment model as required after the 2010 passage of Assembly Bill 1844, or Chelsea’s Law, which also increased punishment for sexually related crimes. The law mandates that sex offenders released beginning July 2012 undergo risk assessment,…

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The Vigilante of Clallam County

On a morning last fall, Patrick Drum sat quietly in his black and white striped uniform and handcuffs as he awaited his fate. The sleeves of his top were short enough to reveal a tattoo reading “Win Some” on his right forearm and one reading “Lose Sum” on the left. From the court’s gallery where dozens of reporters and community members sat, he seemed barely to move as the families of the two men he had killed four months before came forward to speak. Full Article

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Allocating Liability for Child Pornography, in Full or Fractional Shares

WASHINGTON — The notices arrive almost every day. They tell a young woman named Amy, as she is called in court papers, that someone has been charged with possessing child pornography. She was the child. “It is hard to describe what it feels like to know that at any moment, anywhere, someone is looking at pictures of me as a little girl being abused by my uncle and is getting some kind of sick enjoyment from it,” Amy, then 19, wrote in a 2008 victim impact statement. “It’s like I am…

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