(CNN) – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander’s chief of staff was arrested on Wednesday on child pornography related charges, federal prosecutors said. ____ ____ ____, 35, was held pending a planned hearing on Thursday in federal court in Washington, according to a Justice Department statement. “I am stunned, surprised and disappointed by what I have learned,” Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said in a statement earlier in the day, noting that his office is cooperating in the investigation. Full Article
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MA: Court overturns escort’s sex offender label
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court on Wednesday overturned the classification of a former escort service manager as a low-level sex offender, finding that the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board should have considered research showing women are less likely than men to commit new sex offenses. Full Article
Read MorePolice overkill has become the default American policy
If all you’ve got is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail. And if police and prosecutors are your only tool, sooner or later everything and everyone will be treated as criminal. This is increasingly the American way of life, a path that involves “solving” social problems (and even some non-problems) by throwing cops at them, with generally disastrous results. Wall-to-wall criminal law encroaches ever more on everyday life as police power is applied in ways that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago. Full Article
Read MoreCT: 2 Legislators Want To Keep Sex Offenders Away From Children
A Republican and a Democrat announced plans last week to push for a law to prohibit sex offenders from living near places where children gather. The proposal comes from Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby, and Sen. Joe Crisco, D-Woodbridge. In a joint press release, the two legislators called for legislation establishing a 1,000-foot radius around schools, daycares, “and other locations where children typically gather.” The bill would prevent any registered sex offenders from residing within these zones. “The last thing a parent should have to worry about when they send their…
Read MorePush to ban crime box on job applications expands
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim wants to make this question virtually obsolete on job applications in San Francisco: Have you been convicted of a crime? Kim is proposing to expand the city’s existing ban by having it include most private employers, publicly funded housing providers and city contractors. Ten states and more than 50 cities have adopted some version of “ban the box,” and a growing number of private employers are also jumping on board – earlier this year, Target announced it would strip the question from its applications. The federal…
Read MoreCO: 6 year old suspended for kissing a girl
DENVER (AP) — The suspension of a 6-year-old boy for kissing a girl at school is raising questions about whether the peck should be considered sexual harassment. The boy’s mother said officials at Lincoln School of Science and Technology in Canon City, a southern Colorado city of 16,000, are over-reacting. Jennifer Saunders said her son was suspended once before for kissing the girl and had other disciplinary problems, and she was surprised to find out that he would be forced out of school again for several days. Full Article
Read MoreFormer San Diego Mayor gets 3 months home confinement
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO — Disgraced former Mayor Bob Filner received three months of home confinement and three years of probation in a sentencing hearing Monday, the final chapter in Filner’s stunning fall following from his repeated inappropriate sexual behavior toward women. The sentencing by Superior Court Judge Robert Trentacosta came after Filner pleaded guilty in October to one felony charge of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor charges of battery. The former 10-term congressman will also have to seek mental health treatment, surrender a portion of his pension and be prohibited from…
Read MoreLiving with 290: The James D. Anderson Story
My name is James D. Anderson and I’ve been fighting The Sex Crime Witch Hunt for over 25 years now after being falsely accused of rape in 1985 by a deranged, serial false accuser who accused me in order to file a million dollar lawsuit. Check out my blog, The Jessica’s Law Nightmare in California at www.jessicaslawnightmare.blogspot.com/
Read MoreRuling may have vast effect on sex-offender registry, attorney says
Appeals court decision involving an Orange County case could impact thousands seeking to have their names removed from the ‘Megan’s Law’ list. SANTA ANA – A court ruling involving an Orange County case could result in hearings for thousands of California sex offenders seeking to have their names removed from the “Megan’s Law” registry, says an attorney who represents a sex offender. California’s 4th District Court of Appeal found unconstitutional a state law that allows some sex offenders to have hearings for certificates of rehabilitation while denying that right to…
Read MoreCO: 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.”…
Read MoreYet 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…
Read MoreTEMECULA: 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…
Read MoreTX: 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
Read MoreCertificate 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…
Read MoreSex 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,…
Read MoreThe 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
Read MoreAllocating 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…
Read MoreGeneral Comments December 2013
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2013. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
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