Nevada Supreme Court – 7 Takeaways

New ruling about jury trials for misdemeanor domestic battery cases. The justices unanimously reasoned that while misdemeanor domestic battery cases are misdemeanors, the unique combination of consequences now in place for that offense make it “serious” enough to trigger a fundamental due process right to a jury trial under both the state and federal constitutions. (Most misdemeanors are still “petty,” and bench trials in front of a single...

Rape Conviction Overturned

Man who had rape conviction overturned seeks Supreme Court ruling against defense attorneys Fred Slota was accused in Brown County of sexual contact with a 7-year-old girl between Aug. 28, 2012, and Dec. 8, 2012. In 2014, he was convicted at trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison. That conviction was overturned following a habeas corpus appeal, after Slota served about three years in prison. Judge Jon...

Civil Commitment Appeal

James Pesci is a detainee at the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), a for-profit facility that houses sex offenders involuntarily committed under Florida’s Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act. Pesci is not a prisoner; like the other roughly 600 residents of FCCC, he has already served out his prison sentence. Instead, he is involuntarily committed because the State has determined that he is a “sexually violent...

A Partial Fix of a Broken Guideline

Federal Sentencing guidelines are grossly outdated and misguided. Professor Brent Newton, Adjunct Professor of Law at America and Georgetown Universities and former Deputy Staff Director of the United States Sentencing Commission from 2009 until 2019, thinks so and has published a report with a proposed fix to partially fix the broken guidelines. A-Partial-Fix-for-Broken-Guidelines-Proposed-Amendment-to-Sentencing-GuidelinesDownload

I Didn’t Know!

In this LinkedIn article written by Women Against Registry founder, Vicki Henry, we see that many citizens are not aware of the realities of the sex offender registry system. If only each time I educate someone on the street, in a cab, in an airport, on an elevator, at the mailbox the response is overwhelmingly - I didn't know! When a registered citizen answers a doorbell or knock...

Wrongfully Accused and Jailed

Accused of rape by a fellow student, Brian Banks accepted a plea deal and went to prison on his 18th birthday. Years later he was exonerated with the help of the California Innocence Project. He’s joined on Megyn Kelly TODAY by Project director Justin Brooks and former prosecutor Loni Coombs, with whom he now examines other potentially wrongful convictions on the series “Final Appeal.” From the Today Show

Collateral Consequences

CCRC scholarship round-up – August 2019 This article is a comprehensive list of recent scholarly studies. The main topics covered are: Legal collateral consequences Collateral consequences and criminal procedure Sex offender registration laws Informal collateral consequences Criminal records, expungement, sealing, and other relief mechanisms The following excerpt is the introduction to the listing of these scholastic studies and reports. Of note are two academic reports pertaining to sex...

The Forever Unforgiven

They are only thoughts. It may have happened in the past, but it may never happen in the future. Everyday Mindfulness #mindfulness The Adam Walsh Act wrongly preserves past mistakes made by many sex offenders in perpetuity regardless of anything. Neither the amount of responsibility accepted by the offender, the amount of counseling and work at self-discovery, repair, and change by the offender, nor the act of repentance...

Internet Privacy

Arizona Citizens Have Right to Internet Privacy Arizonans have a constitutional right to online privacy to keep police from snooping around to find out who they are without first getting a warrant, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. In what appears to be the first ruling of its kind in the state, the majority said Internet users have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” that the information they...

Federal suit challenges sex offender registry

The Missouri Legislature is prohibited from inflicting punishment on a particular person or group through legislative action without trial or judicial action,” the petition reads. “SORA violates the above constitutional bans as it imposes punishment on an affected class whose membership is based entirely on past conduct with no method or process provided for escaping the class. Lawsuit Challenges Missouri Sex Offender Laws

Nevada Restores Voter Rights

From the Nevada Secretary of State website: Eligibility Status for Individuals with Prior Felony Convictions Any Nevada resident who: Was discharged from parole or probation before July 1, 2019; Is not serving a term of imprisonment on July 1, 2019; and Has not already had his or her right to voter restored Is immediately restored the right to vote as of July 1, 2019. These individuals are eligible...

Righting Biased Decisions

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals holds colleges legally responsible for their woke ideology Whenever I read a court opinion describing a campus sexual-assault proceeding, I routinely find myself shocked at the staggering unfairness and ridiculous bias of campus kangaroo courts. Driven by the need to find more men guilty — and rationalized by a #BelieveWomen ideology — campus administrators have systematically discarded every fundamental notion of due process...

Tenn S.O. Challenge

Three convicted sex offenders have filed a lawsuit challenging Tennessee legislation that would make it a felony for them to live with their children. The Tennessean reports Judge William Campbell Jr. granted a temporary restraining order Friday. A hearing on the request for an injunction is July 11. The legislation is set to become law July 1. Under the law, convicted sex offenders could be subject to arrest...

Gundy V United States

Non-Delegation Doctrine Update In this Competitive Enterprise Institute article, it is stated that there is a long road ahead to take legislative powers away from U.S Administrative authorities but this U.S. Supreme Court case are taking the next steps towards limitations. Since before the United States was founded, it was understood for centuries that the legislature could not delegate their lawmaking powers by allowing the executive to decide...

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