Results matching “GPS”

Oakland Gang Sweep:  Police in Oakland and surrounding cities arrested a total of 48 parole and probation violators yesterday in "Operation Gangbusters," reports the Oakland Tribune.  Police also picked up guns, machetes, and over $75,000 in marijuana plants.  The sweep was made easier, in part, due to California's new program requiring some parolees to wear GPS devices so that parole agents can monitor their whereabouts.  (See the San Francisco Chronicle's story about the new GPS monitoring here.) 

New Trial For TX Death Row Inmate:  The AP reports the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision ordering a new sentencing trial for Warren Darrell Rivers based on inadequate jury instructions.  In 1987, Rivers lured an 11-year-old boy to an abandoned house where he beat, sexually abused, and stabbed the boy to death.  Fortunately, the Fifth Circuit rejected Rivers's argument to overturn his conviction based on racially-charged peremptory strikes, although his attorneys might seek further review from SCOTUS. See also Kent's post on this case.

Suppressed Evidence in Canadian Serial Killer Trial:  The Vancouver Sun has this story about the trial of serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton, who is strongly suspected of killing and dismembering 26 women on his Canadian farm.  (Recommendation - if you chose to read this article, do so on an empty stomach.)  A slew of DNA evidence linking Pickton to the dead women was excluded from his trial for six of the murders, based on a plan to hold a second trial for the remaining 20.  However, after a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada, those remaining charges have been stayed.  Based on the limited evidence that the court allowed at trial, the jury acquitted him of first-degree murder and instead convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

Nevada Republicans chose Sharron Angle to oppose Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's reelection bid. Susan Davis has this post at the WSJ Washington Wire blog. This result increases the chance that President Obama's effort to move the Ninth Circuit even further out of the jurisprudential mainstream will become an election issue. Ms. Angle had this press release back in April, saying she was dismayed at the choice of Goodwin Liu.

The nomination might be an issue in the California Senate race as well.  Carly Fiorina decisively defeated Liu backer and one-time front-runner Tom Campbell. The daughter of Judge Joseph Sneed knows a bit about the Ninth and what President Carter's nominations did to it.

In the Bakersfield Californian, state prison psychologist Brik McDill has this op-ed.

After spending 20 years in corrections as a psychologist, I am astonished that anyone -- much less the governor -- could define any class of felons as nonviolent. The current plan to release thousands of California inmates with no or shortened parole is fatuous, if not disingenuous. It is a complete fiction to believe that any convicted felon upon release is safe for community re-entry without serious strengthened parole supervision and community-based rehabilitation.

He goes on to note that nearly everyone in prison is there after both the prosecutor and the judge made a discretionary call that they needed to go to prison. The image of the poor unfortunate inmate sent to state prison under a harsh, mandatory law just for possessing one joint is myth. On top of that, many prisoners have committed worse offenses than their offense of commitment. They either didn't get caught for the greater offense, or a greater offense was plea-bargained to a lesser one.

The only credible solution if these felons are to be released is to redirect a serious portion of money saved through the release program to parole programs throughout the state to greatly reduce the number of parolees on an agent's caseload -- as has now wisely been done -- to 40 or fewer, so that supervision is close, frequent and regular. And these parolees need to be in rehab programs and forced to wear GPS devises so that at any time they can be located for random checks. Anything short of that, we're courting disaster.

Anyone speaking such heretical truths can expect to be trashed, and, sure enough, SL&P has this post on the article, predictably calling it "fear-mongering."

"In Wake of Garrido Arrest, California Tightens Monitoring of Sex Offenders":  Sam Stanton, reported in Sacramento Bee on Saturday that California corrections officials are being scrutinized after the state failed to monitor Phillip Garrido, a paroled sex offender now accused of kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard.  A policy took effect this past Thursday requiring parole agents to regularly check records of GPS tracking for offenders who are on "passive" monitoring.  Under the new policy, "passive" offenders will have two consecutive days of movements randomly checked twice a month to ensure that offenders know they're being monitored.  Paroled sex offenders who pose a greater-risk are tracked through active monitoring, meaning their movements for each previous day are checked daily.  As of March 1, there were 2,219 offenders on passive monitoring in California and 4,779 on active monitoring.

"Cold Hit" Spurs Rape Suspect's Arrest:  Larry Hertz of New York's Poughkeepsie Journal reports on the first crime in Dutchess County to be solved by cold-hit DNA evidence.  Back in 2003, two women were raped at gunpoint in the city of Poughkeepsie, NY.  More than six years later, DNA evidence allowed police to charge Jason Freeman with the rapes.  Last fall, Freeman was arrested on robbery charges in another county, and under New York law was required to give a DNA sample to police.  His sample was sent to the state police forensic lab in Albany, and test results revealed that Freeman's sample matched DNA evidence taken from the rape victims and a gun that was recovered after the second rape.  Senior Assistant District Attorney Marjorie Smith stated, "A few years ago, we didn't have the technology to give us a cold hit.  This guy probably would have gotten away."

A 36-Year-Old Mystery, Solved by DNA:  Alisha Wyman, a Napa Valley Register staff writer, reports that a 36-year-old mystery in Napa, CA, has been solved with DNA evidence.  Anita Andrews was killed in 1974 in Fagiani's Cocktail Lounge.  DNA that was found at the crime scene was preserved, and was recently matched to Roy Melanson, 73, who is currently in prison for murder in Colorado.  Melanson still has not been charged in the Napa case.  This year officials began collecting DNA samples from people arrested for any felony, as well as misdemeanor offenses.  Jill Spriggs, the bureau chief for the California Bureau of Forensic Services in Sacramento -- which tested the evidence in Andrews case -- says the bureau makes about 300 matches a month - either connecting an offender to a case or two cases to each other.

Ninth Circuit Nominee is "Test Case for Obama Judicial Picks":  Washington Post staff writer, Robert Barnes, reports that the battle over the nomination of Goodwin Liu "could tell much about the Obama administration's willingness to appoint controversial nominees to the bench, including the Supreme Court."  Liu has already been recognized by Senator Sessions as "an individual" whose constitutional views are "far outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence," and many conservative legal groups are opposing the nomination.  Back in February, Kent wrote on our blog, "[t]his calls for pull-out-the-stops opposition."   

Philippines May Move to Reimpose Capital Punishment:  The Manila Bulletin reported yesterday that President Arroyo has approved the Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010, which will give anti-crime advocates a new and strong argument to seek revival of capital punishment.

Man Wants to Claim Necessity Defense in Abortion Case: A CBS/AP story reports that Scott Roeder is seeking ways to use the necessity defense for his trial for the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.  Roeder is charged with one count of premeditated murder in Tiller's death and two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two ushers during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor's Wichita church.  Roeder wants to argue at trial that the killing was justified to save the lives of unborn children.  The necessity defense has been sought before, yet rarely been successful in abortion cases.  District Judge Warren Wilbert will rule later today on whether Roeder can use the necessity defense.  Update:  the AP reports that the judge has rejected Roeder's request, ruling that the necessity is not viable under Kansas law.

Experts Puzzled Over Low Crime During Recession: Contra Costa Times writer Stacia Glenn and the Associated Press report that experts are wondering why the crime rate has not increased as the national recession leaves more people unemployed.  Preliminary figures gathered by the FBI show that for the first six months of 2009, crime has fallen in cities like Fontana and Victorvile.  Nationwide, violent crime fell by 4.4 percent and property crimes dropped by 6.1 percent.  For decades, the conventional wisdom among progressives is that unemployment is one of the root causes of crime, which led to the belief that the 2009 job losses would cause crime to soar.  Interestingly enough, the crime rate has not been this low since the 1960s.

Oakland Police Focus on Guns, Gangs, and Drugs:  San Francisco Chronicle writer Chip Johnson reports that the Oakland Police Department has a new focus on what they call the "Big Three"- guns, gangs, and drugs.  Chief Anthony Batts wants a chance to be the leader that helps decrease the crime rate in Oakland.  Others have attempted this task, like former Mayor Jerry Brown and current Mayor Ron Dellums, but their efforts failed.  Batts wants to use technology to aid intelligence gathering, which can lead to better deployment of the city's understaffed police department.  Instead of blanket suppression, Chief Batts is targeting specific offenders who cause most crime, a process he knows will not be an easy one.  The only thing Batts needs now is the support of local elected officials.

State Budget Problems Halt Development of Sex-Offender Facility:  The Associated Press reports that construction of a Connecticut treatment center for sex offenders on parole or probation has been put on hold due to the state's budget problems.  Now, sex offenders let out of prison have nowhere to go.  Ransome Lee Moody was ordered by a judge to report to the facility, approved by the state legislature last year, as a condition of his probation.  Now, he will be monitored with a GPS device and be required to report seven days a week to a program for training in life skills.  Moody is considered so dangerous and untreatable that requests to eight other states to place him in one of their residential facilities have been denied.  State Rep. Micheal P. Lawlor said, "I realize that tough decisions have to be made but if I was governor, I would put a secure facility up and running for (Moody) and others like him who could potentially be a threat to public safety."

Mexico's Violent Crimes Keeps Immigration Steady: Because of increasing violence in Mexico, the lack of Jobs in the U.S. has not dissuaded Mexican immigration.  Christian Science Monitor writer Sara Miller Llana reports that many more Mexicans are motivated to leave Mexico due to the allure of U.S. safety.  The lack of jobs in the U.S. brought an expectation of reverse migration, but that has not happened.  The reason Mexicans are not heading back to Mexico is they feel unsafe in their country. After Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office and started his war on drugs, there has been 13,000 drug-related killings.  The war on drugs has forced gangs to produce income in other areas that impact the average citizens for example, kidnapping and extortion.  The fear of gang violence has kept Mexicans in the U.S., and continues to bring Mexicans to the U.S.  Richard Wike, the associate director of the Global Attitude Project says that "our survey clearly shows that Mexicans are pretty unhappy with direction of their country."

California's Paroled Sex Offenders: Parole agents' case loads are too heavy to adequately keep up with paroled sex offenders.  Recently, California has passed legislation in a attempt to improve the situation.  New York Times writer Solomon Moore reports on the lack of supervision of convicted sex offenders.  Phillip Garrido is a good example of the inadequacies of the parole system.  Garrido had been monitored by GPS and there were visits to his home at least twice a month by parole agents.  Even with all that parole supervision, Garrido was still able to hold Jaycee Dugard for 18 years.  Additionally, in July a Los Angeles man on parole was arrested in the kidnapping and murder of 17-year-old girl.  This month, legislation has been passed that reduces a parole agent's case load from around 70 to 40, and nonviolent offenders will no longer be returned to prison for infractions like missing a counseling appointment or ditching a parole agent's visit.  The reason the legislator passed this law is that they believe it was necessary to reduce prison overcrowding.  Corrections officers unions, police organizations, and prosecutors oppose the law because even parolees convicted of nonviolent crimes are too dangerous to be left unsupervised.   

A Cost Dispute with San Jose Police Fingerprint Network:  The California cities of Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hills have replaced a high tech fingerprinting system with the old age method of typing out the hard copy forms and using mail when booking an offender into jail.  Mercury News writer Tracey Kaplan reports that on July 1, 2009, the three disgruntled cities dropped out of the computerized fingerprint network, operated by the San Jose Police Department, because a county auditor said that six out of 15 cities were being overcharged to use the network.  The change in the cities' booking method has added 30 to 40 minutes onto the process, this eats up time of officers, and hinders regional crime solving.  Now when someone is fingerprinted in one of the three cities, their prints are not compared to prints stored in the countywide data base of unsolved crimes.  That means any of the three cities could have had someone in their grasp that is linked to an unsolved crime, and never now it.  If this problem is not solved soon there could be a breakdown in central fingerprinting process system.  Cross-jurisdictional crime-fighting has already been affected. 

Importance Of Crime In California Politics:  In California, a politician's stance on crime could determine their future political career. Wall Street Journal writer Bill Whalen reports that the commonly perceived liberal California tends to lean to the right on crime, and in the 2010 election crime could be a determinative issue.  In the past California voters have showed there firm stand on crime.  The 2008 Proposition 5, an initiative that would shorten sentences for drug felons, failed with a 60% vote and 70% of Californians voted for the 2006 Jessica's Law, a law that gave stricter sentences and GPS tracking of registered sex offenders.   Crime was a determinative issue in the 1994 election for California Governor where tough on crime governor Pete Wilson beat challenger Katleen Brown.  The issue arose when Melvin Carter, convicted of a dozen rapes in 1982 and sentenced to 25 years, was released early for good behavior because of "good-time credits" law.  The "good-time credits" law had been signed in by Ms. Brown's brother, Jerry Brown.  Her father, Pat Brown, appointed the judge who refused to correct a sentencing error that would have doubled Carter's Punishment.  The Jaycee Dugard case and the Southern California fires, believed to be arson, have once again made crime an important political issue. Now is the time for candidates to be tough on crime.

DNA Popularity Leads To Lab Backlog: Law enforcement agencies have had so much success with DNA evidence that the demand has increased, but crime labs are unable to keep up with the current demand.  Daily Comet writer Raymond Legendre reports on how the crime lab backlog has halted justice in Louisiana.  Backlogging is also a national problem.  A Department of Justice study estimates that 400,000 rape kits went untested in 2001.  Delay, when dealing with a rape case, is a big issue because studies have found sexual offenders have a high rate of recurring behavior.  Louisiana has a backlog, although the lab is good at completing the cases that are high priority.  Those cases that are not high priority don't receive the same attention and enable those unidentified suspect to elude capture, becoming repeat offenders.  Curtis Hinton is a good example of the problem.  DNA evidence lead to Hinton being charged earlier this month, with a rape that occurred in 2006. The evidence collected from the victim was submitted two and a half years ago.  Police are currently try to determine if Hinton commited other rapes during the time the DNA evidence sat untested in the lab.  Increased funding could help elevate the backlogging problem.  Increased funding could help elevate the backloging  problem.  But Louisiana State Police Sgt. Markus Smith says, "There will always be a backlog, it's just a matter of how great the backlog is."      

November Execution sought for D.C. Sniper: Virginia Prosecutors are trying to set November 9 as John Allen Muhammad's (known as the D.C. Sniper) execution date.  CNN writer Mike M. Ahlers reports that in a letter Virginia Prosecutors are asking the court to set a date for Muhammad's execution.  In 2002, Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo shot 13 people, killing 10.  The two are also suspected of other shootings and murders in Tacoma, Washington, Montgomery, Alabama, and the Washington D.C. area.  Muhammad was convicted of killing Dean Harold Meyers and a Maryland murder.  The court must hold a hearing within 10 days of receiving the letter, and must set the execution date no later than 60 days after the hearing.

GPS Tracking of Wife Beaters and stalkers may provide victims with more protection than a restraining order, but current state and national economic conditions are preventing widespread use of the technology.  A New York Times article by Ariana Green reports that although domestic violence related homicide increased by 300% throughout Massachusetts between 2005 and 2007,  Newburyport, MA, a town near Boston using GPS tracking, reported no such homicide.  Research by Harvard Law School Professor Diane Rosenfeld indicates that roughly one quarter of women killed by domestic abusers already had restraining orders against them.  One advocate against domestic violence reported that her abusive ex-boyfriend has violated his restraining order over 30 times in four years, slashing tires, lurking around her house and harassing her online, but she has no way to prove it.   She said that California, where she lives, has a law allowing for GPS monitoring of stalkers, but lawmakers have told her that the state cannot afford to pay for it. 

SLA Murderer Paroled:  A former member of Symbionese Liberation Army, convicted of participating in a 1975 bank robbery which left a Sacramento wife and mother dead, was paroled yesterday, after serving a six-year sentence.  AP writer Don Thompson reports that prior to his parole, James Kilgore had served a 54-month sentence in federal prison for using a dead baby's birth certificate to obtain a passport, and for possessing a pipe bomb in his San Francisco apartment 49 years ago.  The SLA, a 70s era anarchist group of mostly white, spoiled elitists led by a black ex-convict, engaged in murder, bank robberies and attempted bombings.  After the FBI began tracking down and arresting his fellow revolutionaries, Kilgore ran to South Africa, changed his identity and became a professor, until his capture in 2002.

Colorado's Death Penalty:  The Staff at Face the State wrote this opinion piece last Friday on "The Senator Who Saved the Death Penalty."  The piece congratulates Senator Josh Penry, a Republican from Grand Junction, CO, for helping to broker the "last minute deal" that removed a provision from House Bill 1274 that would have ended capital punishment in Colorado.  According to the authors, Sen. Penry began searching for ways to keep capital punishment in Colorado as soon as HB 1274 passed by a single vote in the House last month.  Penry's strategy involved finding alternative funding for cold case investigations, while leaving the death penalty intact.  His efforts paid off when the Bill was defeated last Wednesday.  From the begining, Sen. Penry saw HB 1274 for what it was a way  of "doing away with the death penalty" in Colorado.  "The cold case aspect to all this was nothing more than a ploy."

The Cost of Being "Soft" On Crime: How much could a "soft" criminal justice system cost?  According to a study conducted by England's Policy Exchange, about £3,000 for every household.  James Slack, of the United Kingdom's Daily Mail reports that despite the Labour Party's law and order policies, Britain has the fourth-highest rate of recorded crime of 39 European countries.  The study reports that this is due to the lack of effort put into crime prevention.  Although the Government established a National Crime Reduction Board two years ago it gave the Board no budget.  

Prison riot leaves 1 dead, 16 injured: Don Thompson, of the Associated Press writes that Oscar Cruz, a prisoner since 2005 for a robbery conviction with added time because his involvement with a street gang, died yesterday after he was stabbed by other inmates at Kern Valley State Prison in California. Thankfully, no prison employees were injured. "Hispanic inmates are likely to remain on lockdown through the weekend as investigators examine the cause of the fight."

Gov. Doyle defends his new crime proposals: The story by Wheeler News Services writes that Gov. Doyle says his planned release of non-violent prisoners early, ending probation requirements for some offenders, and reducing 24-7 GPS monitoring of sex offenders will not make Wisconsin any less safe under his proposed budget. Both Attorney General and Waukesha County District Attorney say "it goes against the 10-year-old truth-in-sentencing law, which forces most criminals to serve the entire terms."

Referendum on death penalty repeal: The Associated Press writes this story about "Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White [who] is looking into the possibility of petitioning to put the repeal of New Mexico's death penalty before the voters."  New Mexico's constitution has a referendum provision that allows citizens to try to overrule laws approved by the Legislature and according to recent polls, "the majority of New Mexicans support the death penalty when the question involves someone convicted of murder."

2 killings prompt Juvenile Justice reform: The Washington Post writes that Lafonte Lurie Carlton's recent killings could possibly have been prevented if the Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services handled his case properly. "A drug arrest before the two recent killings should have triggered a revocation hearing, but a hearing was delayed, and the youth remained free." Director Vincent N. Schiraldi has acknowledged the '"gross error'" and "testified to changes in procedures [while] talk[ing] about new programs to better involve the community and polcie in helping and monitoring at-risk youths."

Death row inmate loses decisons in 2 state courts: This story by Brett Barrouquere, of the Associated Press, writes that "the Kentucky Supreme Court and a lower court on Thursday swept away a Death Row inmate's four challenges to his conviction and the way the state executes condemned inmates." Ralph S. Baze was convicted of killing Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe in Eastern Kentucky nearly 17 years ago as they tried to serve a warrant on him. Since his conviction Baze has attempted numerous angles to challenge his conviction, among them are claiming insanity, wrong location for trial, and improper execution process for lethal injection. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the latter argument last year in Baze v. Rees. At this point, "Baze's attorneys say their client has become delusional."

A New Challenge to Warrantless GPS Tracking:  At Blog of the Legal Times, Mike Scarcella posts on an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today in U.S. v. Maynard and Jones.  The amicus brief argues that authorities violated search and seizure law when, without a warrant, they installed a GPS device on a drug suspect's vehicle and tracked the vehicle for a month.  According to the court records, a D.C. federal court judge had authorized investigators to install a GPS device on Jones' Jeep but investigators attached the device in Maryland (outside the scope of the warrant) and did not install the device until after the warrant had expired.  At the trial level, the district court judge denied a motion to suppress evidence, saying that the GPS did not violate Fourth Amendment search and seizure restrictions because investigators could have watched the driver and the vehicle as it went around town.  Today's amicus brief argues the decision was incorrect because GPS tracking reveals "a plethora of intimate information about a person's life, including his or her travel to political meetings, places of worship, news media offices, or the homes of friends or lovers."  [In this blogger's humble opinion, a warrant might be needed to attach the GPS, but actual travel to public meetings isn't exactly the sort of thing where one can claim a reasonable expectation of privacy.]

Today at the U.S. Supreme Court:  In a post titled "Supreme Court Debates Judicial Ethics and Rules on Standing, Refugees," Tony Mauro blogs on today's action at the U.S. Supreme Court.  Mauro first writes about today's oral argument in Caperton v. Massey, a judicial ethics case that will address whether an elected judge's failure to recuse himself from a case in which he received substantial campaign donations from one of the parties violates due process.  According to Mauro, in today's argument the attorney for Massey Coal Co. spent much of his time defending his argument that recusal should not be a constitutional due process issue.  Mauro also writes that at one point Justice Scalia wondered aloud whether a recusal standard for elected judges might also affect appointed judges like himself.  Mauro also briefly summarizes the the two opinions that were handed down today in Summers v. Earth Island Institute and Negusie v. United States.  Kent also posted on implications of Summers for capital habeas litigation here.

Commenting on the Web:  Two posts put up today, one by Eugene Volokh at Volokh Conspiracy, and one by David L. Hudson Jr. at First Amendment Center discuss potential legal repercussions of blogging or commenting on the World Wide Web.  Volokh's post discusses a Louisiana Capital Post-Conviction Project attorney's threats to silence the blog comments of Patrick Frey, a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, and the author of the blog "Patterico's Pontifications."  Apparently, Frey wrote a long and detailed post analyzing allegations that 2 prosecution experts in a Louisiana murder case manufactured evidence that helped send the Louisina attorney's client, Jimmie Duncan, to death row.  Duncan's attorney then threatened to file an ethics complaint against Frey if he did not stop commenting on her case.  Volokh wonders if Frey's speech is protected by the First Amendment.  At First Amendment Center, David L. Hudson Jr. writes about Maryland's decision in Independent Newspapers Inc. v. Brodie and how it affects plaintiffs' ability to file libel suits to unmask anonymous online critics. The decision now requires a plaintiff to establish a prima facie case of defamation before a court must unmask the anonymous commentor.    

Former Guantanamo Bay Prosecutor Turns Against Tribunals: Dan Slater at Wall Street Journal Blog posted a story on former U.S. Prosecutor Darrel J. Vandeveld. According to the post, Vandeveld was a U.S. Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay actively involved in prosecuting detainees until last month, when he resigned from his case, the military commissions overall, and, ultimately, active military duty. The LA Times also ran this story. Apparently Vandeveld was disturbed by the U.S. government's failure to provide defense lawyers with the evidence it had against their clients, including exculpatory information. Army Col. Lawrence J. Morris, the chief prosecutor and Vandeveld’s boss, disputed this charge, saying that the Office of Military Commissions provides “every scrap of paper and information” to the defense.

Tracking Offenders on Probation: Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy sees an expansion of "technocorrections." Berman provides a link to an article from the San Bernardino Sun that reports the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors has voted "to expand the county's use of surveillance technology to track criminal offenders who are on probation or serving time on house arrest or weekends in jail." The surveillance would include GPS, home-based electronic monitoring, and alcohol monitoring. Berman believes that where faced with tight budgets, the expansion of "technocorrections" is inevitable. He also believes the San Bernardino "article provides a big window into the criminal justice future...".

Linda Greenhouse Reflects on Three Decades of Supreme Court Reporting: Howard Bashman at How Appealing provides a link to an interview in Radar, by Charles Kaiser, where Greenhouse looks back on her years reporting on the Court for the New York Times.

Funny Essay on Statutory Interpretation: Orin Kerr provides a link to the abstract for what he calls a "Very Funny Essay" by Hillel Levin. The abstract, and a link to download the essay, are available on SSRN. The abstract describes: "Based on a true story, this piece starts with a proclamation by Mother, the Supreme Lawmaker, that "no food may be eaten outside the kitchen." What follows is a series of rulings by Judges--father, babysitter, grandma (a liberal jurist, of course), etc.--who, using traditional tools of interpretation, eventually declare it to mean that all food may be eaten outside of the kitchen. Ultimately, the supreme lawmaker reacts and clarifies." The essay is meant to demonstrate that we all use statutory interpretation and often "the various tools seem perfectly reasonable individually, [but] in the aggregate, they can lead to ridiculous results."

Oregon v. Ice: Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog has this preview of tomorrow's argument on whether the Apprendi line of cases will be extended to consecutive sentencing. CJLF's brief is here.

'Jessica's Law' Gains Traction in Vermont: The murder of a 12-year-old Vermont girl, Brooke Bennett, has received nationwide attention. Her uncle, a registered sex offender, has been charged in connection with her death. According to this AP article, the revelation that a supposedly rehabilitated sex offender was likely involved in the girl's disappearance and death has sparked considerable support for Jessica's Law in Vermont.

Off-Duty Officers Nabs Sex Offender at Gym: According to Stan Oklobdzija's Sac Bee report, Jeffrey Clarke Cameron of Rancho Cordova was taken into custody after an off-duty police officer noticed him talking to an obviously underage boy at a gym. The officer recognized the GPS ankle monitor Cameron was wearing as the type used to track high-risk sex offenders. As a condition of Cameron's release, he was forbidden to have contact with juveniles because he was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.

FL Prosecutor Motions to Have Sex Offender's Bond Revoked: Following up on a report we did yesterday, South Florida prosecutors have asked that Aaron Mohanlal be taken back into custody. Mohanlal has not served a single day in prison after being sentenced to 43 years for 13 charges related to continual sexual abuse of a minor that lasted for nearly two years. Ashley Fants of CNN writes that Mohanlal is only monitored by a GPS tracking unit and would remain free throughout the initial appeal unless the prosecutor's motion is granted.

CA Jessica's Law Nets Conviction, 20-year sentence: California enacted Jessica's Law in 2006, and it seems to be working, according to Niesha Lofing's story for the Sac Bee. The Yolo County District Attorney's Office won a 20-year sentence under Jessica's Law against a 27-year-old man who molested two girls, age 10 and 12.

GPS Gains Support After PA Loses Track of 900 Sex Offenders: Pennsylvania Auditor General Wagner is recommending a minimum of 5 years of GPS tracking for sex offenders who refuse to comply with Megan's Law after a state audit revealed that officials lost track of 900 registered sex offenders, or roughly 10%. According to Martha Raffaele's AP article, the state would require offenders to participate in the cost of GPS monitoring.

Sac Crime Rate Down 8%: According to Chelsea Phua's report for the Sac Bee, the Sacramento Police Department is "cautiously optimistic" about the 8% decline in crime for the first half of 2008. The department is continuously reviewing what works and what doesn't in order to make Sacramento's law enforcement efforts as effective as possible.

When one reads stories like this, it's easy to understand the public sentiment for strong punishments against sex offenders. Likewise, the horrific story of Megan Kanka which spurred the development of the various sex offender registries is another reminder why public and legislative sentiment is so inclined to favor restrictive measures against sex offenders.

But as the wise saying goes, good intentions aren't enough in this life. Perhaps this is the case with some of our sex offender policies. For instance, Doug Berman points us to a news story from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, headlined "Technology keeps eye on sex offenders."

Child Molester Jesse Friedman, who plead guilty in 1988 to 13 counts of molesting children in the basement of his Long Island home, has lost his bid to have his conviction overturned. Friedman was the subject of the award-winning film "Capturing the Friedmans" which was nominated for an Oscar in 2003. The purportedly non-fiction film alleged that the police and prosecutor conspired to convict Friedman and his father by withholding evidence that at least one of their accusers had been hypnotized, according to this Associated Press story.

Repeat felons convicted of auto theft, drunk driving, forgery, fraud and drug dealing may never spend a day in prison if California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to save money by reducing prison and parole costs goes into effect, as reported in an Associated Press story by Don Thompson. Recently, perennial sentencing opponent and Berkeley Law Professor Franklin Zimring was quoted saying that the proposal would be an "interesting experiment." Hardly an experiment, even a slight knowledge of history and policy research confirms that the result would be an increase in crime and crime victims. "As far as I'm concerned, this entire program is an act of insanity," said Kern County District Attorney Ed Jagels.

Pennsylvania is apparently not waiting for a decision in Baze v. Rees to modify its lethal injection protocol. "The [not yet final] plan, a result of negotiations between Secretary of Corrections Jeffrey Beard and Rep. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, involves brain wave monitoring technology to ensure any inmate being put to death is fully unconscious before the final phase of an execution," reports Charles Thompson of the Patriot-News.

Implanted monitors are the next step after the GPS ankle bracelets for tracking offenders. The UK appears to be on the verge of doing it, raising a hue and cry. Brian Brady has this story in the Independent. (Hat tip: SL&P.)

Timmendequas's Law is set for a vote tomorrow in the New Jersey Assembly, to change New Jersey's abolition of the death penalty from de facto to de jure. Tom Hester has this report for AP. Google News has comments by Robert Blecker and Richard Dieter.

GPS Tracking provided a quick partial solution to drive-by murder of Nelly Vergara in Los Angeles Monday, Thomas Watkins reports for AP. Police cross-checked the time and place of the murder with the tracking devices worn by some parolees and arrested MS-13 gang member John Garcia. "We are not dealing with the brightest bulbs in the circuit," said Chief Bratton. "This character has to be one of the stupidest people in the city of Los Angeles." Although GPS shows Garcia's presence at the scene, witnesses are still needed.

"She wanted to save money and buy her first home and because of these people that shot at her, her dreams are not a reality any longer," Vergara's mother Mireya Robles said in Spanish through heavy tears as she asked for witnesses to come forward. "I can't even begin to tell you my pain."

On the same story, Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton have this article in the LA Times.

The Kimbrough and Gall cases are the subjects of copious commentary, but this one by Frank Bowman at SCOTUSblog is particularly good.

Curtis Dean Anderson, a notorious sexual predator, died in prison of unspecified medical problems, Marisa Lagos reports in the SF Chron. Anderson kidnapped and raped two young girls in Vallejo, northeast of San Francisco, and murdered one of them, Xiana Fairchild.

Tom Hester of AP has this story on the forthcoming vote to change New Jersey's abolition of capital punishment from de facto to de jure, and this one on the politics of saving the vote for the "lame duck" session. New Jersey is the opposition's exemplar of the war-of-attrition strategy. Compliant courts obstruct the death penalty and render it ineffective and expensive, so that people who would normally support it simply give up.

The story quotes Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts saying, "The New Jersey death penalty has become a paper deterrent, the epitome of false security." True, so why not fix it? When I testified to the New Jersey Commission last year, I was appalled at how little interest there was in fixing it. Only one member seemed interested in even considering that approach.

Certainly there is no point in maintaining the status quo in New Jersey. The choices are to mend it or end it. Mending it means fixing New Jersey's disgrace of a state supreme court, and that would require a constitutional amendment. I doubt the political will exists to do that. Does the New Jersey Legislature have the will to openly admit that the state chooses to sacrifice the lives of the innocent to save the guilty? We'll see.

Antifreeze Killer Sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Lynn Turner could have been the second woman to face the death penalty in Georgia but the jurors decided on Tuesday to spare her. She had been convicted of the poisoning-murder of her boyfriend, Randy Thompson. An AP story reports that Turner is already serving a life sentence for murdering her former husband the same way in 1995.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the fall concerning the constitutionality of the PROTECT Act of 2003 which was adopted to broaden the definition of child pornography and penalize violators. The Los Angeles Times story by David Savage is available here. This issue has made its way to the high court due to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that struck down the law ruling that it is "overbroad and impermissibly vague." The reversal of Michael Williams' conviction for possessing child pornography lead to a plea agreement of a five-year term that also allowed him to challenge the law of 2003.

GPS Trackers A California bill that would require GPS tracking of inmates in minimum-security facilities passed unanimously in the Assembly Public Safety Committee Tuesday. In a San Francisco Chronicle story, Matthew Yi reports that AB439 was introduced after SF Police Officer Bryan Tuvera was killed by an inmate who had walked off a minimum security facility. The site has no security fences to enclose the inmates who are deemed "non-violent." Yi reports that more than a dozen inmates walk away from the minimum security facilities every year.

Seeing Green: Columnist Ann Fisher of The Columbus Dispatch shares her opinion on Ohio's new legislation to have bright green license plates for high risk sex offenders. Fisher contends that although the plates may seem like they are helpful, their effectiveness is debatable. Citing the "scarlet letter shame" and stating that, "such a law could also drive offenders underground, penalize others in their households who depend on the same car or force them to forgo jobs that require a car," Fisher's main argument is better education for those vulnerable to sex offenders.

High risk sex offenders that have already served their time, may be subject to GPS tracking in Texas if House Bill 430 passes. An article in the Houston Chronicle by Polly Ross Hughes explains that the sex offenders would be monitored for three years post-release.

Cold civil rights cases may be reopened by the FBI. An AP story by Chris Talbott, explains that the Southern Poverty Law Center gave the FBI a list of 74 unsolved cases linked to racial discrimination. U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton believes however, the cases will remain cold because the statute of limitations federally would have expired, and some of the accused were already cleared in court.

Death penalty again for 41-year-old Robert Wayne Holsey, who shot to death 26-year-old Dep. Wayne Robinson IV. Tim Sturrock's story reports that Holsey was sentenced to death ten years ago, but last year, Georgia Superior Court Judge Neal Dickert "overturned the death sentence, citing ineffective defense counsel." The high court overturned that decision Monday.

Tape of a murder victim's ordeal with her attacker will be heard by a jury Tuesday in Ocean County, NJ. The tape is 46 minutes in length and was found on the victim, Kathleen Weinstein (44). She was held at gunpoint and forced into her car at a restaurant parking lot; she turned on a tape recorder in her pocket when taken. An AP story by Jeffrey Gold explained the tape included pleas from Weinstein and her even trying to help attacker, Michael LaSane (27) find a job. His guilty plea in 1997 was overturned in 2005, he then pleaded not guilty. The tape is copyrighted to the victim's husband and prosecution is trying to ban media access to the tape. LaSane could face "life plus 60 years in prison, with no parole consideration before 60 years."

Mistrial for the courthouse shooting involving Deputy Kimsey Gray, according to a Georgia AP story. Deputy Gray was screening the possible jury members for his case. In August, Gray was attacked with his gun by inmate Timothy Lamer Jones when transporting Jones and three other inmates, Mark Joseph McCarthy, Joshua Shane Marlow, and Bobby Dwayne Martin from court back to jail. Jones was killed and the other three "were charged with conspiring to escape."

More sex offender proposals, this time in Nevada. Governor Jim Gibbon's proposal consists of three parts. First, GPS trackers for offenders that will probably offend again, second, registration before prison release, and finally, "DNA samples from out of state offenders who move to Nevada." All according to KVBC/DT news.

Specific details about sex offenders on Florida police departments' website is the latest sex offender proposal by State Senator Nancy Argenziano as reported by Eddy Ramirez of St. Petersburgh Times. Argenziano wants the public to know details like if the offenders are "repeat offenders...[prey] on children....Romeo and Juliet cases...young adults sexually involved with a teen who could not legally give consent." This is in order for the public to know which offenders to really look out for.

Justice Thomas: How Appealing has this page image of today's LA Daily Journal containing (below the fold) a review by Edward Loya of Henry Mark Holzer's book, “The Supreme Court Opinions of Clarence Thomas, 1991-2006: A Conservative’s Perspective.” The review focuses primarily on Justice Thomas's much-maligned (and misunderstood) opinion in Hudson v. McMillan, 503 U.S. 1 (1992).

Justice Kennedy's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee is covered here by Jan Greenburg of ABC.

First-time DUI offenders may have to install an ignition device that checks their blood alcohol level by breathalyzer, before the car can start and periodically checks while driving. A failed test results in the car flashing and honking until the keys are removed. The bill, SB177 will change the current law from a decision made only by a judge to a requirement for first-time offenders. The article by Matthew Yi in the San Francisco Chronicle also reports that out of all the DUI convictions in 2003, only 3.8% required the ignition device. However, a 2004 DMV study showed "no difference in recidivism or other traffic convictions" between first-time offenders with the device and those without it.

Texas seeks harsher punishment for sex offenders who harm children 14 and under. 25 years minimum for first-time offenders, possible death penalty charge for repeat offenders, GPS tracking for life, and doubling the statute of limitations from 10 to 20 years after the victim turns 18 are the four main points in Lt. Governor David Dewherst's "get tough measure" filed Wednesday, as reported here. Questions on the constitutionality of the death penalty for sex-offenders and difficulty in convicting offenders are being raised.

Oklahoma House passed a bill Wednesday that bars registered sex offenders from talking to children via the internet according to an AP story. Offenders must register their online identities and are banned from social networking sites (i.e. myspace). Author of the bill, Rep. Paul Wesselhoff said the legislation would also prohibit physical contact with children "to include contact over the internet" through state law.

The only woman sentenced to the federal death penalty since 1953 is requesting a new trial. A Missouri AP story explains, Angela Johnson 42, and boyfriend Dustin Honken, were convicted for the drug related murders of federal drug informants Greg Nicholson and Terry DeGeus, Nicholson's girlfriend Lori Duncan, and her two girls Kandace (10) and Amber (6). Johnson is appealing her conviction because of various problems in her first trial including an error on the verdict forms.

A Kentucky bill for monitoring convicted sex offenders online was approved by a Senate committee Wednesday. An AP story by Joe Biesk explained that under Senate Bill 65, sex offenders must register their screen names or face one to five years in prison (first time), or five to ten years (second). This bill parallels the federal bill in Congress.

GPS tracking bracelets will be worn permanently by offenders that are sexually violent starting July 1 in Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Madison Law Professors however, explain the new law is unconstitutional in this AP story by Todd Richmond. The Corrections Department would put the trackers on the offenders after prison release. If an offender goes in a prohibited "zone" the bracelet will alert police.

78 convicted sex offenders were kicked out of public housing in New York on Friday. An AP story explains the offenders were living in the housing illegally and were discovered by comparing a list of public housing residents to the sex offender registry. "Lifetime registrants of a sex offender list may not live in public housing," according to Federal Law.

In the Sacramento case of Doe v. Schwarzenegger (not to be confused with the San Francisco case of the same name), USDC Judge Lawrence Karlton mostly denied a temporary restraining order Friday afternoon. Attorneys for the Governor/CDCR, AG, and DA all said they interpreted the residency restriction of Prop. 83 to apply only to future convictions. This was apparently contrary to a pre-election letter sent out to parolees. Judge Karlton issued a very limited order saying that the defendants could not take any action that would force the plaintiff to move without prior notice to him and the court. This is not a class action, so the order does not apply to anyone else. He denied any order relating to GPS monitoring, as no one has sought or stated an intention to seek such monitoring of the plaintiff under Prop. 83. As a parolee, he is already subject to monitoring under prior law.

Don Thompson of AP reports here.

Cal. Prop. 83. Corey Yung has more coverage on California's version of Jessica's Law, Proposition 83, at a relatively new blog, Sex Crimes. Wired News has a related article on GPS monitoring, titled "Attack of the Perv Trackers."

Death Penalty In spite of a full-court-press all Summer by local and national death penalty opponents, voters in Wisconsin passed a referendum on whether to restore the penalty in their state with 56% in favor, but the state's democrat-controlled Senate and Governor Doyle seem uninterested in obliging them according to a Capital Times story by Anita Weier.

Texas murderer Willie Shannon was put to death last night after the Supreme Court denied his request for a stay. Shannon murdered the father of two young children during a Houston carjacking in 1992. A story by Houston Chronicle reporter Rosanna Ruiz provides the details.

On Monday, the Supreme Court decided in Samson v. California that a California law requiring that parolees be subject to search by any police officer at any time does not violate the Fourth Amendment. CJLF's press release on the case is here, and our brief is here. There were three possible theories under which this condition might have been upheld: consent, special needs, or the general reasonableness of the requirement. The Court chose the latter theory.

U.S. Supreme Court won't hear case on sex offender visitation
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would not consider a constitutional challenge to a state policy that sharply restricts minors' visits to imprisoned sex offenders who victimized children. more

GPS tracking leads to Megan's Law arrest
The Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, May 30, 2006

NEWTON, N.J. (AP) - A high-tech tracking system led authorities to charge a high-risk sex offender with a Megan's Law violation in a first-of-its-kind case in the state. more