Ohio Court Upholds Retroactive Application of Sex Offender Law: According to an article by Mary Beth Lane, from the Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that it is constitutional to retroactively enforce a 2003 law that toughened reporting and community-notification rules on registered sex offenders. See decision here. A 1998 court decision rejected a constitutional challenge to a similar 1996 law, ruling that the law's requirements could apply retroactively because its intent was to protect the community from future sex crimes rather than impose additional punishment on the offender. Justice Maureen O'Connor, who wrote the court's 4-3 majority opinion, used the same standard in upholding retroactive application of the 2003 law.

Murderer Faces Second Death Penalty: Malaika Fraley, from the Contra Costa Times, reports that 72 year-old Darryl Kemp will be tried for the 1978 rape and strangulation murder of a Armida Wiltsey. The 40 -year-old wife and mother was killed just four months after Kemp was released from prison for an earlier rape and murder. In 1960 Kemp was sentenced to death for a Los Angeles murder but his sentence was commuted to life with parole by the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman v. Georgia ruling in 1972, which announced that the death penalty was unconstitutional. When the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department matched Kemp's DNA with samples found on his 1978 victim, he was extradited from Texas where he was in prison for a 1983 rape. The District Attorney will seek the death penalty if Kemp is convicted.

Hundreds Are Arrested in Antigang Crackdown: NY Times writer Solomon Moore, reports that a four-month nationwide crackdown on gangs has brought the arrest of 1,759 people that includes gang members and their associates, other criminals and immigration violators from more than 20 countries. Dozens of state and local law enforcement agencies joined federal officers in raids carried out in 28 states, including New York and New Jersey, focusing on gang hubs like Los Angeles, Miami and Boston. “We now have over 890 gangs in the United States that we’ve been able to target,” said Brandon Alvarez-Montgomery, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those found guilty will be subject to incarceration, and then deportation proceedings upon release.