Sixth Circuit Recognizes Crime Victims' Rights: Paul Cassell has a post on Volokh Conspiracy about today's order in In re Simons. Apparently the defendant of a federal criminal prosecution had moved to seal all of the pleadings and information of his case after he pleaded guilty. One of the victims filed a motion to unseal the pleadings three months ago so that he could begin to exercise his rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act. The district judge has delayed the matter, despite the Act's requirement that a judge act "forthwith." The Sixth Circuit granted a writ of mandamus today ordering the district judge to rule on the victim's motion to unseal within two weeks. Cassell is impressed that the Sixth Circuit ruled on the motion within 48 hours of its filing. Apparently, the petition made a compelling case that the district judge had just been ignoring the victim.
Not Yet Time to Bet on Retirement: At SCOTUSblog, Tom Goldstein has a post urging Supreme Court watchers to avoid any retirement speculation for Justice Ginsburg, "Before It Starts." Goldstein's post worries that today's announcement that Justice Ginsburg is being treated for pancreatic cancer will be blown out of proportion because of the five-year survival rate for the disease, and Justice Ginsburg's seemingly frail physique. Goldstein argues, however, that in this case, Justice Ginsburg got "very, very lucky." Her cancer was spotted early, in a routine physical exam, and in cases where the cancer is caught early, the odds of recovery are higher. Goldstein comments that he doubts Justice Ginsburg will retire if she does recover. He mentions the recent memo to her law clerks where she stated she plans to serve well into her 80s, like fellow Justice Stevens.
Names of 90,000 Registered Sex Offenders Handed Over By MySpace: Corey Rayburn Yung has a post on Sex Crimes reporting that MySpace has handed over the names of 90,000 registered sex offenders that MySpace had banned from its site. The names were handed over to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Attorney General Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who are among officials pressing social networking sites to adopt more stringent safety measures. Jenna Wortham of the New York Times reported that the 90,000 "figure is 40,000 more than the amount previously acknowledged by MySpace." 90,000 sex offenders mixing with children on-line is a big deal, even if a recent government sponsored report and recent news reports have argued the threat is "Overblown".
Not Yet Time to Bet on Retirement: At SCOTUSblog, Tom Goldstein has a post urging Supreme Court watchers to avoid any retirement speculation for Justice Ginsburg, "Before It Starts." Goldstein's post worries that today's announcement that Justice Ginsburg is being treated for pancreatic cancer will be blown out of proportion because of the five-year survival rate for the disease, and Justice Ginsburg's seemingly frail physique. Goldstein argues, however, that in this case, Justice Ginsburg got "very, very lucky." Her cancer was spotted early, in a routine physical exam, and in cases where the cancer is caught early, the odds of recovery are higher. Goldstein comments that he doubts Justice Ginsburg will retire if she does recover. He mentions the recent memo to her law clerks where she stated she plans to serve well into her 80s, like fellow Justice Stevens.
Names of 90,000 Registered Sex Offenders Handed Over By MySpace: Corey Rayburn Yung has a post on Sex Crimes reporting that MySpace has handed over the names of 90,000 registered sex offenders that MySpace had banned from its site. The names were handed over to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Attorney General Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who are among officials pressing social networking sites to adopt more stringent safety measures. Jenna Wortham of the New York Times reported that the 90,000 "figure is 40,000 more than the amount previously acknowledged by MySpace." 90,000 sex offenders mixing with children on-line is a big deal, even if a recent government sponsored report and recent news reports have argued the threat is "Overblown".
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