Orders and Opinions: SCOTUSblog's Erin Miller posts that today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in five cases. The orders list is available here. All five of the cases involve civil claims, but one case, John Doe #1 v. Reed (09-559), involves a first amendment privacy claim similar to one that could be raised by the supporters of California's Prop. 8. Lyle Denniston has a post discussing the case on SCOTUSblog, and Tony Mauro has this post on Blog of Legal Times. Denniston also reports that the Court is expected to issue one or more decisions next Wednesday. More orders from today's private conference are expected on Tuesday.
"Sexting" Case Arrives in Third Circuit: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts that today, the case Miller v. Skumanick, became the first federal circuit court case to take up the issue of "sexting." According to an article by Shannon P. Duffy in The Legal Intelligencer, Skumanick addresses several teenagers claims that former District Attorney George Skumanick Jr., violated their First Amendment rights when he threatened a child pornography prosecution if they did not take a class he had designed to educate youths about the dangers of sexting. Based on Duffy's article, and Berman's comments, Skumanick may center around freedom of speech, but it also raises some interesting issues regarding prosecutorial discretion. The attorney for former-District Attorney Skumanick argues it was not incorrect for Skumanick "[i]n his prosecutorial discretion ... to address the situation with an informal adjustment under which the girls and boys who had participated in the creation and dissemination of the photographs could attend a rehabilitative class where they could be educated to understand that such actions were illegal, inappropriate and extremely dangerous."
UK Parliament Justice Committee Urges Reduction in Prison Population: Yesterday, CrimProf Blog posted a link to Sarah Miley's Jurist report that the UK Parliament Justice Committee's reinvenstment report urged that prison populations in England and Wales be reduced by a third. The Committee apparently found that incarceration is a relatively ineffective way to reduce crime - except for serious offenders - and rehabilitation programs would be more effective for repeat offenders. According to Miley, the Committee admitted that its proposal would not be easy to implement, but believed reduction was necessary to address problems of overcrowding.
"Sexting" Case Arrives in Third Circuit: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts that today, the case Miller v. Skumanick, became the first federal circuit court case to take up the issue of "sexting." According to an article by Shannon P. Duffy in The Legal Intelligencer, Skumanick addresses several teenagers claims that former District Attorney George Skumanick Jr., violated their First Amendment rights when he threatened a child pornography prosecution if they did not take a class he had designed to educate youths about the dangers of sexting. Based on Duffy's article, and Berman's comments, Skumanick may center around freedom of speech, but it also raises some interesting issues regarding prosecutorial discretion. The attorney for former-District Attorney Skumanick argues it was not incorrect for Skumanick "[i]n his prosecutorial discretion ... to address the situation with an informal adjustment under which the girls and boys who had participated in the creation and dissemination of the photographs could attend a rehabilitative class where they could be educated to understand that such actions were illegal, inappropriate and extremely dangerous."
UK Parliament Justice Committee Urges Reduction in Prison Population: Yesterday, CrimProf Blog posted a link to Sarah Miley's Jurist report that the UK Parliament Justice Committee's reinvenstment report urged that prison populations in England and Wales be reduced by a third. The Committee apparently found that incarceration is a relatively ineffective way to reduce crime - except for serious offenders - and rehabilitation programs would be more effective for repeat offenders. According to Miley, the Committee admitted that its proposal would not be easy to implement, but believed reduction was necessary to address problems of overcrowding.
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