No GPS For Some Massachusetts Sex Offenders:  The state's high court today affirmed that GPS monitoring may not be retroactively added to a probationer's conditions.  In 1990, Ralph Goodwin pleaded guilty to kidnapping a seven-year-old boy and sexually assaulting him in a basement.  Goodwin was sentenced to a term of 30 to 40 years, but was released on probation in 2009.  Shortly after his release, the state sought to add a GPS monitoring requirement to Goodwin's probation conditions.  Citing a 2009 case, the court ruled that absent a probation violation or other major change in circumstances, such a "punitive" condition as GPS monitoring could not be retroactively added to Goodwin's conditions.  The Boston Herald reports that 162 convicted sex offenders have also successfully terminated their GPS monitoring requirement as a result of the 2009 case.

Seattle Cold Case Killer x 2:  The Seattle Post Intelligencer (WA) reports a Washington ex-con has been hit with his second cold case murder charge of the year.  In March, Samuel Evans was charged with the shooting death of Jackson Schley in 1972 (Evans also abducted and raped Schley's wife at the time).  Today, prosecutors charged him with an even colder case - the stabbing death of James Kueler in 1968.  Both unsolved murders were linked to Evans through a DNA database, to which Evans was added while he served a separate 20 year sentence for sexual assault in Nevada.

En Banc Hearing for Washington's Felon Disenfranchisement Law:  The Ninth Circuit will revisit the legality of Washington's felon disenfranchisement law, which prohibits incarcerated felons from voting.  In January, a three-judge panel of the court struck down the law, finding that its disparate effect on minorities stemmed from racial discrimination in the state's criminal justice system.  Argument is set for next Tuesday.  The Seattle Times (WA) has this story.