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Photograph by Steven Hirsch / Reuters “There is now such a stigma attached to people accused of sexual misconduct that anyone who defends legal principles on their behalf risks being mistaken, in the public mind, for a defender of sexual violence. Lawyers have always been vilified for taking on unpopular clients, but, in the #MeToo… Continue reading Unpopular Speech in a Cold Climate

Credit: Omaha World-Herald “Of interest to this blog’s audience is the role of the police psychologist. As I blogged about back in 2008, Wayne R. Price, PhD saw no ethics conflict in helping to interrogate the suspects even though he had previously provided therapy to two of the young women. Dr. Price reportedly reassured the… Continue reading $28 million award for “Beatrice 6” whom police psychologist helped railroad to prison

(Spencer Platt / Getty Images) “We know today almost all child sexual abuse involves people the victim knows, and almost all new sex offenses involve those not on registries. Sex offenses in New York have not decreased due to the registry, and recidivism rates for those with sex offense convictions are among the lowest of… Continue reading Anthony Weiner and What’s Wrong with our Punishment System

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“When originally put into place, Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act was narrow in scope and specifically designed to be an important law enforcement tool to protect the public from dangerous offenders,” said Nessel. “But since its enactment, the Act has swelled without any focus on individualized assessment of risk to the community, which makes it… Continue reading Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel on the Sex Offender Registry

photo: nj.com “I went through a lot, man,” Harrell recalled in an interview. “I had no place to live for a great amount of years. Had to do odd jobs to survive, sleeping in abandoned cars and homes … I couldn’t be around my own kids without another adult being there with me. ” Read… Continue reading An innocent man was forced to register as a sex offender for decades. What does N.J. owe him?

“More than 19 million people have a felony records, and more than 100 million criminal records exist in state criminal history repositories (individuals may have a criminal record in several states). These records routinely bar individuals from obtaining employment. Even when a person is as equally qualified as another candidate for a position, research shows… Continue reading The new symbol of shame: “C” for conviction

Justin Sullivan / Getty “In short, hyper-punishment continues, even accelerates, following new arteries and pathways in the body politic. The punitive state is a behemoth, a monstrous machinery that struggles to maintain its equilibrium. Piecemeal reforms of this or that part of the system will fail to dramatically shift the logic of the system. “We… Continue reading The Carceral Problem is Getting Worse

photo credit: jim d’entremont On December 12th, the National Center for Reason and Justice and the Pittsfield Massachusetts Human Rights Commission, are sponsoring a presentation at the Pittsfield Atheneum at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Bob Chatelle (Executive Director of the NCRJ), his partner Jim D’Entremont, and attorney John Swomley will discuss the case of… Continue reading NCRJ Co-Sponsoring Pittsfield Event About Bernard Baran

John Brecher / NBC News Over ten year ago the National Center for Reason and Justice formally voted to sponsor the case of the San Antonio Four. We had been following the case for some time before that, and after a thorough investigation we decided that something had to be done. Information was supplied to… Continue reading San Antonio Four Records Expunged