When Junk Science About Sex Offenders Infects the Supreme Court

An important op-ed in the New York Times by David Fiegle.…

No retrial for man freed following NECIR investigation

In 2014, Nicas wrote a blog post for NECIR describing how main findings in his story were included in the judge’s grounds for a new trial. “There was excitement, disbelief and a sense of vindication,’’ he wrote. “Later, the feeling …

A “Frightening” Myth About Sex Offenders

Current sex offender laws have no scientific basis.

View this video by David Feige at the New York Times web site.…

Betsy DeVos could change sexual assault policy for the better

(Mike Theiler/Reuters)

“And yet it is also true that the current regime under which campus sexual-assault allegations are investigated and adjudicated is seriously flawed. Before the Obama administration instructed colleges and universities that they had to take sexual-assault allegations seriously …

Lowell man, after spending 32 years in prison for a fatal fire, to remain free

KAYANA SZYMCZAK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

“Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan agreed Friday to end the pursuit of murder charges against a Lowell man for a fatal 1982 fire he denied setting, ending a legal roller coaster that saw the …

The Bad Science Behind Campus Response to Sexual Assault

Peter Yang

I talked with Richard McNally, a psychology professor at Harvard and one of the country’s leading experts on the effects of trauma on memory, about the assertions Campbell made in her presentation. He first said that because assaults …

Colorado sex offender registration act is unconstitutional, federal judge declares

“The fear that pervades the public reaction to sex offenses — particularly as to children — generates reactions that are cruel and in disregard of any objective assessment of the individual’s actual proclivity to commit new sex offenses,” Matsch wrote. …

Dan, Fran Keller to get $3.4 million in ‘satanic day care’ case

“Dan and Fran Keller, who spent more than 21 years in prison after they were accused of sexually abusing children during supposed satanic rituals at their South Austin day care facility, will receive $3.4 million from a state fund for …

Babysitters Accused of Satanic Crimes Exonerated After 25 Years

“The decision brings an end to one of the more prominent cases brought during the so-called Satanic Panic of the 1980s and the early 1990s, where fears of devil-worshippers influencing American children spread rapidly. During this time, hundreds of childcare …

Fran and Dan Keller Declared Actually Innocent

“Nearly two years after the state’s highest criminal court overturned the child sexual abuse convictions for day care owners Dan and Fran Keller, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore will file court documents Tuesday declaring them “actually innocent” under the …