For Sex Offenders, Registration Is Punishment
A federal judge rules that Colorado's online database violates the Eighth Amendment.
Sex Crimes
How Backpage and Similar Sites Are Crucial in Fight Against Sex Trafficking
A new paper in the Wake Forest Law Review explores "the virtues of unvirtuous spaces" when it comes to stopping sexual exploitation.
Cops Dig Desperately for a Picture That Can Send a Harmless Old Man to Jail
Prosecutors say the former professor poses no threat but should be locked up anyway.
Profiling and Prostitution Pre-Crime in Georgia
In one case, a person whose legal identity was listed as male was arrested for sitting at a bus stop while "dressed as a woman" and carrying condoms.
They Won't Stop at Backpage
The "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act" would not stop sexual exploitation. But it could blow up the legal framework that supports the internet as we know it.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Recognizes Sex Offender Registration As Punitive
The court says retroactive application of the requirements violates the constitutional ban on ex post facto laws.
Iowa Prosecutor Who Threatened to Treat Girl's Selfies As Child Porn Backs Down
Marion County Attorney Ed Bull promises not to prosecute a teenager who took pictures of herself in her underwear.
Damning New Report Shows How Oakland Cops Covered Up Their Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
Making matters worse, the report concludes, was "the tone at the top."
Are Calls for Due Process Just Rape Culture Propaganda?
An article in the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities says "yes."
Getting to the Truth of the Link Between Porn and Rape
Studies showing an ostensible link between watching porn and committing rape are full of flaws.
After 'Inebriated' Hook Up, Student Gets Expelled Without Due Process
But a California court says he was was denied a fair hearing
SCOTUS Unanimously Rejects Law Banning Sex Offenders From Social Media
The justices say the law's "unprecedented" and "staggering" scope violates the First Amendment.
Student Agreed to Orgy, But Later Called It Sexual Assault, Lawsuit Claims
Judge says that University of California, Santa Barbara, may have denied accused male student due process
Cops Have Lost Control of Their Sex-Trafficking Panic, and It's Beautiful
Even the police can't control human-trafficking hysteria anymore, and it could backfire for them.
Child Molesters Face Shorter Sentences Than Child Porn Viewers. That's Wrong.
Understanding why the folks who look at kiddie porn often get longer sentences than the people who molest children in real life.
SCOTUS Rejects Deportation of Immigrant Who Had Sex With His 16-Year-Old Girlfriend When He Was 20
The decision highlights the importance of drawing distinctions among "sex crimes."
Judge Orders Oakland Cop to Trial; Says He Was 'Like a Pimp' to Exploited Teen
Former Oakland cop Brian Bunton is one of dozens of area police officers who've been implicated in the sexual exploitation of "Celeste Guap."
Prostitution-Ring-Running Cop Sees Court, But Police Who Extort Sex Often Go Unpunished
Former NYPD officer Michael Rizzi is accused of running an upscale prostitution service and its 50 related websites.
'Deplorable' NYPD Officer Will Spend Decades In Prison for Soliciting Pics of Mothers Abusing Their Children
Alberto Randazzo's shameless defense: He developed an addiction to child porn after the death of his former police partner.
Appeals Court Rejects 'Shockingly High' 19-Year Sentence for Child Porn Collection
The 2nd Circuit says the recommended prison term was "substantively unreasonable."
Florida Man Gets Insanely Harsh 100-Year Sentence for Possessing Child Pornography
The judge thinks committing a crime and looking at pictures of it are basically the same thing.
Topeka Teen With Violent Pimp Faces More Than 10 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking
Kansas CPS said Anthony Long was to stay far away from then 16-year-old Hope Zeferjohn. He didn't listen. Now she's being treated as his accomplice.
D.C. Cop Pays 15-Year-Old for Sex, Steals the Money Back at Gunpoint Afterward
Police say she was "acting on her own" and "not a victim of human trafficking."
Federal Judge Says Molestation Law Criminalizing Diaper Changes Violates Due Process
Arizona is the only state that does not require proof of sexual intent to convict someone of molesting children.
Proposed Tweak to Internet Law Could Spur Seismic Shifts in Web as We Know It
A bill related to sex trafficking and Section 230 could have far-reaching consequences for web content, publishers, and apps.
Enough Stranger Danger! Children Rarely Abducted by Those They Don't Know
U.S. kids are no more likely to be abducted today than they were decades ago, and much more likely to be returned safely when they are.
Banks Flagging Frequent Pharmacy Trips, Bulk DVD Rentals, and Other Ordinary Activity to Turn Over Tips to Government Snoops
All sorts of normal behavior are now triggering financial surveillance as banks try to comply with confused government policies on human trafficking.
Why We Still Need Statutes of Limitations for Rape
Momentum is gaining to end criminal statutes of limitations for sex crimes. But this betrays both victims and those accused.
The Unjust, Irrational, and Unconstitutional Consequences of Pedophilia Panic
The fear and disgust triggered by this subject help explain why laws dealing with sex offenses involving minors frequently lead to bizarre results.
The Lingering Impact of Justice Kennedy's Trumpesque Claim About Sex Offenders
Courts assume a "frightening and high risk of recidivism," based on an unsupported claim in Psychology Today.
SCOTUS Seems Likely to Overturn Law Banning Sex Offenders From Social Media
"This has become a crucially important channel of political communication," Justice Elena Kagan observes.
Illinois Appeals Court Says Banning Sex Offenders From Parks Is Unconstitutional
The court says the law "bears no reasonable relationship to protecting the public."
Trump's Mythical Crackdown on Sex Trafficking
No, there haven't been an "unprecedented" number of child sex-trafficking rings busted since Donald Trump took office.
College Students Meet to Have Sex, But a Poorly-Timed Touch Gets the Male in Trouble with Title IX
Michigan State University accused Nathan of pushing Melanie, something even Melanie says he didn't do.
Soliciting Sex Could Lead to 10 Years Prison in Connecticut
State also mandates that hotels keep all guest records for six months, train staff on how to spot prostitution.
The State Has Stopped Trying to Wreck a Teenage Boy's Life Because He Sexted His Girlfriend (For Now)
Austin Yabandith won't go to prison or register as a sex offender. But his mistreatment isn't over yet.
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Minnesota's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders
The program purports to treat people with statutorily defined mental illnesses but has not cured any.
Two Federal Courts Call BS on Banning Sex Offenders From 'Child Safety Zones'
Rulings deem Indiana and North Carolina laws unconstitutionally vague and unjustifiably wide.
Pulp Fiction, Pope Francis Figured In Case of Alleged Foot Fetishist Charged With Child Sex-Trafficking
The Wisconsin case centered on whether paying to kiss teen's foot was a "commercial sex act."
Chicago Cop Arrested for Sex Trafficking and Child Porn, Accused of Paying Teens—Including Braces-Wearing 14-Year-Old—for Sex
A 26-year veteran of the department, William Whitley's record reveals 28 complaints against him, going back to 1991.
Victims Were Kids for One-Third of U.S. Police Officers Who Lost Badges for Sexual Misconduct
Officers frequently "use the power of their badge to prey on the vulnerable," finds AP analysis.
SCOTUS Will Consider Challenge to Ban on Social Media Use by Sex Offenders
A man arrested for using Facebook argues that North Carolina's law violates the First Amendment.
Man Found Not-Guilty of Rape Charges by Two Juries Still Required to Report All New Sex Partners to Police
British 23-year-old Nicholas Crawshaw is subject to a civil "Sex Risk Order" after cops weren't content to let his trials-by-jury stand.
Operation Cross Country X: Everything You Need to Know About the FBI's Annual 'Underage Human Trafficking' Sting In One Chart
Sex workers and their customers made up 72 percent of arrests in this "underage human trafficking" operation. Human traffickers? One percent.
