Around the Web

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Washington residents now have the option of receiving e-mail notifications when sex offenders move nearby.  The move is "part of an overhaul of the state's sex offender registry, [which] includes real-time updates for newly registered offenders."  Estimates are that the Internet registry and notification system will be operating in two to three months.

There has been a lot of great blogging at SL&P lately about sex crimes. Unfortunately, with my current schedule, I just haven't had time to respond. I recommend you check out all of the posts for yourself.

Sentencing Law and Policy notes that, despite Justice Kennedy's opinion for the Court in Roper v. Simmons, "the Kennedy opinion says nary a word about international laws and views concerning the death penalty for non-homicide offenses."  From Roper: "at least from the time of the Court's decision in Trop, the Court has referred to the laws of other countries and to international authorities as instructive for its interpretation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of 'cruel and unusual punishments.'" Roper, slip op. at 21.  I think this is more of a case that there is no clear international trend, but the omission is notable.

Sentencing Law and Policy also has a post discussing "the upcoming sentencing of ex-diplomat Gons Gutierrez Nachman on federal child porn charges, [who] has already generated controversy [for] request[ing] to get married before his sentencing to his 21-year-old Brazilian fiancee in the same federal courtroom where he admitted having sex with three underage girls while posted overseas."  The AP has more.  Sentencing Law and Policy also has a related post from last month. The cultural defense seems like a complete loser argument in American courts.

Sentencing Law and Policy has yet another post discussing a new Kennedy-related argument in a post entitled: Dodging the Death Penalty Bullet for Child Rape. The post argues that Kennedy "managed to reach the correct result of saving the state and the country from a major, and almost certainly harmful, expansion in the use of capital punishment." I recommend reading both the post at Balkinization and at SL&P. Even though I largely agree with the opinion in Kennedy, I think Berman is largely right in his criticisms of the Balkinization post supporting the Kennedy opinion.

Comments

[Liberty]

Regarding the death penalty for child rape: Do those who want this sentence want to apply it to really, truly raped children or just to people who where convicted of "rape of a child" even if no actual penetration occurred (as is the case in over 85% of the convictions for this crime?)

[Steve]

They want to apply it to as many people as they can, so that they can show how 'tough' they are on offenders. One strike and you are out it would seem.

I think that there should be a death penalty for animal abuse. Where do we have domain over harming animals?

How about death for perjury? We could knock out half of Congress if that were in place...