Should rapists have parental rights?
I just saw this article from the Courthouse News Service about the ugly fallout of the rape, and resulting pregnancy, of a 14-year-old girl. The 20-year-old rapist has been convicted and placed on probation for 16 years. He has also been ordered to admit paternity and to initiate proceedings in family court, apparently to set child support and maybe even visitation. The victim brought suit,...
Read MoreWould you rather trust Edward Snowden or the NSA?
As you know, unless you’re living under a rock, Edward Snowden is a former National Security Agency contractor who released records relating to the NSA’s PRISM project. Although PRISM’s scope remains obscure, it appears that the NSA has been mining all sorts of data from big tech and communications companies. That data surely includes so-called ‘metadata,’ which is information about...
Read MoreOregon’s age of consent needs to be changed.
Oregon’s sex-crime laws, which appear with other “person” crimes in Chapter 163 of the Oregon Revised Statutes are a bewildering mess. In addition to rape and sodomy (sex without consent) there is sexual abuse (sexual touching without consent) unlawful sexual penetration (just what it sounds like) child-pornography offenses, and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor. Some of...
Read MorePay parity for public defenders should have been passed a long time ago.
Public defenders in the federal system are paid roughly the same as their counterparts at the US Department of Justice, but state-level public defenders are not, and the pay disparity, is substantial. HB 3463 proposes pay parity for public defenders. That is the right thing to do, both as a matter of constitutional law, sound policy, and justice. Public defenders are not as politically popular...
Read MoreOregon’s restitution laws need reform
Over the last ten years or so, the legislature has changed the statutes relating to restitution. Restitution refers to a criminal defendant’s obligation to pay the victim for the economic harm caused by the crime. Restitution was once intended to be primarily a part of the punishment, and the judge had the discretion to impose reduced restitution, or no restitution. Now, restitution is intended...
Read MoreGrey rape, and when no means no.
This issue seems to cycle in and out of the public consciousness, maybe in response to a stupid comment by a politician (remember Todd Akin?), or a heated debate between blogs as summarized in this Slate XX blog entry. Those debates, which I can remember having in a course on the philosophy of sex and love in college, only permit black-and-white answers like “no means no” when they aren’t...
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