Constitutional law - due process and equal protection - California becomes first state to require chemical castration of certain sex offenders. - Act of Sept. 17, 1996, ch. 596, 1996 Cal. Stat. 92 (to be codified at CAL. PENAL CODE s. 645)
Article Abstract:
A California statute enacted in 1996 that imposes chemical castration, the use of Depo-Provera, on certain child sex abusers violates due process and equal protection because of the disparate effect that it has on men and women. The drug suppresses the sex drive in men, reducing the impulse to molest, but the drug is a contraceptive when taken by women and has no effect on their sex drive. The law fails to meet strict scrutiny standards under due process because it is not narrowly tailored and also offends equal protection by denying only women their procreative rights.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1997
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Criminal law - sex offender notification statute - Washington State Community Protection Act serves as model for other initiatives by lawmakers and communities
Article Abstract:
Community sex-offender notification statutes such as the Washington State Community Protection Act of 1990 must be implemented responsibly to prevent overreaction and unwarranted persecution of ex-convicts. Nevertheless, such statutes are potentially beneficial to the public, due to the high rate of recidivism among sex offenders, as well as the devastating nature of the crimes and the tendency for underreporting. Notification may promote deterrence of sex crimes, increased awareness, education of children and better community monitoring of offenders.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1995
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Constitutional law - double jeopardy and ex post facto clauses - Third Circuit holds that notification requirement of Megan's law does not constitute punishment
Article Abstract:
The US 3d Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997's E.B. v. Verniero mis-applied its own precedent to incorrectly hold that the Double Jeopardy and Ex Post Facto clauses are not violated by the notification provision in New Jersey's sex offender statute. Application of the Artway v. Attorney General structure for determining whether statutes inflict punishment leads to the conclusion that community notification was intended from its inception to be punitive and not remedial.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1998
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- Abstracts: Evidence law - hearsay rule - California adopts hearsay exception making written statements by unavailable witnesses that describe past physical abuse admissible in civil and criminal cases. - Act of Sept. 3, 1996, ch. 416 (to be codified at CAL. EVID. CODE s. 1370)
- Abstracts: EPA's Reilly replies to 'unequal protection.' (response to National Law Journal special report, Sept. 21, 1992, includes rebuttal by National Law Journal) (Letter to the Editor)
- Abstracts: Securities law - municipal securities disclosure statute - Newly amended Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c2-12 requires municipal securities issuers to provide additional information to the market. - Municipal Securities Disclosure, 17 C.F.R. s. 240.15c2-12 (1995)
- Abstracts: A return to confusion and uncertainty as to the effective date of rejection of commercial leases in bankruptcy: a critical analysis of Revco and Joseph C. Spiess Company
- Abstracts: Prepetition tax levies on intangible property. In defense of recoupment: why "setoff" of prepetition utility deposits against prepetition debt is not subject to the automatic stay