US Senate passes bill to help victims of child pornography recover monetary damages

2-12-2015 Washington DC:

Victims of child pornography would be allowed to recover greater damages from those who produce, distribute or possess pornographic images of them if legislation passed by the Senate becomes law.

S.295 - Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2015

The 98-0 vote on Wednesday is in response to a Supreme Court decision last year in which the court held that a defendant only would have to pay damages consistent with the relative harm caused by their actions. That made it difficult for victims to recover the full damages they were owed.

The legislation establishes a minimum amount for damages for various child pornography offenses, and makes any single person responsible for the full damages from child pornography crimes that involve multiple perpetrators. It also broadens the definition of a victim's losses to include things such as medical services, lost income and therapy.

"This bill ensures that victims can be fully compensated for these heinous crimes, and can focus their attention on healing," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The measure was named after "Amy" and "Vicky," who were the victims in one of the most widely distributed series of child pornography. The 2014 Supreme Court decision found that Amy could not win the $3.4 million she was seeking from a man who possessed pornographic images of her being abused by an uncle when she was 8 years old. ..Continued.. by The Republic

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Ousted head of sex offender board files suit against governor

12-31-2014 Massachusetts:

SALEM — The former chairwoman of the state's Sex Offender Registry Board, who was ousted in September, has fired back with a lawsuit accusing Gov. Deval Patrick of retaliating against her because of her position that his brother-in-law should have been required to register as a sex offender.

Saundra Edwards of Lawrence, a veteran sex crimes prosecutor, was hand-picked by Patrick to lead the agency in November 2007.

But seven years later, and with just months left in his term, Patrick told reporters he'd lost confidence in Edwards over several issues, in particular, her position on his brother-in-law's status as a sex offender. He also characterized Edwards' departure as a firing despite her having been allowed to submit a resignation.

Edwards and her attorneys say those "defamatory" statements, and her termination, were motivated by Patrick's "wrongful, personal interest in retaliating against and punishing" her for putting the interests of the public ahead of the interests of the governor's family.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Salem Superior Court by Edwards' attorneys, William Sheehan and Thomas Flannagan. In addition to naming Patrick as a defendant, it seeks damages from the state.

Sheehan was not immediately available for comment.

“The complaint is currently being reviewed by the governor’s legal counsel, and we will have no further comment given the pending litigation,” said Patrick spokeswoman Jesse Mermell.

By the time Edwards arrived at the Sex Offender Registry Board, the issue of what to do about the Bernard Sigh case was already a topic of concern within the Salem-based agency.

Sigh, who is married to Patrick's sister, pleaded guilty in 1993 to a charge of "spousal rape" in California, admitting to an "act of sexual intercourse with my wife against her will by means of force," Edwards' lawsuit says. Sigh served jail time and probation following the conviction, then moved to Massachusetts in 1995.



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Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 5:12 pm

BY JULIE MANGANIS STAFF WRITER

The sex offender registry requirement took effect in 1996, but Sigh did not register. Then, in 2006, during Patrick's campaign for governor, the Boston Herald revealed Sigh's prior conviction and his failure to register.

As a result, according to the Edwards lawsuit, Sigh was notified in December 2006, of the registration requirement. He challenged it, arguing that spousal rape was not the same as rape.

According to the Edwards lawsuit, a board member named Shawn Jenkins was initially assigned to handle the Sigh matter. But "for reasons unknown to" Edwards (who was not yet at the agency), a hearing officer, A.J. Paglia, "took the extraordinary step of removing the case from ... Jenkins to conduct the hearing himself."

At the time, the suit says, the agency was awaiting a review by the Attorney General as to whether "spousal rape" could be considered an equivalent offense to rape in Massachusetts, and Paglia's supervisor advised him not to do anything more than rule on preliminary motions.

The suit says that "in direct contravention of his supervisor's order," Paglia began a hearing on Aug. 1, 2007. He also allegedly ignored an order not to issue a decision pending the outcome of the AG's review, and violated policy by issuing a verbal decision following the hearing, in which he concluded that "spousal rape" is more akin to the Massachusetts charge of indecent assault and battery and, as a result, Sigh did not have to register.

Approximately two months later, Edwards was appointed chairwoman of the sex offender board.

The suit said she was advised of the Sigh case and that it "was a problem due to the erroneous legal conversion by Paglia of spousal rape to indecent assault and battery."

The following May, Paglia requested a meeting with Edwards, during which, the suit says, he raised the matter of the Sigh case. She said she discussed the elements of the crime of rape with Paglia, who is not an attorney, and told him, "rape is rape" and that his legal conclusion in the Sigh case was wrong.

Later that day Edwards spoke with the agency's general counsel and the Executive Office of Public Safety about the Sigh matter, then decided that a written decision would be issued and that an emergency regulation would be enacted so that a hearing officer's errors of law could be corrected in future cases, the suit says.

She also required that all staff, including Paglia, undergo training in conducting hearings and on the elements of Massachusetts sex crimes.



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According to the suit, Paglia, rather than complete the training, resigned and sued her and the agency, claiming that he had been subject to retaliation as a whistleblower. That suit was settled for a reported $60,000 in July.

"During her entire tenure at the SORB, (Edwards) received excellent reviews from her supervisors and was applauded for her accomplishments and productive changes and initiatives she introduced to the agency," the lawsuit says.

But on the evening of Sept. 15, she was told to attend a meeting the following morning with several top public safety officials and Kendra Foley, the governor's director of boards and commissions.

Edwards's suit says she was taken to an office, where she met with Foley; the governor's lawyer, Pat Moore, and a human resources person from the Office of Public Safety.

She says in the suit that Foley told her "As you know, you serve at the governor's pleasure. He has decided to replace you as chairperson of the Sex Offender Registry Board."

Edwards says that when she asked if there was a problem or if she had done anything wrong, "Ms. Foley admitted that the plaintiff had done nothing wrong, but reiterated that the plaintiff's employment was terminated."

In hopes of avoiding the "stigma of being terminated from a highly visible public position," Edwards asked if she could instead resign, the suit says. Public Safety undersecretary Sandra McCroom told her that if she submitted a resignation letter that day, it would be accepted, the suit says.

Nearly a week later, after returning from an overseas trip, Patrick was confronted by reporters about the sudden departures of Edwards and her executive director, Jeanne Holmes.

"Patrick, falsely and maliciously, told the press he had fired the plaintiff because she had interfered with a quasi-judicial officer's performance of his duties," the suit alleges.

The suit quotes Patrick's comments to reporters, including a statement that the "final straw" was the settlement of the Paglia lawsuit, and that it "involved some inappropriate, at least, maybe unlawful, pressuring by the chair and the executive director of a hearing officer to change the outcome of a case."

The governor also again expressed his anger at the disclosures about his brother-in-law and sister back in 2006 to reporters, saying, "the Republican Party, sorry to say, aided by the Herald, nearly destroyed their lives."

The suit seeks unspecified damages, including lost salary and other compensation to be determined by a jury. ..Source.. by Julie Manganis

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Woman who sued convicted billionaire over sex abuse levels claims at his friends

12-31-2014 Florida:

A woman allegedly kept as a sex slave by politically-connected billionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein, who went to jail for having sex with underaged girls, is accusing several prominent friends of the financier of having taken part in the debauchery, according to a new court filing.

The woman—referred to in court papers as Jane Doe #3—leveled the allegations Tuesday against Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and Britain’s Prince Andrew, as well as British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and French model scout Jean Luc Brunel.

Dershowitz flatly denied the claims about him Wednesday in an interview with POLITICO. “It’s totally, unequivocally and completely false,” the celebrated attorney said.

A spokesman for Prince Andrew did not return a phone message seeking comment, while a lawyer who handled related matters for Maxwell did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Representatives of Brunel's modeling firm also did not reply to e-mail messages.

The accusations came in a long-running lawsuit charging federal prosecutors in Florida with violating a victims-rights law by failing to consult with Epstein’s victims before signing off on a plea deal. That pact ruled out any federal prosecution of the investor, who agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution-related felony charges. Lawyers for the victims have described the arrangement as a sweetheart deal the well-connected Epstein and his high-powered legal team achieved by putting pressure on prosecutors.

Epstein served 13 months of an 18-month sentence on the two state charges before being released in 2009. He's now a registered sex offender.

The new court filing, submitted by Florida lawyer Brad Edwards and former federal judge Paul Cassell in a federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla., asked that Jane Doe #3 and another woman be allowed to join the pending case over the victims’ rights claim.

“Epstein…trafficked Jane Doe #3 for sexual purposes to many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders. Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to describe the events that she had with these men so that he could potentially blackmail them,” the court filing said.

“One such powerful individual that Epstein forced then-minor Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with was former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a close friend of Epstein’s and well-known criminal defense attorney. Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with Dershowitz on numerous occasions while she was a minor, not only in Florida but also on private planes, in New York, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the legal pleading added.

Dershowitz called the allegations “totally made up and totally fabricated from beginning to end.” He said he was not in the places described in the filing at the relevant times, with one exception: he did visit Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean on one occasion.

“I was there with my family,” the renowned law professor said.

Dershowitz said in a follow-up interview after this post first appeared Wednesday that he's planning to file bar complaints against Edwards and Cassell for inadequately vetting their client's story.

"I'm planning to file disbarment charges against the two lawyers who signed this petition without even checking the manifests of airplanes or travel itineraries, et cetera," he said. "I'm also challenging the young woman and the lawyers to level those charges against me outside of the courtroom, so that I can sue them for defamation.....Finally, I’m challenging the woman to file criminal charges against me because the filing of false criminal charges is a crime."

The motion accuses Prince Andrew of similar actions, asserting that “Jane Doe #3 was forced to have sexual relations with this Prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations: in London (at Ghislaine Maxwell’s apartment), in New York, and on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands (in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls).”

Previous press accounts have reported on Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein, who was known as a philanthropist and supporter of scientific research before the criminal investigations began nearly a decade ago. However, the earlier accounts stopped short of accusing the prince of sexual involvement with girls Epstein procured. In a 2011 Vanity Fair story, Prince Andrew denied any such contact.

Prosecutors said in a 2007 draft letter they’d identified 40 young women who could be considered victims of Epstein’s illegal acts. Many of them filed lawsuits or claims against Epstein and reached out-of-court settlements for amounts that were not disclosed.

While “Jane Doe #3” is unidentified in this week’s court filing, her story appears to track with that of a woman who sued Epstein in 2009 and settled with him later that year. She apparently granted an on-the-record interview to Britain’s Daily Mail in 2011.

Some of the fascination with Epstein on the part of tabloids and glossy magazines stems from his ties to former President Bill Clinton. In 2002, Epstein provided his 727 to Clinton for a trip to Africa to study anti-AIDS programs. Celebrities such as Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey came along for the ride. The new court filing makes no mention of Clinton, Tucker or Spacey.

The federal investigation obtained manifests for Epstein’s private jet travel, but prosecutors never charged anyone besides the investor with involvement in obtaining or using underaged girls for sexual purposes.

The new court filing says this result is in part due to the fact that Epstein’s legal team—which included such heavyweights as former independent counsel and solicitor general Ken Starr, trial lawyer Roy Black, and Dershowitz—negotiated a deal that precluded the feds charging anyone as a co-conspirator.

Lawyers for Jane Doe #3 argue in the new motion that Dershowitz put this language in the agreement to protect himself.

However, the law professor told POLITICO he didn’t negotiate that deal and it wasn't aimed at protecting him. “I had nothing to do with drafting the non-prosecution agreement,” he said.

Dershowitz added that the last draft of the agreement mentioned four people by name who wouldn’t be prosecuted and he was not among them. All were regular associates or assistants of Epstein, the lawyer said, adding that the final language removed those names and simply barred federal prosecutors in South Florida from going after any potential co-conspirators.

Epstein and his lawyers fought hard to prevent records about his plea negotiations from being turned over to victims’ attorneys. However, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Marra ruled last year that the victims are entitled to examine those records to prepare their case against the government.

Epstein, Black and others appealed that decision to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, but it ruled in April of this year that no privilege protects plea negotiations in this sort of dispute.

Edwards and Cassell did not respond to requests for comment for this post, including an inquiry about their response to Dershowitz's comments. However, the pair appear to be pressing forward with the victims' rights lawsuit, which seeks to unravel the no-federal-prosecution deal cut for Epstein in 2007. ..Source.. by JOSH GERSTEIN

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Appeals court upholds conviction, 110-year sentence in porn case

Given this man's age the sentence is ridiculous, not based on reasoning, instead some form of revenge.

12-30-2014 Arizona:

ORAN | The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and sentence of an Oran resident sent to prison for 110 years for filming children engaged in sexual activity in 2012.

Benton Stong, 77, argued the four boys listed as the victims engaged in “exploration and play” and no evidence existed that he persuaded them. In a ruling handed down Dec. 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth District disagreed.

“Considering that pornography of the four boys had been created in his apartment, stored on computers and a camera there and even contained his voice, a reasonable jury could conclude that Stong photographed and filmed the four boys engaging in sexually explicit conduct in order to create child pornography,” the justices wrote in their decision.

The court also turned down Stong’s argument for a lenient sentence because of his age and ill health.

Authorities said Stong photographed and filmed boys 10 to 12 years old when they visited his apartment. Stong had prior convictions in 1961 and 1984, but he was not required to register as a sex offender at the time because the crime occurred before the registry was established in 1995.

Stong is serving his sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Tucson, Ariz. ..Source.. by Jeff Reinitz

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Lifetime registration mandate for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional, Pa. Supreme Court says

See also: Pa. court throws out juvenile sex-offender registration

12-30-2014 Pennsylvania:

A Pennsylvania law that requires juveniles who commit the most serious types of sex crimes to register with police for life is unconstitutional because it breeches the youngsters' civil rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The decision by the state's highest court upholds earlier rulings by judges in York and Montgomery counties against the juvenile sex offender registration rules of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The state Legislature adopted the latest version of SORNA under federal pressure in 2011.

In the York County case, on which the Supreme Court ruling is based, attorneys for seven juveniles challenged the lifetime registration decree. The dispute came to the Supreme Court after the district attorney's office appealed county Senior Judge John C. Uhler's conclusion that SORNA violates the law in regard to juvenile sex offender registration.

Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille and Justices Max Baer, Thomas G. Saylor, J. Michael Eakin and Debra McCloskey Todd upheld Uhler's decision. Justice Correale F. Stevens issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the right of juvenile sex offenders "should not have precedence over a rape victim's anguish that very well may last a lifetime."

The Supreme Court's majority opinion, written by Baer, comes seven months after the justices heard arguments on the case.

At issue, Baer noted, is whether SORNA improperly treats adult and juvenile sex offenders alike and whether the rights of serious juvenile offenders are breached by SORNA's automatic lifetime registration requirement.

Under SORNA, the lifetime registration applies only if a juvenile offender is at least 14 years old and has been adjudicated guilty by a county judge of rape, involuntary deviate sexual assault or aggravated indecent assault. Juveniles can apply to be removed from the sex offender registry at age 25, however.

Baer wrote that the SORNA requirement is unconstitutional in that it saddles juvenile offenders with an "irrefutable presumption" that they are likely to reoffend and so violates their rights to due process of law. The juveniles have no "meaningful" opportunity to challenge whether they should be subject to lifetime registration, he noted.

He cited arguments by opponents of the registration mandate that, unlike adult sex offenders, juveniles who commit sex crimes are statistically far less likely to re-offend. SORNA's registration rule simply doesn't take that into account, and so "improperly brands" youthful offenders, Baer found.

Pennsylvania already has a "reasonable alternative," however, he concluded. Adult sex offenders are evaluated individually before being designated for 10- or 25-year or lifetime registrations, Baer noted. "A similar process could be utilized to assess which juvenile offenders are at a high risk to recidivate," he wrote.

In his dissenting opinion, Stevens noted that SORNA already provides an opportunity for juvenile sex offenders to get off the registration list at 25, provided they don't commit further serious crimes and have completed treatment programs.

By adopting the juvenile offender registration requirements of SORNA, "the Legislature recognized violent sexual crimes such as rape must be treated as the serious crimes they are," Stevens wrote. ..Source.. by Matt Miller

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Army apps help spread sex-assault prevention message

12-29-2014 National:

Smartphone apps designed to put suicide and sex-assault prevention information at a soldier's fingertips have rolled out at 15 Army installations, and more are on the way.

The WeCare Fort Benning App is live in the Google Play store and also can be downloaded at the iTunes App Store, the Georgia post announced in a December news release.

The app includes contact information for local chaplain and medical personnel, dozens of web links for national resources geared toward preventing suicide and combating sex assault, and even a link to the Army Suicide Prevention Manual.

Other installations with similar products include Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

"We're looking for ways to reach the population," said Ellen Helmerson, deputy chief of staff for personnel and logistics at Headquarters, Army Training and Doctrine Command. "We know one size doesn't fit all. We know face-to-face [education] is not enough. We know going to a website is not enough."

While the one-touch access to help could assist a soldier in a dire situation, Helmerson said the app is designed for wider use, as well:

--Senior leaders can have easy access to Army regulations and support services regarding sexual assault and suicide, in case they are approached with questions by junior soldiers.
--Civilian workers and dependents can learn more about programs available to the extended Army family.
--New transfers to unfamiliar bases can immediately access any needed assistance without navigating an installation website, welcome packet or switchboard.

A pilot application went live in 2012, and the app covering Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia, went into app stores in 2013, Helmerson said.

"I think anybody who's seen it has said, 'That's pretty easy, that's pretty quick,'" she said when asked about user feedback. "It provides our soldiers, civilians and family members with another tool to help them with these difficult issues."

TRADOC also has discussed sharing the app's tech with colleges, which could make students aware of on-campus sex-assault prevention resources.

"If it helped one person get in contact with the person they needed in order to get help ... there was value," Helmerson said. "And when I talked to the TRADOC commanders, all of them wanted it."

Expansion plans call for the app to reach Fort Rucker, Alabama, among other installations. Helmerson said there are no immediate plans for an Army-wide app or series of apps, but further expansion could be on the table at February's SHARP summit, when TRADOC commander Gen. David Perkins may offer the technology up to a larger Army audience. ..Source.. by Kevin Lilley, Staff Writer

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Why Innocent People Plead Guilty

12-29-2014 National:

The criminal justice system in the United States today bears little relationship to what the Founding Fathers contemplated, what the movies and television portray, or what the average American believes.

To the Founding Fathers, the critical element in the system was the jury trial, which served not only as a truth-seeking mechanism and a means of achieving fairness, but also as a shield against tyranny. As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

The Sixth Amendment guarantees that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” The Constitution further guarantees that at the trial, the accused will have the assistance of counsel, who can confront and cross-examine his accusers and present evidence on the accused’s behalf. He may be convicted only if an impartial jury of his peers is unanimously of the view that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and so states, publicly, in its verdict.

The drama inherent in these guarantees is regularly portrayed in movies and television programs as an open battle played out in public before a judge and jury. But this is all a mirage. In actuality, our criminal justice system is almost exclusively a system of plea bargaining, negotiated behind closed doors and with no judicial oversight. The outcome is very largely determined by the prosecutor alone. ..Continued.. by Judge Jed S. Rakoff

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A California law about reporting child porn puts psychotherapists in a bind

12-27-2014 California:

A middle-aged man feels a spark with a co-worker that he hasn’t felt in years with his wife and wants to start an affair. He remains faithful. A teenager longs to lash out in rage against her parents. She instead composes an angry song. A new mom in the throes of severe sleep deprivation and exhaustion feels a sudden urge to smother her child. She does not do so. A man feels aroused by sexual images of children. He never acts on those desires.

Our desires need not compel us to act. We are free to choose our own course of action. These truths may be among the most liberating that my psychotherapy patients learn in treatment.

Beginning next month, however, I will be hampered in my ability to hear the full range of my patients’ desires and to assure them that they can discuss these feelings without fear. Under an amendment to California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, psychotherapists and psychiatrists will be required to report to the authorities any patient who “downloads, streams, or accesses images of any person under the age of 18 engaged in an act of obscene sexual conduct.” In the same way that I am required to break confidentiality to report child abuse, I will be mandated to report consumption of child pornography.

California is often a bellwether state when it comes to issues of psychotherapy and the law. The state’s recent, highly commendable decision to bar the practice of “gay conversion therapy” on minors has already been copied by New Jersey and the District. The child porn reporting requirement could likewise begin to serve as a national standard.

On the face of it, the amendment may seem like a helpful addition to the reporting mandates for psychotherapists and psychiatrists. Child pornography is, after all, a damaging and illegal practice. As a society we surely want to decrease its production, distribution and consumption.

On closer inspection, however, the law falls short on three fronts: First, it will not protect children from either the production or distribution of child pornography, which is its intent. Second, it violates therapist-patient confidentiality and decreases the likelihood that people will get the psychological help they need to stop accessing child pornography; if the goal is to undercut production by reducing demand, the law will likely have the opposite effect. And, third, it conflates desire with action.

There is little evidence to suggest that consuming child pornography causes individuals to commit sexual abuse. While it’s true that individuals who commit sexual abuse are more likely than others to have consumed child pornography, this is a clear case of correlation and not causality. Given the ease and privacy with which people can access sexual images of children and teenagers, data on consumers of child pornography are neither complete nor reliable. The majority of the evidence we have comes from those convicted of what is termed a “hands-on” sex offense against a child.

In contrast, a 2009 study by Swiss psychiatrist Frank Urbaniok and colleagues was unique in that it included a large number of consumers of child pornography who had never committed a hands-on sexual offense against a child. The study found that “previous hands-on sex offenses are a relevant risk factor for future hands-on sex offenses among child pornography users, just as they are among sex offenders in general. The consumption of child pornographic material alone does not seem to predict hands-on sex offenses.” In fact, this research found that less than half of 1 percent of child pornography viewers without a prior hands-on child sex offense went on to commit a hands-on child sex offense.

For many years, psychotherapists and psychiatrists have been required to break patient confidentiality only when we believe a minor or dependent adult is in imminent danger of serious abuse or neglect, or a life is imminently at risk. As a psychotherapist, I am not required to report any other illegal activity that a patient may report to me, including drug abuse, drinking while driving, stealing, sexual assault, assault or even a murder that has been committed. This has allowed psychotherapists and psychiatrists to help patients discontinue illegal or potentially harmful behaviors. And it has enabled patients to speak freely about their thoughts, feelings and desires without fear of exposure. Thoughts and feelings are not equivalent to actions. One of the desired outcomes of psychotherapy is that patients will understand precisely this distinction.

People are motivated to come to psychotherapy because the expression of their deepest desires and fears will be met with a commitment to help, not judgment or censure. Laws such as California’s may cause patients to think twice before embarking on psychotherapy, depriving them of the help that they need. The solution to the problem of child pornography is to enforce existing laws regarding its production, distribution and consumption, not to violate therapist-patient confidentiality. ..Source.. by Leslie C. Bell who is a sociologist and psychotherapist in private practice in Berkeley, Calif.

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Pedophilia and DSM-5: The Importance of Clearly Defining the Nature of a Pedophilic Disorder

12-24-2014 National:

by Fred S. Berlin, MD, 104 E. Biddle Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. E-mail: fredsberlinmd@comcast.net.

Psychiatric terminology should convey information in as clear and unambiguous a manner as possible. In light of the associated stigma, that is especially so of the terms Pedophilia and Pedophilic Disorder. Although from a psychiatric perspective the term Pedophilia is intended to define a recognized clinical entity, in the collective consciousness of contemporary society, the term has become a demonizing pejorative.

Many in society are likely to equate Pedophilia with child molestation. They are not the same. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)1 may be contributing inadvertently to the misconception that they are the same, for the following three reasons:

First, DSM-5 states that an indicator of a Pedophilic Disorder would be that an individual has “acted on” his sexual urges (Ref. 1, p 697). “Acted on” could mean that he has actually molested a child. On the other hand, it could also mean that he has masturbated to pedophilic fantasies or that he has viewed child pornography. The current criteria for diagnosing a Pedophilic Disorder place some persons who have never molested a child into the same diagnostic category as those who have done so. That could cause confusion, suggesting that the current definition of a Pedophilic Disorder may lack adequate diagnostic specificity. As a consequence, the distinction between being sexually attracted to children in some fashion (e.g., experiencing urges to view child pornography) and experiencing urges to act on that attraction with a child can easily be lost.

Second, at present, in discussing Pedophilia, DSM-5 makes reference to the term Pedophilic Sexual Orientation. Sexual Orientation is ordinarily used to designate the category, or categories, of persons whom a given individual finds to be sexually appealing. Those who are heterosexually oriented are sexually attracted to adults of the opposite sex; those who are homosexual, to adults of the same sex; men with a heterosexual pedophilic orientation, to prepubescent females; and men with a homosexual pedophilic orientation, to prepubescent boys.

In the face of significant criticism of its inclusion in the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has stated its intention to remove the term Pedophilic Sexual Orientation from the diagnostic manual.2 Removing that term in response to public criticism would be a mistake. Experiencing ongoing sexual attractions to prepubescent children is, in essence, a form of sexual orientation, and acknowledging that reality can help to distinguish the mental makeup that is inherent to Pedophilia, from acts of child sexual abuse.

Third, in discussing the nature of a Pedophilic Disorder, DSM-5 has done little to characterize the multitude of psychiatric burdens associated with the condition, burdens that are frequently present, even in the absence of any acts of child sexual abuse. ..Continued....

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Hillsborough's controversial sex offender court is disbanded

This is sad, very sad, a better answer would be to rotate judges into this division; each serving some period of time. Its a shame there wasn't a professional study done which could have determined the effectiveness of such a court.

12-24-2014 Florida:

TAMPA — For 14 years, criminal cases involving accused rapists, molesters and child abusers in Hillsborough County have been heard by a single judge in the sex offender division.

Advocates of this highly specialized court for pedophiles and predators call it a smart, efficient way to handle difficult cases with unique sensitivities. But critics say no judge can hear the horrifying details of rape and abuse day after day without becoming biased — particularly when children are victims.

And they point to Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe — known for his dramatic pronouncements, his sometimes lengthy sentences and his recent rebuke from an appeals court — as proof. Now Hillsborough's sex offender court is no more.

This week, Circuit Judge Manuel Menendez Jr. dissolved the division in one of his last acts as chief judge before he retires. Menendez informed the judges that as of Jan. 1, sex and child abuse cases will be randomly distributed among criminal court judges who hear felony cases ranging from grand theft to murder.

The move, he said, had been "contemplated for a while."

"I thought we needed resources elsewhere, and this is a way of doing that," Menendez said, pointing out that no special division exists for murders, which are also complex and important cases.

Tharpe, on the bench for 24 years and in sex offender court for eight, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

So-called "boutique" courts allow specially assigned lawyers and judges to get steeped in the nuances of a specific area of law. Hillsborough has drug court, probation court, veterans court and animal court, among others. None has drawn the attention of sex offender court under Tharpe — particularly after the case of accused child pornographer Peter Barnhill.

Caught with thousands of graphic images on his hard drive, Barnhill had no record and passed a lie detector test indicating he had never touched a child. A psychologist called him low-risk.

At the sentencing, an emotional Judge Tharpe called child pornography "epidemic" and indicated Barnhill had a 50-50 chance of molesting a child. Tharpe gave him 22 years.

In a strongly worded opinion, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered a new sentencing by a different judge. The appeals court noted that Tharpe spoke of his struggle with such cases "every single day of my life since I've been put into this division" and said the judge equated Barnhill with those similarly charged rather than considering his individual case. Clearly, Barnhill did not get "a hearing in a dispassionate environment before a fair and impartial judge."

Other Tharpe sentences have gotten attention, including four life terms for the rapist of a 75-year-old woman and 690 years for a man who beat and molested boys.

Citing the Barnhill rebuke, Hillsborough Public Defender Julie Holt sent a letter to the chief judge in August saying sex offender court was no longer necessary or efficient, particularly since DNA and other scientific evidence are now commonplace in cases from petty theft to murder.

The specialized division "can also lead to the development of personal biases, perceptions and beliefs on the part of the court as well as the lawyers" assigned there, Holt wrote. The Hillsborough County Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also wrote of concerns about "predictable 'rubber-stamped' sentences."

"We feel that one person can only listen to so many sexual cases before it can take a toll on the person's objectivity," the letter said. "We fear, with great respect, that this may now be the case." Other lawyers spoke of the possibility of using the Barnhill decision to get Tharpe recused from their own similar cases.

Tharpe is assigned to a criminal division and will continue to hear cases involving convicted sex offenders who may be held under civil commitment under the Jimmy Ryce Act.

A spokesman for Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober said the sex offender division, like other specialty courts, served Hillsborough County well. "We were hopeful it would not be disbanded," Mark Cox said.

Tampa defense lawyer Lyann Goudie said she believed this was a good decision for the court system overall.

"It's got to be difficult to handle those kinds of crimes, especially crimes that involve children," she said. "If that's all they were seeing day in and day out, it would be the very rare person that would be able to maintain objectivity and neutrality." ..Source.. by Sue Carlton

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Harassment via Internet a crime, SJC rules

Case info including briefs

12-24-2014 Massachusetts:

Decision upholds convictions of pair who targeted neighbors in Andover

The state’s highest court ruled Tuesday that people who use the Internet to harass someone can be prosecuted under existing state law, a decision that upheld the conviction of an Andover couple who were linked to false ads on Craigslist and who filed a fake claim of child abuse against a neighbor.

Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, whose office prosecuted the case, said the ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court was the first time the panel clearly authorized law enforcement to use the state’s antiharassment statute in cybercrimes.


“Cyberharassment is becoming more prevalent in today’s society and the victims in this case were tormented by the defendants,’’ Blodgett said. “This case sends the right message that it is a crime, and a serious one.”

The 7-0 ruling left intact the harassment convictions for William P. Johnson and his wife, Gail M. Johnson, who wanted to subdivide and develop land in Andover, but were opposed by an abutting neighbor, James J. Lyons Jr., and his wife, Bernadette, along with other neighbors.

That dispute preceded the harassment campaign by the Johnsons, the high court said.

As part of the harassment, William Johnson called in a false allegation of child abuse against James Lyons with the state Department of Children and Families, according to the SJC.

“They literally tried to have our kids taken away from us,’’ James Lyons, who is now a state representative, said in a telephone interview. “These people invested time and money to torture my wife, my boys, and myself.’’

Robert S. Sinsheimer, an attorney for the Johnsons, said in a statement that they were disappointed by the SJC’s decision and were considering their legal options. The Johnsons lived on the same street as the Lyons family.

“Where the sole purpose of the defendants’ speech was to further their endeavor to intentionally harass the Lyonses, such speech is not protected by the First Amendment,” Justice Robert Cordy wrote in the ruling.

According to the SJC ruling, during a 35-day period in 2008 the Johnsons enlisted a longtime friend and handyman, Gerald Colton, who sent the Lyonses an e-mail falsely claiming that James Lyons “stole the innocence of a young man,” and posted fake ads on Craigslist.

One of those ads said that the Lyonses were giving away golf carts for free, prompting dozens of people to show up outside the couple’s home.

“The Craigslist postings were the equivalent of the defendants recruiting others to harass the victims and the victims alone,” Cordy wrote. “The defendants cannot launder their harassment of the Lyons family through the Internet to escape liability.”

Another ad said the family was selling a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and told interested parties to call after 10 p.m., generating many nighttime calls that continued for months, the ruling said.

One e-mail that Colton sent to the Lyons family from a fake account, the SJC said, read, “Remember, if you aren’t miserable, I ain’t happy! Let’s Play.”

Colton had testified for the prosecution and said that William Johnson had told him he had sent James Lyons a letter accusing him of molesting a teenager, which was false. The Johnsons were convicted in Lawrence District Court in late 2011. William Johnson was sentenced to 18 months behind bars; his wife was given a six-month sentence to serve.

Alan M. Dershowitz, a prominent attorney and retired Harvard Law professor, said it is rare for defendants to receive jail time for such conduct, adding that the Johnsons’ behavior was particularly egregious.

“Was the [SJC] opinion too broad? I think time will tell,” Dershowitz said. “I would hope it would be applied in a very narrow way.”

The ruling does not appear to encroach on the free speech rights of Internet users, according to Harvey A. Silverglate, a criminal defense lawyer and civil libertarian who has written extensively on First Amendment issues.

“I don’t think this opinion imposes a risk of squelching protected speech on the Internet,” Silverglate said. “It isn’t very hard to figure out that what these people were doing is very threatening, and it’s not the kind of speech that a civilized society wants to tolerate.”

Sameer Hinduja, a criminology professor at Florida Atlantic University and codirector of the Cyberbullying Research Center, said online harassment is not confined to young children and adolescents.

Hinduja pointed to a recent Pew Research Internet Project study that found that 40 percent of adult Internet users have experienced online harassment.

“I agree with the court’s decision, absolutely,” Hinduja said.

“You have really crazy sorts of things being done [in the case]. It’s really willful, it’s really intentional. . . . I like that [the SJC] labeled it criminal conduct.”

Hinduja said laws barring online harassment are necessary, even if they do not always deter offenders. “We do need to have laws for egregious situations to send a message in our society, with the social contract that we all agree to, that this is unacceptable,” he said.

Martin G. Weinberg, a Boston defense lawyer who has litigated cybercrime cases, said in an e-mail that the ruling helps define criminal conduct in the realm of Internet communications.

“Judges nationwide, from the Supreme Court to the state courts, have an historic challenge of taking a Bill of Rights written in the 18th century and making it meaningful in a very different world of computers and technology,” Weinberg wrote. ..Source.. by John R. Ellement and Travis Andersen

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25 Years of State Health Data

12-23-2014 National:

America's Health Ranking is the longest running, comprehensive perspective of our nation's health, state by state.

Click on a state for its rank, state and challenges or view a panel discussion celebrating 25 years. ..Source..

Your state ranks?

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Sex offender lottery winner target of lawsuit

See UPDATE: Florida sex offender able to keep $3 million lottery win

12-23-2014 Florida:

A convicted sex predator who became a lottery millionaire is now the target of a lawsuit. The civil suit was filed in the Orange County Courthouse Monday afternoon by a high-profile law firm representing the sexual battery victims.

Timothy Dale Poole won $3 million on a Florida Lottery scratch-off ticket he purchased at a Mount Dora 7-Eleven store on Dec. 6. In 1999, Orange County authorities arrested Poole following allegations that he sexually battered a 9-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2002.

The suit filed Monday lists two sexually battery victims -- a 9-year-old and a 5-year-old who were close family friends of Poole. The victims also spent some weekends at Poole's home, according to investigators.

"He said Tim would sleep in the same bed as him at his house" and perform a sex act on the child, the detective wrote in the affidavit. "He said sometimes Tim would wake him up from sleeping to (perform a sex act)."

As part of a plea bargain, Poole pleaded guilty to attempted sexual battery and was sentenced to the 13 months he had already served in jail. The judge also ordered Poole to serve 10 years of sex offender probation and register as a sexual predator.

On Dec. 22, just weeks after Poole won millions in the scratch-off ticket, the complaint was filed asking for damages. Lottery officials said he chose to receive his winnings in a one-time, lump-sum payment of $2,219,807.90.

The victims are being represented by Jason Recksiedler, an attorney with NeJame Law.

Recksiedler lists physical and emotional scars for the victims -- damages that include suffering from physical pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression. The complaint then says, "treatment will continue throughout the rest of their lives."

Local 6 legal analyst Eric Dubois said the complaint has grounds to move forward and the statute of limitations has not run out.

"Twenty years ago, why would you ever pursue it? Because odds are he's never going to have any money. So he hits the lottery (and) wins $3 million," Dubois said. "They figure, we can finally recover and help compensate us for some of the emotional and mental abuse."

Just as quickly as the Mount Dora Man won the money, it could be spent, which is why the victims' attorney also filed an emergency motion to freeze his assets.

"If they don't freeze it now, he's going to spend it. He's already fled the state once when he was arrested in New York. He's a flight risk. He has $3 million. Essentially, he can buy his ticket to any place in the world," said Dubois.

Local 6 left a message with Poole Monday night. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sex Offender Registry has a new address for him out of West Virginia as of Dec. 12.

Dubois said Poole will most likely have 20 days to respond to the lawsuit. ..Source.. by Sheli Muniz

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More evidence that 1 in 5 college women HAVE NOT been sexually assaulted

12-22-2014 National:

A new survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics debunks the oft-repeated claim that one in five women will be sexually assaulted while in college.

The survey found that between 1995 and 2013, an average of 6.1 for every 1,000 female students were raped or sexually assaulted each year. That's about 0.61 percent annually, or (at most) 2.44 percent over the average four-year period (one in 41). That’s way smaller than 20 percent. That’s also virtually unchanged from 2005, the last time BJS put out this report, where the rate of rape among college women was 6 per 1,000.

Moreover, the average rate since 1995 overstates the danger to women on campuses today, because the rape and sexual assault rate on campus has fallen since the mid-1990s. College women were even safer on campus in 2013, with only 4.3 rapes for every 1,000 college women.

The survey also found that although the media and politicians focus on campus sexual assault, non-students had a higher rate of victimization (7.6 per 1,000, or .76 percent).

BJS conducted its survey in a similar way as previous studies like the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey and the Campus Sexual Assault Study. But unlike those surveys, BJS had a high response rate (88 percent for eligible persons). The NISVS and CSA studies had a response rate of about 33 percent.

The BJS survey also approached the subject from a criminal behavior perspective, while the other two were presented as surveys about public health. But in all three, questions were asked of respondents and their answers were gauged to determine whether incidences of sexual assault had occurred or not — meaning that even if a respondent didn’t explicitly say she was raped or assaulted, the survey might still consider her a rape victim.

One interesting note from the survey is that the rate of rape or sexual assault for women has been declining sharply since 1997. The survey doesn’t theorize about why there has been a decline, and questions to the authors went unanswered at press time.

One issue noticeably absent from the BJS survey is the prevalence of alcohol among victims of sexual assault and rape. While the two older studies asked questions about whether the victim had been assaulted while under the influence, the BJS did not.

After reading the BJS survey, a picture of the most likely victim and the most likely perpetrator takes shape. Women were much more likely to be victimized than men (men had a rate of victimization of 1.4 per 1,000 over the entire study period, compared to 6.1 per 1,000 for women), so the most likely victim was: ..Continued.. by Ashe Schow

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The Nation's Foremost Champions of Wrongly Accused College Men

12-21-2014 National:

They are attorneys who've handled dozens of campus sexual assault cases at 19 universities across the country, and they've written a brilliant piece explaining the atrocities faced by the wrongly accused. They are Matt Kaiser and Justin Dillon. and this is their law firm. No, I don't know them, but I admire them. Here is their article (found here).

What the Rolling Stone story tells us about campus sexual assault

By Matt Kaiser and Justin Dillon ..Continued.. at COTWA

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Mystery of Keene man's death continues one year later

12-21-2014 New Hampshire:

Three gunshots were fired one year ago today, killing a man within seconds inside his home on Pearl Street in Keene.

Who killed 48-year-old David E. Wheelock and why remains a mystery, but investigators say they aren’t giving up hope that one day they’ll have the answers to those looming questions.

The authorities probing Wheelock’s death continue to scour for clues about what happened the night of Dec. 21, 2013. The possible theories procured, in part, from more than 100 witness interviews are immense, Assistant N.H. Attorney General Benjamin J. Agati said last week.

And investigators say it’s too early to discount any one of them just yet.

What police have not determined is whether more than one person carried out the homicide, and whether Wheelock was the intended target or the victim of a random crime, Agati said.

That being said, there is also no evidence to support a wider threat to the people of Keene or Cheshire County, Agati noted. Should police have any suspicion of such a threat, they would notify the community immediately, he said.

Agati’s words are somewhat reassuring to those who live in close proximity to Wheelock’s former home at 170 Pearl St. Nevertheless, neighbors say, the empty house is a daily reminder of the unsolved homicide and the other crimes that probe unearthed.

“This was once a nice, quiet, beautiful neighborhood that people were proud to live in, and then all of the sudden...” said Arlene E. Guyette, who has lived in the same Pearl Street home for 62 years.

Wheelock’s former housemate, Nicholas A. Coll, 26, was convicted this past summer of two felony counts of cruelty to animals, for performing sexual acts on a German shepherd and a yellow Labrador retriever, according to court documents. That abuse occurred in March of 2012 and May of 2012 at 170 Pearl St., where he was living at the time.

According to an affidavit in the case, Coll and Wheelock created online accounts to talk with others about their bestiality, sexual contact with animals.

Agati said Thursday his team is looking into whether someone’s knowledge of bestiality in the home was a motivating factor in Wheelock’s death. The authorities are also probing theories about whether Wheelock’s sexual offender status made him a target, Agati said.

“We don’t have evidence that this was the case, but we’re not ruling anything out.”

Wheelock was convicted of 28 counts of child pornography in October 2005, according to the N.H. Department of Safety’s sex offender registry.

Longtime residents of Pearl Street said last week they had limited interaction with Wheelock and, therefore, knew little about him.

Clarence “Clancy” and Winifred M. “Winnie” Faulkner, who have lived on Pearl Street for 50 years, said on their doorstep Thursday that they would see Wheelock taking his dogs for a walk daily.

Wheelock was confined to a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis, but that didn’t keep him from getting outside, the couple said. They recalled one time Clancy heard Wheelock hollering for help because he had gotten his wheelchair stuck in the mud.

“Clancy pulled him out. He was OK,” Winnie said.

Guyette didn’t know Wheelock or his housemates, but like the Faulkners she frequently saw Wheelock out and about. Since his death, the home has had few visitors, she said.

“I don’t know who would want to live there now. I say tear it down and build a nice cottage.”

In the weeks following Wheelock’s death, his sister Diane C. Blinn of Plaistow because the administrator of the $128,800 estate, according to records filed in 8th Circuit Court Probate Division. Wheelock died without a will.

The front lawn of 170 Pearl St. now bears a “for sale” sign. The asking price for the three-bedroom home is $45,000, according to a local Realtor’s website.

Neighbors say they haven’t seen much activity from any potential buyers or from police officers, who had become a regular presence in the neighborhood last December.

The yellow crime tape is gone and so too are the unmarked cruisers that once lined the driveway outside the red-painted home. But the memories of that foggy December night are not ones Pearl Street residents will soon — if ever — forget. ..Source.. by Alyssa Dandrea

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U.S. CORRECTIONAL POPULATION DECLINED BY LESS THAN 1 PERCENT FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR

12-20-2014 Washington DC:

WASHINGTON – The number of persons under adult correctional supervision fell by 41,500 persons during 2013, dropping to 6.89 million by yearend, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The decline in the correctional population (down 0.6 percent) was less than 1 percent for the second consecutive year.

By yearend 2013, the number of persons under adult correctional supervision was the smallest number observed since 2003. About 7 in 10 offenders under adult correctional supervision were supervised in the community on probation (3.91 million) or parole (853,200) at yearend 2013, compared to about 3 in 10 incarcerated in state and federal prisons (1.57 million) or local jails (731,200).

The entire drop in the correctional population during 2013 was due to a decline in the number of probationers (down 32,100) and persons held in local jails (down 13,300). The parole population (up 2,100) and prison population (up 4,300) increased, partially offsetting the overall decline in the total correctional population.

While the U.S prison population increased during 2013, the number of inmates under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons decreased (down 0.9 percent or 1,900) for the first time since 1980. The growth in the U.S. prison population was attributed to the increase in the number of inmates under the jurisdiction of state prisons (up 0.5 percent or 6,300).

About 1 in 35 adults in the United States (or 2.8 percent of the adult resident population) was under some form of correctional supervision at yearend 2013. This rate was unchanged from 2012, when it dropped to the lowest rate observed since 1997. About 1 in 51 adults was on probation or parole at yearend 2013, compared to 1 in 110 incarcerated in prisons or local jails.

The population-based correctional supervision rate (the number of persons under adult correctional supervision per 100,000 U.S. adult residents) declined to 2,830 persons per 100,000 adults at yearend 2013, from 2,870 per 100,000 at yearend 2012. Since 2007, the correctional supervision rate has declined more rapidly than the number of persons under adult correctional supervision, but half of the decrease in this rate came from the increase in the size of the U.S. adult resident population.

The composition of the correctional population remained unchanged between 2010 and 2013. Probationers (57 percent) accounted for the majority of the correctional population, and prisoners made up almost a quarter (23 percent) of the population. Parolees (12 percent) and jail inmates (11 percent) made up slightly more than a tenth each of the total population.

In 2013, females accounted for almost 25 percent of the probation population, up from about 22 percent in 2000. They made up 14 percent of the jail population in 2013, up from about 11 percent in 2000. The percentage of females on parole or incarcerated in state or federal prisons remained unchanged between 2000 and 2013. Since 2010, the female jail population has been the fastest growing correctional population, increasing by an average annual rate of 3.4 percent. ..Source.. by BJS Press Release

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AFT joins calls for Congress to act on campus sex assault

12-19-2014 National:

Dive Brief:

-- The 1.6-million-member American Federation of Teachers is urging Republican leaders in Congress to pass legislation addressing campus sexual assault next year.

-- The federation, one of the largest teacher unions, has launched a petition in support of proposed legislation on the issue, the Huffington Post reported.

-- The president of the union, Randi Weingarten, revealed in an essay on Jezebel that she was sexually assaulted when she was in college. ..Continued.. by Keith Button

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RECAP of 113th Congress: Sex Offender Bills that became law and those that died when the 113th Congress ended

12-17-2014 Washington DC:

The following may come in handy for Advocates planning for next year. This blog will continue to monitor Congressional bills that affect folks in the community. Bills affecting "sex offenses" are not included, they are a world mostly connected to prosecution and sentencing.

These bills became law during the 113th Congress (Now over):

(HR 83) Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Includes AWA Grants)
(HR 803) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(HR 933) Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Includes AWA Grants)
(HR 3547) Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (Includes AWA Grants)
(S 47) Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
(S 1086) Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014

The following bills died when the 113th Congress ended:

Congressional Website: Even though a bill did not become law as Introduced, it is always possible that some or all of its provisions may have been incorporated into another bill which did become law. In the EXAMPLE S-1911 below, S-1911 did not become law, BUT BUT, see the note on that bill "For further action, see H.R.803, which became Public Law 113-128 on 7/22/2014." In addition to "Notes" you need to read the line which says "Latest Action." Both KEY to know whats going on with a bill. So be mindful it may take some research on bills which did not become law -as introduced- to find out if their provision/s were included in another bill. The Congressional website is pretty good mentioning notes and latest actions.:

EXAMPLE
S.1911 — 113th Congress (2013-2014)
Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act
Sponsor: Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (Introduced 01/09/2014)
Committees: Senate - Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action: 01/09/2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Note: For further action, see H.R.803, which became Public Law 113-128 on 7/22/2014.
Tracker: ___ ___ ___

Now onto the list of bills which did not become law:

(HR 5) Student Success Act
(HR 11) Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
(HR 15) Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
(HR 629) Violence Against Immigrant Women Act of 2013
(HR 757) SAVE Native Women Act
(HR 898) Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2013
(HR 1525) Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2013
(HR 1669) Public Housing Disaster Preparedness Act of 2013
(HR 1843) Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination Act of 2013
(HR 1860) Criminal Code Modernization and Simplification Act of 2013
(HR 1981) Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2013
(HR 2083) Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act
(HR 2278) SAFE Act
(HR 1786) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2014
(HR 2786) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2014
(HR 2787) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014
(HR 2848) Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2014
(HR 3461) Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2013
(HR 3530) Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2014
(HR 3610) Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2014
(HR 3902) Child Protection Improvements Act of 2013
(HR 3923) To amend the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 to expand the authority of governmental social service agencies with child protection responsibilities to access the national crime...
(HR 4058) Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities for Youth in Foster Care Act
(HR 4573) International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking
(HR 4595) School Bus Safety Act
(HR 4660) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015
(HR 5016) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015
(HR 5114) HUMANE Act
(HR 5158) REDEEM Act
(HR 5230) Making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes.
(HR 5352) Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2014
(HR 5623) National Parents Corps Act of 2014

(S 624) Child Care Protection Act of 2013
(S 744) Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
(S 987) Free Flow of Information Act of 2013
(S 1329) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014
(S 1362) Child Protection Improvements and Electronic Life and Safety Security Systems Act of 2013
(S 1371) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2014
(S 1410) Smarter Sentencing Act of 2014
(S 1596) Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act
(S 1675) Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act of 2014
(S 1697) Strong Start for America's Children Act
(S 1733) Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013
(S 1738) Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2013
(S 1790) REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act of 2013
(S 1911) Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act
(S 2038) Solutions to Long-Term Unemployment Act
(S 2054) Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2014
(S 2437) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015
(S 2452) Strong Start for America's Children Act
(S 2567) REDEEM Act
(S 2611) HUMANE Act
(S 2666) Protect Children and Families Through the Rule of Law Act
(S 2743) Protecting Children and America's Homeland Act of 2014
(S 2772) A bill making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes.
(S 2773) Protecting Children and America's Homeland Act of 2014
(S 2781) Student Visa Integrity Act

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Did you know this about the state where you live?

12-19-2014 National:

Enjoy, this is really funny/sad, whats your take?

What Every State in the U.S. Is Worst at?

One thing that makes the U.S. great: no two states are the same. That diversity leads to distinct strengths and weaknesses, but how can you know what makes North Dakota different from South Dakota, besides a made-up line separating them?

Well, in the interest of showing that every state sucks in some way, we picked out one key area where each is most deficient. This is what every state is the worst at. ..Continued Well Worth The Time To Read.. by Kate Peregrina

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