The Recall campaign against Judge Persky will undermine judicial independence. It also trivializes the punishment of lifetime sex offender registration for a conviction of attempted rape.
The Recall campaign against Judge Persky will undermine judicial independence. It also trivializes the punishment of lifetime sex offender registration for a conviction of attempted rape.
An 18-year-old man accuses a 72-year-old of rape–from an unwanted blowjob with no coercion and no threats. A jury convicts.
Arizona’s recent law criminalizes touching children even WITHOUT sexual intent. This protects no one.
NCMEC has finally told parents to stop using the phrase “stranger danger” with their kids–a phrase NCMEC itself has promoted for decades. NCMEC’s goal has always been to terrify parents, regardless of the true risks to their children.
You may have heard that several porn actresses have accused porn actor James Deen of sexual assault. In response, various production companies have terminated their contracts with him. Yeah, there’s bad people everywhere, even in the porn industry. If he raped anyone I hope he’s locked up for a thousand years. The case reminded me of a symposium I attended at Stanford University Law School a few weeks ago on the possible connection between sex work and trafficking, and America’s legal response to each. Panelists included a prosecutor, a sociologist, an anti-trafficking activist, and Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP (Erotic Service…
I was interviewed about this on Public Radio yesterday. Since it’s a subject I hadn’t given a lot of thought, I prepared by reading up on it just a bit. And I was shocked. It’s actually against the law to touch yourself sexually—in private—if you’re in jail. Sounds barbaric, doesn’t it? OK, you’re behind bars, your body is no longer your own. But if you’re not allowed to masturbate, neither is your soul. Worse, if there’s any disagreement about whether you’ve done it, you automatically lose the argument. There are many cases in which guards either misinterpret prisoner activity and…