24 results for tag: Sex Offenders


Lawyer Ethics and the Registered Sex Offender

An associate who was fired from Kirkland & Ellis in 2004 after admitting he attempted to arrange a meeting "to engage in an oral sexual act" with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl has been suspended from practicing law in New York for three years. In a rare 3-2 decision in a disciplinary matter, a five-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division, 1st Department, agreed that Steven J. Lever "brought shame to himself and to this State's Bar" by using the Internet "to prey on minors for purposes of sexual gratification." They also agreed his conduct required "a significant sanction." However, finding a dearth of New York precedent on point, ...

Child Rape Death Penalty Case Dies

I know that I am once again courting controversy on this topic, but here it goes anyway. Last week the Supreme Court declined to reconsider its controversial June ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana which sounded the death knell for the death penalty for child rape. As you might recall, the Court based much of its reasoning on the emerging "national consensus" that the death penalty for rape is wrong. What no one seemed to realize at the time, however, was that Congress passed a law in 2006 specifically allowing the death penalty for child rapists under military law. Once Louisiana discovered this oversight they petitioned the Court for a rare re-hear...

Great Lakes Reality Check

What's going on in Michigan? I completely agree with this editorial - it's a no brainer - convicted sex offenders should not be allowed to adopt. My question is why was a sex offender allowed to adopt in the first place? What happened to the criminal background check? The homestudy? Judicial review? That's the more important story here. Why were Michigan adoption professionals duped? Even worse, did they know and do nothing? Anyone with some insight drop me a line. UPDATE: On November 12, 2003 the Michigan legislature passed a law which states that a "child shall not be placed with a prospective adoptive parent and an adoption order shall not be ...