scholarly journals International Megan's Law as Compelled Speech

2020 ◽  
pp. 1603
Author(s):  
Alexandra Genord
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Federal District ◽  
District Court ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
Strict Scrutiny ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Sex Offense ◽  
United States Code

“The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212b(c)(l).” International Megan’s Law (IML), passed in 2016, prohibits the State Department from issuing passports to individuals convicted of a sex offense against a minor unless those passports are branded with this phrase. The federal government's decision to brand its citizens’ passports with this stigmatizing message is novel and jarring, but the sole federal district court to consider a constitutional challenge to the passport identifier dismissed the plaintiffs’ First Amendment claim, deeming the provision government speech. This Note argues that this passport identifier is more appropriately analyzed as a form of compelled speech, triggering strict scrutiny review that the IML’s passport identifier would not survive.

scholarly journals The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Kathleen Daly
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Notification ◽  
Megan's Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Campaign ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Naming And Shaming

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of “naming and shaming” sex offenders. Community notification laws, popularly known as Megan's Law, which authorise the public disclosure of the identity of convicted sex offenders to the community in which they live, were enacted throughout the United States in the 1990s. A public campaign to introduce “Sarah's Law” has recently been launched in Britain, following the death of eight-year old Sarah Payne. Why are sex offenders, and certain categories of sex offenders, singled out as targets of community notification laws? What explains historical variability in the form that sex offender laws take? We address these questions by reviewing the sexual psychopath laws enacted in the United States in the 1930s and 40s and the sexual predator and community notification laws of the 1990s, comparing recent developments in the United States with those in Britain, Canada, and Australia. We consider arguments by Garland, O'Malley, Pratt, and others on how community notification, and the control of sex offenders more generally, can be explained; and we speculate on the likelihood that Australia will adopt community notification laws.

Editorial Rights of Telephone Carriers

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Federal District ◽  
District Court ◽  
Communication Services ◽  
Communications Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Telephone Exchange ◽  
Proper Role

An ongoing issue in communications policy concerns the proper role of the local telephone exchange carriers in the provision of con tent. Historically, these regulated monopolies acted solely as content-neutral common carriers. This status is undergoing a dramatic change, as the telecommunications system becomes a conduit for mass communication services and as local carriers begin to face competition. The removal of the information services ban by the federal district court in 1991 was only one action of many in the past decade applying First Amendment principles, especially the recognition of editorial rights, to the telephone carriers.

Ocean Disposal Legislation in the United States†

1982 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-161
Author(s):  
C F Guarino ◽  
S Townsend
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Federal District ◽  
The United States ◽  
District Court ◽  
Federal Policies ◽  
Sludge Disposal ◽  
The Law ◽  
The City ◽  
Ocean Disposal

A review of legislation and implementing regulations pertaining to disposal of sludge at sea in the United States was performed. The experiences under the law of two major municipalities that have employed diposal at sea were studied and compared. Major changes are shown to have taken place in the Federal approach to regulating ocean disposal. Ocean dumping regulations are shown to have produced very different current situations for two major municipalities. The City of Philadelphia, operating under rigid federal policies, successfully ended ocean disposal over a year before the statutory deadline by implementing carefully managed, but costly, land-based sludge disposal alternatives. The City of New York, in contrast, still uses the ocean for sludge disposal and has recently won a ruling in Federal District Court which may allow continued ocean disposal for many years beyond the December 31, 1981 end-date proscribed by the law. †This paper should be included in Theme 1A - Legislation.

Do Views on Sex Offending Vary by Nationality? A Comparative Analysis of Community Sentiment Toward Sex Offense Legislation in the United States and United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2096416
Author(s):  
Devin Cowan ◽  
Kristen M. Zgoba ◽  
Rob T. Guerette ◽  
Jill S. Levenson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
The United States ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Sex Offense

Much attention has been paid to the examination of community sentiment regarding convicted sex offenders and the policy that governs these offenders’ behavior. This literature, however, has largely been absent of international comparisons of sex offender community sentiment. The current study seeks to fill this gap by drawing from the results of surveys ( n = 333) conducted in both the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Results indicate that sex offender policy is generally supported in both the US and the UK. Contrary to our expectations, we found that participants from the UK were less tolerant of sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods than participants from the US. Additionally, there is support for the notion that sex offender policy holds a symbolic value for both study locations. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Navigating in Uncertain Waters: 2006 Update on the Regulation of Ballast Water Discharge in the United States

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Aquino
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ballast Water ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
District Court ◽  
Statutory Authority

Every day more than 10,000 marine species are swept up in the ballast water of ships and make their way across the globe. 1 When discharged into non-native waters, these species are able to damage infrastructure, disrupt commerce, out compete native species, reduce biodiversity, and threaten human health.2 The ecological losses are difficult to quantify; however, the direct and indirect economic costs have been measured at billions of dollars per year in the United States alone.3 Recognizing the severity of the problem, Congress directed the Coast Guard in 1996 to administer a ballast water program and issue guidelines.4 According to various interest groups, the aquatic invasive species problem persists today despite Coast Guard involvement because of inherent and technological limitations surrounding ballast water management (BWM).5 However, other groups believe that the crux of the problem is that the Coast Guard has simply not acted aggressively enough to address the problem. In March 2005, an environmental advocacy group, joined by six states, convinced a federal district court for the Northern District of California that the EPA had exceeded its statutory authority by exempting the discharge of ballast water from the control of the Clean Water Act (CWA)6 in the case of Northwest Environmental Advocates v. EPA.

Is the Tobacco Settlement Constitutional?

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-752
Author(s):  
Rahul Rajkumar ◽  
Cary P. Gross ◽  
Howard P. Forman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Price Competition ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Federal District ◽  
The United States ◽  
District Court ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Settlement Agreement ◽  
Tobacco Settlement ◽  
States History

In August 2005, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative “think tank” and advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against the Louisiana Attorney General challenging the legality of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). If successful, this lawsuit could lead to the unraveling of one of the most significant opportunities to improve public health in United States history.Under the MSA, forty-six states agreed to end their litigation against the four largest tobacco companies in the United States, who in turn agreed to pay the states an estimated $206 billion. The CEI alleges that the MSA is unconstitutional. Specifically, the suit alleges that the MSA established a cartel under which the states receive monetary payments and the four major tobacco companies are insulated from price competition – and that this arrangement violates the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Alcohol Content Labeling and Advertising: The Adolph Coors Company Lawsuit

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 949-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Martin ◽  
K. Preston Oade ◽  
Ted D. Nirenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
District Court ◽  
Federal Bureau ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Alcohol Content ◽  
Court Of Appeals ◽  
The Law

Federal law prohibits brewers from disclosing information about the alcohol content of malt beverages on product labels or in advertising. In 1987, the Adolph Coors Company filed suit against the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, arguing that this law is an invalid suppression of speech violating the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Coors won the case in U.S. District Court and the defendants have appealed to the United States Court of Appeals. A hearing and decision on the appeal is pending. This article summarizes the current federal law, describes the Coors case challenging the law, and discusses legal and practical issues concerning alcohol content labeling and advertising for malt beverages.

Non-Importation, 1806–1812

1941 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Heaton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Federal District ◽  
The United States ◽  
District Court ◽  
District Attorney ◽  
Woolen Cloth ◽  
Port Of New York ◽  
To Come ◽  
First Time

Peter A. Schenck, Surveyor of Customs and Inspector of Revenue for the Port of New York, must have felt slightly exhilarated when he left his office on the evening of December 30, 1807. He had that day wielded for the first time the two-edged sword placed in his hands by Congress for the destruction of British maritime arrogance. Nay more, he had struck at least seven times, by seizing that number of shipments of British goods which had arrived in two vessels ten days before. In a few days Nathan Sanford, the District Attorney, would file seven separate libels in the Federal District Court on behalf of the United States vs. twenty-two bales of woolen cloth, two cases of hats, eight boxes linen cloth, sixteen boxes of linens, one case of woolen hosiery, two cases of plated ware, and two boxes of woolen hosiery. The goods would doubtless be condemned, for Sanford was a clever lawyer and the district judge was not, like the fellow up in Massachusetts, unfriendly to Jeffersonian policies. Later the United States marshal, Peter Curtenius, would have them sold by auction outside the Tontine Coffee House; the court and marshal's costs—totaling about $120 in each case—would be paid, and the balance, where there was any, would be shared equally between the customs staff and the Treasury. If this process could be repeated often enough, John Bull might soon be willing to come to terms.

Webster, Vagueness and the First Amendment

1989 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 217-222
Author(s):  
James Bopp ◽  
Richard E. Coleson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
District Court ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
Court Of Appeals ◽  
The Right To Privacy ◽  
Legitimate State ◽  
The Right

The State of Missouri forbids the expenditure of public funds “for the purpose of encouraging or counseling a woman to have an abortion not necessary to save her life.” This provision is part of a comprehensive scheme adopted by Missouri to advance its legitimate state interest in preferring childbirth over abortion by ensuring that state funds, facilities and personnel are not used to promote abortion.This provision was invalidated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on the grounds that the language “encourage or counsel” was “void for vagueness and violative of the right to privacy.” The district court had found that in addition to these two grounds, the provision violated the first amendment.

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