Federal Judge: Sex Offender May Be Barred From Going Online
John Caher
New York Law Journal
01-12-2005

A sex offender who used the Internet to lure young victims and traffic in child pornography may be barred from using a computer or any other device with online capabilities, even in the performance of his job, a federal judge has held.
Northern District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy distinguished the case of Jeffrey A. Johnson from those of two other convicts whose Internet-restrictive conditions were stricken by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. With Johnson, the court found, the risk of re-offending is too great to allow him to surf in cyberspace.
U.S. v. Johnson, 97-CR-0206/ 98-CR-160, is the latest in a series of cases where judges struggle with the legal, pragmatic and appropriate Internet restraints that may be imposed as a condition of probation or parole.
Courts have made clear that it makes no more sense to deny an offender Internet access because he or she used the Internet to facilitate a crime than it does to bar a wire fraud perpetrator from using the telephone. They have also made clear that the Internet is a far different tool from any of its communication predecessors.
The 2nd Circuit has addressed the issue at least twice. On both occasions it reversed trial courts that had restricted Internet access.
U.S. v. Peterson, 248 F.3d 79 (2001), dealt with a bank robber who had previously been convicted of incest. As a condition of his release, he was restricted in his use of a computer and access to the Internet. The circuit found the restrictions overly broad and not reasonably related to the convict's crime.
One year later, in U.S. v. Sofsky, 287 F.3d 122 (2002), the 2nd Circuit decided a case in which the defendant had been convicted of receiving and trading child pornography over the Internet.
The district court had prohibited him from using a computer, accessing the Internet or using an online bulletin board without the approval of his probation officer. The circuit said the conditions inflict "a greater deprivation on [the defendant's] liberty than is reasonably necessary" given the importance of the Internet in modern society.
Last week's Johnson case, McAvoy said, differs significantly from both Peterson and Sofsky.
Peterson involved a thief who, although he had previously been convicted of incest, had not used a computer or the Internet to facilitate his sexual offense, McAvoy said.
McAvoy also said the distribution of child pornography, which was the nature of the offense in Sofsky, is a different and in some regards lesser crime than that perpetrated by Johnson.
Unlike Sofsky, the court observed, Johnson enticed minors to engage in physical conduct and made arrangements online to meet them.
Johnson traveled considerable distances to rendezvous with the children he enticed and engaged in physical contact with minors, court records show.
He pleaded guilty to travel with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, interstate transportation of pornographic material, coercion and enticement of a minor and other charges. Johnson was sentenced to an 88-month sentence, followed by three years of supervised release.
Crucial to McAvoy's ruling was evidence that Johnson had relied on the Internet to commit his crimes, shows little indication that he appreciates the risk he presents to children and has shown signs of re-entering the offense cycle.
A footnote in the decision observes that Johnson recently took out a newspaper personal ad seeking a female adult for oral sex.
"Although Defendant certainly is entitled to seek out and engage in a 'normal' adult relationship, it is entirely unclear that Defendant's meeting with this woman was 'normal,' rather than for purposes of sexual gratification only," the judge wrote in the footnote. "There is no evidence that Defendant made any effort to develop a lasting relationship."
TREATMENT GOALS
The court observed that mental health experts testified that allowing Johnson access to the Internet would not further the aims of his treatment.
"Proper treatment requires that Defendant first understand the motivations for his crime and his offense cycle and that he develop and respond to the appropriate internal and external controls before he be placed in a risky situation," McAvoy wrote. "There is no evidence that Defendant has accomplished this."
McAvoy said he is conscious of the fact that Johnson is an educated person in a technical field where Internet access would be helpful. He said the court "is interested in assisting Defendant in resuming a positive lifestyle" and made clear that the current restrictions will remain in place "until such time as the Court is provided with sufficient information upon which to conclude that Defendant should be entitled to Internet access."
The judge noted that he is not permanently banning Johnson from using a computer and expressed a willingness to reconsider the order if new evidence warrants it.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina Jr. Kevin E. McCormack of Syracuse, N.Y., appeared for the defendant.

Sept. 21, 2006, 6:58AM


Ellis County man ordered to keep quiet during hunting season

Associated Press

An Ellis County man has been ordered by a judge to keep the noise down on his property during deer season after he was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of disrupting hunters.

An Ellis County jury found Galen Morris, 38, guilty on Tuesday of violating one count of the state Sportsman's Rights Act. He was found not guilty of a second, similar charge.

The judge in the case ordered Morris to make sure his children don't disturb hunters on a neighboring property by playing loud music or driving four-wheelers before noon or after 4 p.m. during deer season, which starts in November. Morris was also issued a $250 fine and a year of probation.

"I kind of got mixed feelings out of it," Morris said. "Basically what they're saying is, during deer season you got to keep your kids indoors. You could sneeze and scare a deer off."

The Sportsman's Rights Act makes it illegal "to intentionally interfere with another person lawfully engaged in the process of hunting or catching wildlife."

Peggy Carroll, part owner of a ranch neighboring the Morris property, said the court's decision is fair. She said she hopes the noise restrictions and threat of jail time will keep it quiet for the hunters who use her land.

But Morris' lawyer, Waxahachie attorney Mark Griffith, said he's advising his client to appeal.

"This is just unbelievable to me," Griffith said. "This is really about what rights do you have on your own property."

INMATE TATTOOS KILLER WITH `KATIE'S REVENGE'

An inmate serving a life sentence for molesting and murdering a 10-year-old girl named Katie was apparently forcibly tattooed across the forehead by a fellow prisoner with the words "KATIE'S REVENGE," authorities say.

Anthony Ray Stockelman, 39, was removed from the general prison population at Wabash Valley state prison for his safety last weekend after authorities discovered the tattoo, officials said. Prison officials said an inmate has been identified as a suspect.

Man sleeps on streets as punishment for charity theft

Associated Press

PAINESVILLE, Ohio � A Salvation Army worker who was ordered by a judge to spend a night homeless for stealing a holiday kettle containing about $250 returned to court Friday with red eyes and red cheeks.
Nathen Smith, who was fitted with a GPS device to track his moves, spent Thursday night ducking in and out of government buildings for warmth, including a stop at the Lake County sheriff's office.

Smith also walked through a park, but did not go under a bridge where many of Painesville's homeless sleep, probation supervisor David Washlock said.

"It's hard to find a spot to go that's warm, unless you're inside," an unshaven Smith told Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti, who issued the sentenced.

Smith, 28, worked as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army outside a Kmart store in nearby Eastlake on Dec. 17. Police arrested Smith at his mother's house after a co-worker reported that one of eight kettles was missing.

The Salvation Army uses kettle donations to help pay for food, clothing and shelter for the homeless.

Smith, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of theft, still must serve three days in jail, do eight hours of community service, get a general equivalency diploma and find a job, the judge said.

Painesville is about 30 miles northeast of Cleveland.

Four teenagers say police in a northern Mexican town spray-painted their hair, shoes and buttocks to teach them not to paint graffiti on public property.


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They just plain stole that move from Sean "Pac Man" Penn in the movie "Colors".

A Maui judge has ordered a 19-year-old man who pleaded no contest to starting a restaurant fire with a flicked cigarette to stop smoking for a year.

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
By Jon Schmitz and Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BEDFORD -- Land surveyor Lee Geisler was researching old property records not long ago when he spotted a criminal record from Fulton County in the 1890s. A man was sentenced to three days in the stocks and a public lashing for marital infidelity.

Yesterday, Mr. Geisler saw what he regarded as the modern-day equivalent: two women in this town's historic courthouse square, holding signs that read: "I stole from a 9-year-old on her birthday. Don't steal or this could happen to you."



Read more: The Post-Gazette article

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Both women said they had learned from their mistake.

"I won't pick up nothing, not even a penny," said Ms. Border.

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That says it all for me. Shame is effective! And it keeps people out of over-crowded jails and debillitating fines, so shouldn't that make everyone happy?

A husband and wife who stole more than $255,000 from the Harris County District Attorney's Office restitution fund will spend 10 years on probation with a litany of conditions, a judge ruled Thursday.

...

Fine ordered that both must wear signs for five hours every weekend, him on Saturdays and her on Sundays, at the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer reading, "I am a thief. I stole $255,000 from a crime victim's fund."

They also must display a sign in front of their home reading, "The occupants of this residence are convicted thieves. They stole $250,000 from the Harris County Crime Victim's fund. Signed, Judge Kevin Fine."

They also must complete 400 hours of community service. She must pick up trash and he may pick up trash, clean graffiti or wire homes for Habitat for Humanity. Daniel Mireles had been employed as a cable television technician.

The rest of the story

TEHRAN, Iran - The son of an Iranian woman who had faced death by stoning for adultery says authorities have imposed a new sentence of 99 lashes after a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman and mistakenly identified it as his mother.

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A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals in the country whether they could damage a man's spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralyzing him, the brother of the victim said Thursday.

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A court ordered the hand of a convicted thief cut off and officials said this kind of punishment would continue, ISNA news agency reported Tuesday.

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Daniel Mireles walked back and forth on Westheimer in front of the Galleria holding a sign. It read, "I am a thief. I stole $250,000 from the Harris County crime victim's fund. Daniel Mireles."
A judge ordered the public humiliation as part of Mireles' sentence.

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A group of Franciscan friars furious at the theft of bibles from their church in Florence have taken the unusual step of praying for the thief to be struck down by diarrhea.

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A woman in the US who was caught on camera driving on a pavement to avoid a school bus that was unloading children has been forced to stand in the cold at an intersection holding a sign warning people about idiots.

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More examples:

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The Montana judge who said a teen rape victim appeared "older than her chronological age" has sentenced a man convicted of punching his girlfriend to write "Boys do not hit girls" 5,000 times.

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