Keyword: Stranger Danger

Guy, Shy; Architects of Oppression
The history of the child sex abuse witch hunt is chronicled from the times of Anthony Comstock and J. Edgar Hoover to the NCMEC of the present, including the influence of Kenneth Lanting, Ernie Allen and others.
Hamilton, Melissa; Public Safety, Individual Liberty, and Suspect Science; Temple Law Review
In recent decades, federal, state, and local governments have become increasingly restrictive on the freedom and privacy of those labeled sexually violent predators (“SVP”s) in hopes of preventing further sexual violence. The most commonly used tools to manage SVPs are involuntary commitments for mental treatment, sex offender registration, and residency restrictions (hereinafter “SVP laws”).
This article critically analyzes whether future dangerousness assessments using actuarial tools are responsive to legal standards contained in SVP laws and whether courts, when confronted with such assessments, are adequately engaging in the gatekeeper role to accept only good science considering the evidentiary benchmarks of Daubert and Frye.
Specifically, this article concludes that because of uncritical reliance upon actuarial assessments of future dangerousness, legal professionals have largely failed to grasp the significant empirical limitations of these tests.