11th Circuit Vacates Child Porn Conviction Finding Jury Might Have Been Biased

An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel voted 2-1 in United States v. Bates, 2014 WL 5421846, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 20564 (Oct. 27, 2014), to vacate the child pornography conviction of Cameron Dean Bates, who had been convicted by a Southern District of Florida jury and sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for receiving, accessing, distributing, and possessing child pornography.  The majority of the panel concluded that the trial judge … <Read More>


9th Circuit Rejects Constitutional Challenge to California Ban on Conversion Therapy for Minors

California Senate Bill 1172, which bans state-licensed mental health providers from conducting “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE), commonly known as “conversion therapy,” on patients who are under age 18, was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013, but two lawsuits challenging its constitutionality, mainly on First Amendment free speech grounds, were filed by practitioners and others, leading to conflicting rulings on motions for preliminary relief.   On August 29, a 9th Circuit panel, ruling
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