Craig M. Sandberg Files Opening Brief Alleging Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination Violated by Missouri Sexual Offender Program (“MoSOP”)

For Immediate Release: September 25, 2014

St. Louis, MO – Craig M. Sandberg filed the opening brief in the matter of Spencer v. Hurley (Docket No. 14-2716) in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The district court issued Spencer a Certificate of Appealability ("COA") related to Petitioner's §2254 petition on the following issue: "Whether the Spencer’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is violated when, while serving his sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections (“MoDOC”), admission of his guilt is a necessary requirement to participate in and complete the Missouri Sexual Offender Program (“MoSOP”) in order to be eligible for parole and/or release on his conditional release date."

The MoDOC Sex Offender Supervision Agreement says a participant must agree to, inter alia, “submit, at [his] own expense, to assessment and treatment procedures required by [his] therapist or supervision officer. These may include, but are not limited to, a polygraph or penile plethysmograph.” “Penile plethysmograph testing is a procedure that involves placing a pressuresensitive device around a man’s penis, presenting him with an array of sexually stimulating images, and determining his level of sexual attraction by measuring minute changes in his erectile responses.” United States v. Weber, 451 F.3d 552, 554 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing and quoting Jason R. Odeshoo, Of Penology and Perversity: The Use of Penile Plethysmography on Convicted Child Sex Offenders, 14 TEMP. POL & CIV. RTS. L. REV. 1, 2 (2004)) (internal quotes omitted)

WHAT: Certificate of appealability in Spencer v. United States (Docket No. 12-3709) issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division (No. 4:11-cv-01306-AGF)

WHO: Craig M. Sandberg of the law firm of Muslin & Sandberg. Mr. Sandberg represents the petitioner pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”), Title 18, United States Code, §3006A the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”), having been appointed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

WHERE: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, St. Louis, Missouri