Foiling pedophiles, Forgetting the prisoner

last updated 8 January 2015

A youth sports league in Indiana has banned its teams from printing players’ first names on their jerseys to foil pedophiles. Mike McGinley, president of a league for 12,000 children, said parents were concerned that sexual predators might approach players with a friendly, “Hi, Mary” or “Hi, Jimmy.” Under the new rule, parents can even have their child’s last name left off their jersey, as a defense against those rare predators who might be tempted to approach a child with a friendly, “Hi, Mr. Peterson.”

A Missouri man has spent two years in jail, confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, because the legal system forgot he was there. Court documents show that Joseph Shepard, 53, could have been released on bail in 2006 to await trial on drug and gun charges, but his lawyer never filed the proper paperwork, and prosecutors moved on to other cases. This week a new bail hearing was scheduled, and Shepard reacted to the good news by saying, “That’s what I’ve been hoping for. Something like that.”