March 16, 2023

TAKE ACTION: Help Block Residency Restriction Bills (2023)

Pennsylvania State Representatives have introduced House Bills 47 and 77. These bills target persons forced to register under PA’s Megan’s Law. If passed, an individual forced to register as a...
March 4, 2023

I Love a PFR: Mother of a PFR (by Deception)

I got a call from my son in the fall of 2019. He said he had something important to tell me and wanted to meet me at a private location....
February 25, 2023

Book Review: SO The New Scarlett Letters: Sex Offenders, Their Treatment, and Our Challenge

SO: The New Scarlett Letters: Sex Offenders, Their Treatment, and Our Challenge, published in 2018, would benefit from person first language. It was coauthored by Marilyn Callahan and Tim Buckley....
February 9, 2023

PA’s Task Force on Child Pornography Report Confirms our Beliefs

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 53 of 2021 on June 30, 2021. Act 53 did two things: It enhanced the sentencing penalty on child pornography; and It established the...
February 2, 2023

UPDATED: PA State Police issues Scam Warning to Megan’s Law PFRs

UPDATE: PARSOL has been made aware that the below scam continues to be pervasive as recently as January 25, 2023. Please be aware of it.

Public sex offender registries are ineffective:

Studies show that public registration policies are failing in their stated goal of keeping people safe from sexual victimization. Public registries (such as the Pennsylvania Megan's Law List) create a false sense of security that something is being done about the threat of sexual harm, but the evidence does not support this belief. Rates of sexual crimes have not decreased as registries have ballooned. The isolation and stigma placed on those on the registry may actually increase their likelihood of reoffending by negatively impacting so many areas of their lives including their family, housing, and occupation.

It is the position of both PARSOL and the Supreme Court of PA that public registries are punitive in nature. They bear close resemblance to historical shaming practices and thereby violate the United States constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Importantly, Pennsylvania’s public registry also infringes upon the Right to Reputation as guaranteed in the Pennsylvania Constitution.