Happy New Year from the PARSOL Board of Directors! Thank you for reading our Winter 2022 Newsletter. 2021 has been a busy year advocating for the dignity of Pennsylvanians who are forced to register. Rest assured that 2022 will only be busier. We continually keep a close eye on the legal challenges to PA’s registry that are making their way…
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Another Blow to SORNA I with Failure to Register Conviction Relief
December 22, 2021 has seen the release of many case opinions from the PA Supreme Court (SCOPA) with Commonwealth v. David Santana being the biggest win for our advocacy efforts. In a 5-2 decision, SCOPA affirmed the Superior Court’s opinion that “Mr. Santana’s registration requirement under SORNA was an after-the-fact punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Accordingly, he had no duty to…
Read MoreJust the Facts: Supporting People on the Registry
Newsletter #4, November 2021
Warm greetings from the PARSOL Board of Directors. Thank you for having a look at our Autumn 2021 Newsletter. Since our last newsletter in July, we have been busy advocating for the dignity of Pennsylvanians who are forced to register. We have also kept a close eye on the legal challenges to PA’s registry that are making their way through…
Read MoreSeparation of Powers in Pennsylvania: The Judiciary’s Prevention of Legislative Encroachment
Duquesne Law Review Vol 32, No. 3, Article 6 1994 John M. Mulchey By JB The following article from the Duke University Law Review explains how and why our Pennsylvania Supreme Court is more powerful than most other states’ supreme courts. The cases and the way our Supreme Court has interpreted its powers are explained through the Court’s interpretation of…
Read MoreFrequently Asked Questions about PA’s sex offense registry
Untouchable Screening
Facebook PARSOL is hosting a free screening of #UNTOUCHABLE on 9/10 @ 7PM – 9/12 @ 7PM and learn a side of the response to sexual harms you never knew. Discussion event will follow on 9/12 @ 7PM. RSVPhere: https://secure.parsol.org/untouchable-screening/
Read MoreA History of PA’s Registry, Part II
A History of PA’s Megan’s Law and the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Part 2 By Randall – July 29, 2021 As we saw in Part I, litigation challenging Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law began shortly after it’s enactment in April 1996 and reached the Supreme Court of PA (SCOPA) in 1999. Megan’s Law II Following the SCOPA Williams decision…
Read MorePSP Denied Power to Intervene Article
The Superior Court QUASHED the appeal of PSP in Commonwealth v. Kale on May 5, 2020 when the Trial Court denied their “Emergency Motion to Intervene and Vacate Order Nunc Pro Tunc” arguing that the Defendant should not be removed from the registry. PSP argued they have “standing to appear and contest a filing in a court of this Commonwealth…
Read MoreCosby Conviction Vacated
By Jeremy Roebuck and Laura McCrystal Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction and barred him from being retried. upending the first high-profile celebrity conviction of the #MeToo era. The justices ruled the 83-year-old comedian — who has served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence — had been denied…
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