This one’s for all you Trekkies out there. In Star Trek: Voyager, a series set in a distant quadrant of the galaxy, audiences meet Seven of Nine, an ex-Borg drone liberated from the Collective and brought aboard the starship Voyager. Over the course of the show, her character undergoes one of the most remarkable evolutions in science fiction: from a…
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What if the key to happiness, success, and love was as simple as two words? If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn’t you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words—Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the…
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Background of the Case In July 2016, a woman in rural Northumberland County was kidnapped from her home, sexually assaulted, and later released. The victim was unable to identify her attacker, and DNA evidence initially produced no match, leaving investigators without a suspect after traditional leads were exhausted. Investigators then sought a reverse keyword search warrant directed to Google, requiring…
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Pennsylvania State Representative Aaron Bernstine recently announced plans to close a gap in the state’s child protection laws. Unlike adoption and foster care, surrogacy currently allows people who are listed on the “sex offender” registry to become legal parents without background checks or judicial review. His bill targets the person who is the biological parent (sperm or egg donor). After…
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The Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (PARSOL) celebrates a major legal victory for workers with criminal records following yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Phath v. Central Transport LLC. The court reversed the district court’s dismissal and held that Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA) protects job applicants even when…
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Completing a mandated sex-offense treatment program can be one of the most challenging parts of parole or probation. For many, it feels less like a class with a clear start and finish and more like an ongoing process of digging deeper into one’s own choices, beliefs, and coping strategies. This can create a unique frustration. People often share that they…
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Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes horrified the world, and they should have. The scale of his abuse, the power he wielded, and “the system” failures that allowed him to keep offending are deeply disturbing. When his name appears in the news, it is often preceded by three words: “convicted sex offender.” Those words are accurate, but they also carry a hidden danger…
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Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle…
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Following months of development, the Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (PARSOL) is excited to share the launch of the PARSOL Statewide Wiki. This collection of resources has been curated for Pennsylvanians with sexual harm convictions and affected by the “Pennsylvania Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act” (PA SORNA), sometimes (inaccurately) referred to as “PA Megan’s Law.” “This new…
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Commonwealth v. Kurtz The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Kurtz, 98, 99, 100 MAP 2023, marks a significant shift in how digital privacy is treated under Pennsylvania law. The Court held that individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in ordinary, unprotected Google search queries or related IP-address data. Because the Court found no privacy interest at stake,…
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