Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen…
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On August 27, 2026, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a published opinion in Commonwealth v. Shapiro, 2026 PA Super 188. The court held that people required to register (PRRs) cannot challenge SORNA’s “high risk” presumption by presenting evidence of their own low risk of reoffending. This closes off a strategy some had hoped to use to escape Subchapter H registration.…
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Commonwealth v. Osman, 81 MAP 2024 (Pa. July 21, 2026) On July 21, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a person convicted of multiple Tier I and Tier II offenses in a single case cannot be sentenced to the mandatory three-year consecutive probation term under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9718.5(a). The decision was 5-2. Justice Donohue wrote the majority opinion.…
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Over the past year, PARSOL ran a campaign to hold the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) accountable to a law then-Governor Wolf signed in 2018, requiring PSP to implement a telephonic verification system for Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law registrants in Tiers II and III — those required to verify their information two or four times a year. After months of getting the…
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Two years ago, PARSOL released a survey that made us uncomfortable. We had asked sixty-one formerly incarcerated members about voting — this was in response to Pennsylvania House Resolution 47, which directed the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission to study voting patterns among released Pennsylvanians. More than half (54.2%) had been told their criminal record barred them from voting. A…
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Commonwealth v. Arnett, No. 19 MAP 2023 | Decided March 26, 2026 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a significant procedural ruling on March 26, 2026, in Commonwealth v. Arnett, clarifying that the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) is not an available vehicle for challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA II). The decision was authored…
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At yesterday’s House Appropriations budget hearing, State Representative Emily Kinkead (D-PA-20, Allegheny County) asked Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner Lt. Colonel George Bivens a direct question: why hasn’t PSP implemented the telephonic registration system that the General Assembly required — by law — back in 2018? She didn’t get a direct answer. We wish we could say we were surprised.…
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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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