By ANDREW C. MCCARTHY Iwould oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson because of her judicial philosophy, for the reasons outlined by Ed Whelan last week. I address that in a separate post. For now, I want to discuss the claim by Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) that Judge Jackson is appallingly soft on child-pornography offenders. The allegation appears meritless to the…
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An Open letter to PA Representative Matzie concerning HB 2341 From one of our volunteers in Central PA When I first heard of a “Megan’s Law for Nursing Homes”, my first thought was “why?” Then, I thought, “when is enough, enough”? The Registry is attached to all of us who are guilty of a sex offense. This kind of public…
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The PA Superior Court found that SVP determinations cannot be based simply on allegations and hearsay in the case of Commonwealth v. John Aumick, 2022 PA Super. 33 (Aumick). Mr. Aumick plead guilty to a Corruption of Minors charge against his stepdaughter in exchange for having the many other charges dismissed. He was sentenced to incarceration and placed on SORNA. As…
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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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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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