Update on Commonwealth v. Aumick

As you may recall, I posted an article on February 26th about the Superior Court opinion of Commonwealth v. John Aumick where the Court found that SVP determinations cannot be based simply on allegations and hearsay. Normally I don’t write articles on Superior Court cases for two reasons: 1) an application for en banc (full court) reargument can be filed…

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U.S. Marshals spending millions on registrant sweeps

By Steven Yoder . . . Since 2006, the federal government has funneled millions into sometimes-massive operations to verify the addresses of those on sex-offender registries. It’s hard to tell how often these happen–the Marshals Service didn’t respond to multiple requests from The Appeal about how many operations they ran in the latest fiscal year. But a look at how…

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Megan’s Law for Nursing Homes??

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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Newsletter #5, January 2022

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…

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