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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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 week, PARSOL transmitted a formal policy memorandum to PA House Judiciary Committee leadership in advance of the upcoming Pennsylvania State Police budget hearings. The memo documents something that should concern every Pennsylvanian who cares about government accountability: the PSP has failed — for eight years — to reliably implement a program it was required by law to build. We’re…
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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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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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Today the U.S. Sentencing Commission released its 2025 amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The amendments will take effect in 6 months unless Congress overrides them. ACTION NEEDED:USSC is seeking comment on retroactivity of the amendments. Comment Deadline: June 2 ANALYSIS: The below analysis uses the term “sex offender” in direct quote reference to the USSC’s language in the guidelines…
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The Pennsylvania Superior Court’s recent (21 Mar 2025) decision in Commonwealth v. Davis (No. 1038 MDA 2023) presents a complex legal issue regarding the constitutionality of mandatory life sentences for repeat offenders convicted of distributing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). Background Joseph J. Davis was convicted of two counts each of sexual abuse of children (distribution of child sexual abuse…
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When criminologist Stephanie Jerstad’s former client, a registered ‘sex offender’ died waiting to find a long-term care facility in Illinois that would accept him, she dedicated her dissertation research to studying if facility-level characteristics matter in explaining organizational policies for the admission of persons on the sex offender registry. This issue intersects with public health, social justice, and human rights,…
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