The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (SCOPA) heard oral arguments in a consolidated case of Mr. Claude Lacombe and Mr. Michael Witmayer in November of 2019 challenging the constitutionality of Subchapter I of PA’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SCOPA ruled Subchapter I is “non-punitive and does not violate the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws”. This is…
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By Larry of NARSOL. . . In these consolidated appeals, Commonwealth v. Lacombe and Commonwealth v. Witmayer, the Commonwealth (state) challenged orders of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas relieving appellees Claude Lacombe and Michael Witmayer of their duties to comply with Subchapter I of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. To achieve its dual goals of ensuring public safety…
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The PA Supreme Court (SCOPA) filed their opinions on Com. v. George Torsilieri on June 16 regarding the constitutionality of PA’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) Revised Subchapter H. Mr. Torsilieri and his attorneys argued that SORNA is based on outdated legislative findings and presented current scientific evidence refuting the accuracy of those findings. The majority opinion was…
Read MoreApril 25th, 2020 The public sex offender registry has taken many twists and turns in the Commonwealth of PA. From Megan’s Law in 1996 to the first Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in 2012, PA’s public sex offender has an intricate legal and legislative history. Every few years, a legal challenge is made to the details of how…
Read MoreIn-person registration in PA has been suspended. See below. This is from the PA Megan’s Law Website: ***INFORMATION REGARDING REGISTRATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY*** Due to the COVID-19 Emergency in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in-person reporting is being temporarily suspended. In order to allow registrants to remain compliant with registration requirements and to expedite the processing of information, only residential,…
Read MorePARSOL Responds to Comm v. Butler Decision “Although we at PARSOL are disappointed in the results of the PA Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Butler, which was a 7-0 unanimous decision to separate SVP’s from non-SVPs regarding registry requirements and asserting that PA.’s SORNA statute is not punishment because of the Commonwealth’s interest in protecting the public from…
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