For a federal court to consider a habeas petition, the petitioner must be “in custody” at the time the petition is filed. Past cases have found custody to include parole restrictions, own-recognizance release pending appeal, and community service obligations. Today, the Third Circuit held that the requirements that come with registration under Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act satisfy the habeas custody requirement because SORNA restricts registrants’ physical liberty in various ways, including banning computer internet access and requiring them to appear frequently at a state police barracks, in…
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PA: Reaching back in time to charge adults for youth offenses
James is a registered sex offender. He was convicted in 2016 of felony statutory sexual assault when he was 23 years old for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl, according to court records. His name will appear on the Pennsylvania sex offender registry for nearly another decade and he will carry a felony conviction for the rest of his life. Anytime James applies for a job, housing or school that requires a background check, his potential employer, landlord or college will know that he carries a child sexual assault conviction. If…
Read MorePA: Family of Pedophile Pastor Now Spreads the Word on How To Prevent Abuse
[blackchristiannews.com – 1/28/19] SOMERSET, Pa. – Jimmy and Clara Hinton don’t want others to miss what they didn’t see for years: their father and husband, a respected pastor for years in his rural community, was keeping his flock in the dark while he molested young children. Today, the elders at Somerset Church of Christ have moved intentionally to protect children. Empty classrooms are locked. Adults working with children operate in teams of two or more. On Sundays, monitors conduct random building sweeps and each Sunday School room has a walkie-talkie…
Read MorePA: Superior Court removes Allegheny County judge from sex offender’s resentencing
The state Superior Court, in a rare move Wednesday, ordered Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel to be removed from a case, finding that there was “substantial evidence” that she “demonstrated bias and personal animus” against both the defendant and the public defender’s office representing him. Full Article Follow-Up: Allegheny County judge ordered removed by Superior Court from sex offender case recuses
Read MorePA: Inmates in Pennsylvania launch boycott of prison profiteers
[workers.org – 9/27/18] “I am going to boycott the third-party correspondence system,” Bryant Arroyo, an activist and organizer currently detained at SCI Frackville in central Pennsylvania, told this WW reporter during an extended Sept. 23 interview. Arroyo urges all prisoners to immediately cease sending and accepting mail in response to the draconian new prison policies of current Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. Eliminating the right of prisoners to send and receive correspondence via postal service is the most controversial aspect of a sweeping crackdown imposed in September by the Pennsylvania Department…
Read MorePA: Extended registration periods under SORNA unlawful
Court ruling against retroactive extension of registration period for 19 individuals who were convicted before the enactment of SORNA – but resentenced to longer / lifetime registration under SORNA after subsequent probation violations. Opinion Related PA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz All PA articles
Read MorePA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com – 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can’t be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge James Gardner Colins, upholds an arbitration ruling won on the prof’s behalf by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the professors’ union. University…
Read MorePA: Sex predator law challenged by Cosby to get court review
Pennsylvania’s highest court will consider whether the state can lawfully designate certain sex offenders as sexually violent predators, as it’s seeking to do in the case of Bill Cosby. Cosby’s attorneys also are challenging the constitutionality of the law. But the state Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to review the statute was made in response to an appeal by the state in a different case, not Cosby’s challenge. A lower court judge had found the process by which offenders are deemed predators unconstitutional. Full Article
Read MorePA: Judge upends sex offender registration
WEST CHESTER >> A Common Pleas Court judge has ruled that a West Goshen man convicted of forcing himself sexually on a sleeping woman will not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In an order signed July 10, Judge Anthony Sarcione found that the law that defendant ____ ____ was required to report to state police as a sex offender was unconstitutional. He said the law, the Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), violated the fundamental right to reputation under the state…
Read MorePA: We must strengthen laws involving sexual predators: Tom Mehaffie
As precious members of our society, our children and grandchildren are the future of our country with the promise of a bright future. Unfortunately, there are adults within our population who prey upon them with sick intent regardless of the harm they inflict or the lifelong effects. To assist parents in the responsibility of raising their children, Pennsylvania has maintained a law on its books since 1996 to target those who harm kids. Megan’s Law, named after a young girl who was brutally raped and murdered in New Jersey in…
Read MorePA: Montgomery County lawmaker wants only sex offenders on state sex offender registry
Sen. Stewart Greenleaf plans to introduce a bill that would keep individuals convicted of crimes where there is no sexual motivation from ended up on the states sex offender registry. The lawmaker cited data that shows individuals with no sex crime accusations are being labeled as sex offenders.Full Article
Read MorePA: Sex offender: ‘I am not a monster’
[abc27.com 5/15/18] HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A man we will call “Tony” first sat down with ABC27 News in November to talk about what it’s like being a registered sex offender. “There were many times I tried to commit suicide,” Tony said. “I am not a monster like people portray.” The former combat medic and EMT says being on the registry for his child pornography conviction only prevents him, and others like him, from moving on with life and becoming productive citizens. “When I first got on [the list], I…
Read MorePA: Bill would ban sex offenders from firefighter rosters
[abc27.com 4/19/18] HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced legislation to ban convicted sex offenders from serving as firefighters. Under House Bill 2220, professional and volunteer firefighters would have to submit to a background check or sign a statement saying they’ve never been convicted of a sexual offense. Pennsylvania already prohibits convicted arsonists from serving as firefighters, but whether a convicted sex offender may serve is up to each individual community to decide. Republican Rep. Kathy Rapp introduced the proposal after a fire chief in her Crawford County…
Read MorePA: Despite legislative fix, challenges to Megan’s Law continue
nnsylvania lawmakers insist they have fixed problems with Megan’s Law that threatened to allow thousands of sex offenders to avoid having to register with the state. Not so fast, say defense attorneys.Full Article
Read MorePA: Philadephia’s New DA Wants Prosecutors To Talk Cost Of Incarceration While In Court
[npr.org] Every day, judges around the country are deciding the fate of criminal defendants by trying to strike the right balance between public safety and fairness. In Philadelphia, the new progressive district attorney has launched an experiment. He’s asking his prosecutors to raise another factor with judges: the cost of incarceration. The move has ignited a debate about whether the pricetag of punishment belongs in courtrooms. Do a little math: “Fiscal responsibility is a justice issue, and it is an urgent justice issue,” Larry Krasner said at a press conference…
Read MorePA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Sex offender cases in Pennsylvania are being remanded in the wake of Commonwealth v. Muniz, the PA case which found their registry unconstitutional under the ex post facto clauses of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. In Commonwealth v. Polzer, the appellant introduced the issue of whether, “SORNA’S irrebuttable presumption that all sexual offenders pose a high risk of reoffending violates procedural and substantive due process under the Pennsylvania Constitution.” and the due process clause of the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Read more…
Read MorePA: Pennsylvania community leaders deserve appreciation for giving second chances
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Recently, the Spartansburg, Pennsylvania community made national headlines by re-electing their fire chief, who happened to be a registered sex offender. Sadly, the newly re-elected chief resigned over the publicity, but many have stood behind him even in the wake of the negative publicity. A local news station, WJAC, featured another Pennsylvania community that had a similar situation, but chose to handle it in a more humane, compassionate way, that will undoubtedly benefit their entire community. Chief Paul Demi of the Spangler Fire Company said of one of their…
Read MorePA: Names being removed from sex offender registry
[theintell.com] Pennsylvania State Police have started the process for removing as many as 5,000 ex-offenders from the Megan’s Law registry under a state supreme court mandate and a new law. Shaquana Green appeared at a Pennsylvania State Police barracks last month to update her information as a registered sex offender. It’s an annual chore she has done for the last five years, having landed on the Megan’s Law list after disappearing with her daughter for three hours in violation of a custody order. As of this month, though, the name…
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