HARRISBURG — A bill seeking to deliver a legislative fix to Megan’s Law for sexual assault offenders was positioned for a Senate floor vote after a key senator gave a green light Monday.
Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, repeated his strong objections to the House-passed legislation, House Bill 1952, at the start of a two-hour hearing Monday morning on the Judiciary Committee, which Greenleaf chairs.
The Senate later voted to amend the provisions of HB1952 into House Bill 631, another House-passed bill dealing with probation for a category of sex offenders.
Greenleaf said he decided to move the legislation and vote for it after getting assurances during the hearing from Pennsylvania State Police officials, who said they would provide recommendations for improving Megan’s Law.
Greenleaf wants to address issues beyond the scope of HB1952, which was introduced in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer in the Jose Muniz case. The court ruled in favor of Muniz, convicted of two counts of indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl.
Greenleaf called attention to the need to focus on the most dangerous sex offenders and better manage an offenders registry that has expanded greatly since Megan’s Law was first enacted in 1995.
What’s happening in Pennsylvania foreshadows what would happen if the U.S. Supreme Court ever chooses to address the topic and ever determines Registries to be unconstitutional. Congress would immediately put a freeze on any names being removed from any Registries while lawmakers urgently scramble to craft new laws that barely skirt the edge of constitutionality.
Legislators will pander to public hysteria. Screw fairness, reason, and the Constitution. 😡
So here is my simple solution to this problem: we – and I mean do mean everyone including Registrants – need to pressure lawmakers for more and more crimes to be included on Sex Offender Registries and keep pushing for everyone convicted of any sex offenses (no matter how minor the crime) to be added to Registries!
It is only when EVERYONE in the public and when EVERY lawmaker has a brother, uncle, son, grandchild, best friend or neighbor listed on a Registry that we will EVER start to see any meaningful and permanent changes and EVER see the abolition of Registries.
…. And only when the COST to maintain Registries and monitor Registrants becomes unbearably expensive for law enforcement and local/state governments, will the Registries, their purpose and effectiveness, begin to be reconsidered.
…. now think about the friends you’ve lost, the family members who avoid you, the jobs you’ve been denied, the housing you can’t find …… What would happen if every other person in the country was a Registrant?? This is what would happen: the public would begin to disregard the Registries…. and they would begin to take note of the severe restrictions hindering every aspect of Registrants’ lives ….. and they would become angry ……. and they would begin to attack the Registries as evil.
I don’t need to be better managed , matter of fact I don’t need managed AT ALL , bunch of flip floppers driven by their crime buddy’s in the prison industry and LE , everyone that can profit from making it imposable for people to live their life with out being in some kind of lame violation .
I have to dasgree because I have family members who already pay a price for my past, not only that some of them would end up on one of the registries you all are mentioning and then they would be suffering even more, I would like it all to end also, But I do see your point, the only thing I see happening is that they are going to absorb so much before they make tax payers pay double and triple taxes, but let me say this also, there are some states that make the offenders pay for the very registry they are forced to be on so imagine not being able to get a job or keep a job and then if you don’t pay the keepers you get locked away for decades for being non compliant, be careful what you wish for.
The names are flying off the list today. Someone lit a fire under them
I was convicted in 1989 of rape sentenced to 5-10yrs. after serving 15 yrs.I was released in (May 2003.on the day of release) I was informed by the corrections officer that I’d have to report to the State Police to register under Magans Law,,,(Magans Law went into effect in 1996.). At any rate I complied. I registered every 6 months up until,,2012,without any expelination I was told I’d have to now register every 3 months..My argument has been since my release,, I should’ve never been placed on that list since my conviction was in ,,1989,. Now I’ve been told that I can’t be placed on the lease to where I’ve been living for(3 !/2 Yrs.) with my fiance.Does the Ex Post Facto rule of law apply in my situation..
I went in to complete my quarterly registration today with no paperwork. The trooper that registered me said he was aware there were changes happening but said it was ongoing so therefore they do not have any new info at this time. Was registered timely and without issue.
I have one year to go on my original 10 year registration from 2007. In 2012 I was of coursed changed to lifetime but hopefully by the time my 10 is up it will be worked out.
Does anyone know why removal has slowed to a crawl. I know the governor signed the bill, but that can’t be the end of their removals
Well after reading all these posts I’m like whoa. I totally agree with everyone here. I spent over 7000.00 and got no where and now looking at another 3000.00 to take a fight to PSP in PA. I was sentenced in December 2008, got out on July 2012, I was sentence 4-8 years for an internet sting by the good ole AG of PA. So I was sentenced to 10 years ML and didn’t start until I got out in July. I then was put on Sorna to life, then I paid a lawyer in philly, pa got it down to a 25 year, then paid another lawyer 5000.00 to get me to pre-sorna. So the good ole PA Courts put the order in for me to comply for ML 2. Which I went to register and found that I was put back on Sorna as a teir 1 15yr. Lol. I’m just smdh. So, I called my lawyer back and now we are going after the PSP and PA Courts for a contempt of Court Order because they have not removed me off the web. So now I’m planning on suing the State for defamation of character and not complying with their contract that we signed in Court and under oath. We as SOs need to have movement like other groups of people do when they protest. We need to stand up to the Courts and fight and PROTEST.