Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice _ ____ ____ resigned on Tuesday, the second jurist to step down after being accused of using state computers to exchange sexually and racially offensive emails with his peers. ____, 67, a Republican first elected in 2001, tendered his resignation from the state’s highest court after admitting to sending approximately 18 “inappropriate” emails to friends, according to a statement form his lawyer, William Costopoulos. Eakin is the second Supreme Court justice caught up in the email scandal, dubbed “Porngate” by local media. Full Article
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PA: Kane appoints special prosecutor to unravel PornGate
Pennsylvanians have already suffered the indignity of learning that judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials have used state computer systems to exchange pornographic, racist and misogynistic emails. Now, state taxpayers will pick up the bill for a team of special prosecutors hired to sort out the sordid details of PornGate. Full Article
Read MoreAfter Sandusky wins back pension, PA senator calls for stricter forfeiture law
Jerry Sandusky might have gotten his public pension back, but one lawmaker wants to ensure taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for other sex offenders’ retirements. State Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia, plans to introduce legislation that would bar public officials and employees from collecting retirement benefits if they’re convicted of, or plead guilty or no defense, to crimes that require registration as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Full Article
Read MorePA: Gun rights for sex offender lands in Idaho Supreme Court
BOISE – A former Idaho man’s problems convincing the state of Pennsylvania he should have the right to bear arms landed in the Idaho Supreme Court Tuesday. ____ ____ was convicted of rape in Idaho in 1992, a felony that carries a permanent loss of gun rights. That conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor in 2004 through a sentencing agreement, but he was still required to register as a sex offender. That kind of arrangement couldn’t happen today; Idaho changed its laws in 2006 to prevent a conviction on a felony…
Read MorePA: 3 men jailed for separate sex assaults of 12-year-old girl from OKCupid dating website
A trio of Lancaster County men recently stood before a local judge and admitted to sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl they met in an online chatroom. … Each man told Reinaker they met the girl through OKCupid, an online dating website. Each claimed they believed the girl was over 18. She was, in fact, 12 at the start of the contact, police reported. … Cory Miller, ____’ lawyer, said the victim continued to use the website even after the men were charged. Full Article
Read MorePA: City will pay $50,000 to settle sex offender lawsuit
City Council agreed last week to pay $50,000 toward the settlement of a lawsuit which was filed against the city for discriminating against a registered sex offender. … Their eviction was prompted by Mayor Justin Taylor’s discovery that Patrick had been convicted in 2009 of unlawful contact or communication with a minor, and his subsequent listing on the Megan’s Law Registry. Under a city ordinance which was in effect at that time, registered sex offenders were prohibited from living within 2,500 feet of any facility or area where children might…
Read MoreOffensive offender list (Editorial)
Kids do stupid things. And sometimes they do stupid things that are criminal. But unlike adults who commit a crime, we don’t subject kids to the same consequences, which sometimes can be harsh and life-changing. We take into consideration their immaturity and the likelihood that a young person’s behavior can be altered via counseling, oversight and education, and we cut them a break. Full Article
Read MorePA: Lifetime registration mandate for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional, Pa. Supreme Court says
A Pennsylvania law that requires juveniles who commit the most serious types of sex crimes to register with police for life is unconstitutional because it breeches the youngsters’ civil rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Full Article
Read MorePA: Megan’s Law mandate unfairly punishes offenders, court rules
[Updated with Decision] Some of Pennsylvania’s latest sex offender registration requirements run afoul of a constitutional ban on laws that create new penalties for people who have already paid for their crimes, the Commonwealth Court has ruled. The panel of seven Commonwealth Court judges also found, however, that requiring sex offenders to reveal their email addresses and other online aliases is not a violation of the First Amendment right to anonymous speech. Full Article Decision: http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/214MD13_10-14-14.pdf
Read MorePA: ‘Deplorable’ sex offender’s crime could be considered worse than murder, prosecutor says
With a sentence of 23 to 46 years in prison, sex offender ____ ____ will be incarcerated longer than some murderers. But in a sense, his crime is worse than murder, according to a prosecutor. … “I say involuntary deviate sexual intercourse is worse than murder because you’ve got to live with it,” (Assistant District Attorney Pat) Broscius said. “When you’re murdered, you’re dead.” Full Article
Read MorePA: Mandatory minimum sentences are ‘unconstitutional,’ court says
Locals charged with crimes involving drugs, guns or sex abuse could be due relief at sentencing, according to a high-court ruling. A Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion has deemed mandatory minimum sentences “unconstitutional,” a ruling which could have major impact on countless cases here and across the state. Full Article
Read MorePA: New unit puts sex offenders on notice
A newly formed Pennsylvania State Police unit working to keep tabs on sex offenders is expected to soon come to Western Pennsylvania. The Megan’s Law Compliance Unit consists of two troopers who work with local agencies to arrest sex offenders who have failed to register their addresses or online accounts or otherwise have violated the terms of their release. Full Article
Read MorePA: Donegal sex offender fights lifetime registration
A Donegal man convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old girl on a walking trail is challenging the constitutionality of lifetime registration with police ordered for certain sex offenders. _____ _____’s contention that he should not be required to register for life because it exceeds the maximum prison sentence for his offense is one of several such appeals filed through the Fayette County Public Defender’s Office. Full Article
Read MoreMA: SJC Ends Lifetime Parole for Sex Offenders
The Supreme Judicial Court today ruled that lifetime parole for sex offenders violates the state’s constitution, The Boston Globe reports. In a 6-1 decision where Justice Robert Cordy was the dissenter on some issues, the state’s highest court said judges alone have the power to sentence people. The state law that created “community parole supervision for life” for sex offenders unconstitutionally gives the Parole Board that same power. Full Article
Read MorePA: Change in sex offender law leads to appeals
In September 2011, ____ ____, then 26, was arrested for having a relationship with a 15-year-old girl. … Six months later, he agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and corruption of minors, while the prosecution dropped felony statutory sexual assault. … Nowhere in the agreement or at his March 5, 2012, plea hearing was there ever any mention of having to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. … So months later, when Mr. ____ was notified by the Pennsylvania State Police to comply with the new…
Read MorePA: Myerstown man sentenced for failing to register as sex offender
More than two decades after receiving probation for an indecent assault charge in Florida, ____ ____ finds himself serving a prison sentence in Lebanon County today because he failed to register as a sex offender in Pennsylvania. ____, 52, of 411 N. College St., Myerstown, said he did not know of a change in law that occurred in December that requires him to register as a sex offender with Pennsylvania State Police. Full Article
Read MorePA: Megan’s Law sex offender list grows under new state rules
…Neither the judge, nor the prosecutor, nor ____’s defense lawyer raised the possibility that he would one day be required to register as a sex offender, a transcript of the proceeding shows. That’s not surprising since at the time, the crime ____ admitted to — second-degree misdemeanor indecent assault — didn’t invoke Megan’s Law, which aims to protect the public from sex offenders by publishing their photos, addresses and other information on a website. … But that has changed due to a controversial new law pushed by Congress. Ten months after…
Read MorePA: Juvenile sex-offender registries are challenged
Though tried in juvenile court, with its focus on privacy and rehabilitation, he was later required by a 2012 Pennsylvania law to register as a sex offender — branded a long-term danger to society, with no way off the list for at least 25 years. Juvenile law advocates campaigning against such automatic registries argue that they undermine the rehabilitative purpose of juvenile law and wrongly force judges to treat offenders the same, no matter their circumstances. In Pennsylvania, local judges increasingly agree with them. Late last year, a central Pennsylvania…
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