In the twilight of his career, York County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Uhler recently cemented his legacy as a legal lion of Pennsylvania with what might amount to a landmark ruling. It was the right ruling — deeply grounded in constitutional principles. Unfortunately for the judge, though, it’s probably not one that will make him popular among the lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key crowd. In fact, the decision will likely be unpopular among the many people who believe sex offenders should receive death sentences — or at least life without parole. Full…
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PA: Law requiring lifetime registration for juvenile sex offenders is unconstitutional
In a decision that seems destined for the appeals courts, a York County judge has ruled unconstitutional a two-year-old Pennsylvania law that imposes lifetime registration requirements on juvenile sex offenders. Senior Judge John C. Uhler issued his ruling against the juvenile registration provisions of the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act while weighing the cases of seven county teens adjudicated as having committed serious sex crimes. Uhler found that the registration mandate “unconstitutionally forecloses a court’s considerations of the many unique attributes of youth and juvenile offenders” under age 18…
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