Articles

https://www.propublica.org/article/prosecutors-dropping-child-porn-charges-after-software-tools-are-questioned

On December 20, 2012, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) became effective and repealed and replaced all prior versions of Megan’s Law. On July 19, 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided in Commonwealth v. Muniz, that the new SORNA requirements are punitive (punishment) and cannot be applied to a defendant retroactively. Essentially, as […]

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that, in sentencing a defendant, a judge may restrict the use of a computer and electronic devices, but the restrictions must be narrowly tailored to the actual danger the defendant poses to society. The court also noted that only rarely would a complete ban be tailored to […]

In July 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that the current version of Pennsylvania’s sexual offender registry law was punitive, making it unconstitutional to impose retroactively. The effects of this decision would have removed thousands of people from the registry who were sentenced before the current version of the state’s registration law (SORNA) took effect […]

The United States Supreme Court has denied the appeal of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s  ruling that Pennsylvania’s sex offender registration law was unconstitutional . Example sex offender registrant under Pennsylvania Law. This past summer, Jose Muniz, convicted in 2007 of indecent assault against a minor and a required registrant under the Sex Offender Registration and […]