PA registrants find relief from extended registration period.
Last week the Pennsylvania Superior Court granted relief to a bunch of persons required to register as sex offenders in Commonwealth v. Fernandez (2018 PA Super 245 – Pa: Superior Court 2018).
In 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme court invalidated the retroactive provisions from the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S.Ct. 925 (2018). Muniz held that the trial court may not retroactively increase registration requirements under SORNA.
Nineteen individuals appealed the retroactive enhancement of their registration requirements after registration violations. Although the facts of their cases were all different, their situation was the same; they were convicted of sexual offenses BEFORE the enactment of SORNA in PA (2011), and SORNA was applied retroactively to include them, the courts consolidated their case into one – which held that the retroactive application of SORNA was unconstitutional.
The court held the appellants are not subject to SORNA’s retroactive registration increases!
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Glad to see there are courts of common sense. Hopefully the PA findings will make a reference case for Fla.
This is good news. Now if we could only change the system for parole in PA.
Keep it coming! Happy for those who got relief. Now Virginia needs some relief.
Im in VA and agree, We need to find a way of identifying those convicted prior to registry laws of 1994, to band together, they lumped us all into one group and retroactively applied every new law and reclassified the vast majority from non violent to violent. When you are advised by counsel to make a plea decision you do so with all the facts — i didnt plead guilty to violent sex offense, knowing I would be required to register for life… that was not the law then, how is that constitutionally correct?
That is great news for them, absolutely. But why hasn’t not even one person ever been let off in the Florida registry? What’s going on, and why is it so different in other states? I’ve been a RSO since my act occurred in April of 1994. Had my adjudication withheld, but that didn’t really help much or change my situation. What are we going to have to do to catch up in time with these other states?
By the way, I was referring to the State of Florida in my earlier comment.