PA: SORNA II constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles
From NARSOL:
The Superior Court ruled that SORNA II constituted as cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles in Com. v. Matthew Zeno 2020 PA Super 1111.
PARSOL sees this is a fantastic ruling. It means regardless if your juvenile case is transferred to adult court, you were still under 18, and the SCOPA in In Re J.B. said a sex offender registry for a juvenile offender is unconstitutional.
The Commonwealth’s argument was that since the charges were serious enough to warrant the case be transferred from juvenile to adult court (which can be done under PA law for certain crimes), Zeno should have to register just like an adult.
The panel in this opinion said, “No.” The sex offense was committed when the defendant was under age 18; thus, defendant is still a juvenile and cannot be ordered to register as a sex offender because of SCOPA’s decision In Re J.B.
https://cases.justia.com/pennsylvania/superior-court/2020-880-mda-2019.pdf?ts=1588875386
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What about the people under 26 that have to register? Their brains are still developing and are an adult. Don’t understand that registration is punishment for juveniles; but not adults. Guess the court missed the memo: CHANGE is constant in life and anybody is capable of it. Judges need to be on the show are you smarter than a 5th grader. Enough is enough of these rubes in robes that don’t follow the Constitution!!
This court did not deny that it’s punishment for adults, did they? I may need to re-read the opinion.
For juveniles, it’s clearly cruel and unusual, as this court says. And here in FL, our own filings in Does v Swearingen (the ex post facto plus challenge) argue that it’s cruel and unusual for both juveniles AND adults.
It’s good, but I wonder if anything could be taken as setting a precedent for use in adult cases. Any thoughts?
It is still beyond me to understand how a law/requirement in one state or how same can be unconstitutional in one state and not in all states. I guess ‘so much’ for united in United States. I am taking a course in the history of the Constitution and it was such situations that persuaded our founders to reject the Confederation of States and decide on a Constitution if the founding principles were going to be observed.
Capt Munsey,
I have thought similar about the age of consent. Why is it 16 in one state and a state right next to it is 18? Just make it 18 nationwide and be uniform under the law.
So why the #$%& is it not punishment for adults then? The courts are smoking something that must be tainted. That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. If you are 16 or 40 and you get fired from target, are not BOTH of those punishment? COME ON.
Now the courts contradict themselves.
Is this ruling just for Zeno or will apply to all offenders under 18 in that state? This is huge!
So it would be inappropriate for someone under 18 to have to register as a sex offender because he was not competent at the time because he was only 16. Where does it leave an 18-year old developmentally disabled autistic man with the mental capacity of a 12-year old?
That’s a good question but we already know the answer when it comes to legal issues – The courts see that adult with mental health issues and/or autism as an easy target because they care only about the age of the person, not the mental state of the person. It’s almost pointless to have psychology and scientific studies on the human brain and how delicate it is because once you step into a court room on charges , you go from someone they would have coddled to someone they’re out to get for blood!
“Austism Spectrum, Sexuality, & the Law,” by Nick Dubin, is one good read.
Courts need to do a better job addressing this.