Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules SORNA Unconstitutional
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today ruled SORNA Unconstitutional as applied to an individual whose offenses predate it’s enactment. The Court found: 1) SORNA’s registration provisions constitute punishment notwithstanding the General Assembly’s identification of the provisions as nonpunitive; 2) retroactive application of SORNA’s registration provisions violates the federal ex post facto clause; and 3) retroactive application of SORNA’s registration provisions also violates the ex post facto clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
This is another HUGE decision, this time in a State Supreme Court.
Although this has no bearing on Florida, the finding is indicative of a trend in the courts and some more persuasive precedent when it comes to future litigation.
You can read the full opinion of the Court below:
Clearly more and more judges (and others) are recognizing the punitive effect of SORNA and other sex offender legislation. I just wish SCOTUS would rule that NONE of these laws should be applied retroactively. It is obvious that the retroactive application of such laws is out of harmony with American principles of justice and freedom.
Not to mention that those who took plea deals based on the laws at the time are being punished again and again and again!
How many of us didn’t fight (many innocent) because of intimidation by the state and law enforcement? How many of us thought we were agreeing to a set of rules only to have the state change those rules again and again.
Why can they break the contract that was agreed upon whenever they please? Sounds like an open and shut case of breach of contract in the real world.
Meanwhile in the surreal world of Florida where facts do not play a role they are allowed to add harsher punishment after punishment and continue the lifetime abuse of thousands of American citizens who have already paid their debt to society!
Shame on Florida – National disgrace!
Lee, You are so right. My husband was threatened days before trail, because we had witnesses that the police NEVER spoke with, actually they refused to. He has been punished and re punished from Florida, then when we moved to Louisiana punished again. For 1 ct Lewd and Lav, He has served his entire sentence 13 years probation, and a additional 12 years on 2 registries. Actually long after the fact . This has been going on since 1988.
I completely understand! I was harassed and intimidated in Pasco county in 1988 for the same charge. All bogus, prosecutors trying to make a name for themselves. Been almost 30 years and they are still trying to put the wood to me, and with no other trouble with the law since 1988. Unbelievable! I live in Pennsylvania and am glad to see that the Supreme Court here made the correct ruling. Yes it is punishment ” more like torture” and it is unconstitutional.
YES! I have been saying this! I entered into a contract with the state. They were worried they couldn’t convict (why else would they offer a deal) and I was worried my p.d. wasnt trying. So we struck a deal (simplified, but truthful). Afterward, the state has repeatedly changed their part of the contract. If I were to decide to just change my part of the connect, my ass would be in jail.
Also, people who took a plea before Jimmy Ryce and then were civilly committed upon their ‘release’ from prison, have it much worse than us. That is even worse, IMO.
Yes! This could also be a way to dismantle these archaic laws – think how overwhelmed the registry is already. Can you imagine if judges said none of the laws can be applied retroactively? That would mean in every state they would have to see when the laws were enacted – then check the adjudication date of every RSO’s and then only apply the laws that were in place before that person was adjudicated! It would be chaos and with chaos could come dismantling the whole thing. Oh that will be a fine day!
i love your way of thinking Karen!
After reading the courts findings, I have to say i am blown away.. for the first time in YEARS I actually have a little bit of hope of regaining my life.
There’s always hope. If there were no hope we’d not be dedicating dozens of hours a week to this.
So it does nothing for those individuals who were convicted AFTER the SORNAs were made law. Correct?
Correct
What if we were never convicted in the first place….?
This is great, but we will have to see if the Commonwealth tries to get around the decision like the State of Ohio did when in comes to out of state registrants moving to PA. The pieced that the court included from Megan’s Law I and II seem to iodinate that out of staters were subject the same requirements as one of those laws specifically created a “local police reporting system” for those folks. But,who knows? Ohio imposed SORNA/AWA registration on people even after their law that changed peoples status was struck down.
With all these WINS under our belts (SOs), what is it going to take for it to set a precedence that SO registration is unconstitutional for all 50 states?
Smith v. Doe to be overturned.
I’ve been searching but can’t find anything as far as reviews for Smith v. Doe. So I was just wondering if you knew? Thanks.
What do you mean by “reviews” of Smith v. Doe?
does this mean that if you were put on as a level 1 for 10 years and then your time was later changed to lifetime under the AWA, you can go back to your original 10 year registration?
If you are in PA, you would need to consult with your attorney as to the impact. If you are outside of PA, this decision does not impact you.
FAC cannot give legal advise, as we are not lawyers and we are not licensed, nor qualified to give you the answer to your question. What we can say is that you would be very well served by checking back with your attorney!
My Question is. If these courts keep finding these laws unconstituional then why are these only going to effect people who charges where before the registry?
FLCitzen – it is a fine line – but what these courts are finding unconstitutional is the ex post facto element of the laws (so not the law itself). In order for the law itself to be found unconstitutional it would have to be a case based on cruel and unusual punishment OR that it was punishment applied but not considered part of the actual sentence (this is the way in my opinion that the laws will eventually be struck down). So in other words, we need a court to say it IS indeed punishment and then it would have to actually be part of your sentence adjudicated by a judge (which it is not – remember it is “civil”) Baby steps….
But what does line 1 mean of there opinion . It has nothing to do with the retroactive part. That is defines in the next line.
FLCitizen
Assuming you are referring to the 1) 2) 3) in the little blurb up above:
1) SORNA’s registration provisions constitute punishment notwithstanding the General Assembly’s identification of the provisions as nonpunitive
means that the court found that SORNA’s requirements are indeed punishment, despite the State of Pennsylvania saying that they are not.
In order for “the retroactive part” to work, SORNA has to be a punishment. Pennsylvania says it is not. Pennsylvania says that it is a “civil measure.”
So, before the court can even touch the retroactive part, that punishment part needed to be worked out. Then they can move on to #2.
Hope that helps.
I see so now that some courts are n indeed calling it punishment we would have to go after the original smith case which said it wasn’t in order to find relief for offenders that don’t qualify under ex post facto
Registration is Servitude!
SORNA forces [me] to leave my home and travel to a police station to deliver public safety data, under oath, and submit to photographing and fingerprinting, for publication on a website that is scraped by private enterprise for redistribution and profit making purposes. E.g. citydata.com; homefacts.com. I am required to remain on-call around a 48 hour clock to keep the data current, year round, in perpetuity, at my own expense. That is exploitation.
SORNA transforms [me] into a delivery boy, expert witness and assistant website content manager. The value of that service exceeds 200k per year as the approximate cost to government of acquiring the data it wants by alternate means, like hiring enough cops to collect the data without molesting me.
Article 1 Sections 9 and 10 prohibit congress and state legislatures from singling people out for deprivations. That’s a bill of attainder, or pains and penalties. Cummings v. Missouri. And the 13th Amendment unquestionably prohibits Servitude except as a punishment for crime of which a citizen has been duly convicted which requires Judicial process and the safeguards embedded in the 6th Amendment. All of them.
Hence, Congress can’t lawfully impose Servitude against a subclass whether civil or not. Dancing around vagaries like delegation of power and retroactivity is nothing but a red herring. A ruse to distract from a historical usurpation of power and treasonous disregard for the Judiciary and the bill of rights. Incredible!
SORNA is the regulation of human beings. Plain and simple. Forced labor, involuntary servitude, kidnapping and trafficking all rolled up in one. Felony crimes. Proponents of SORNA should be indicted for warring against the constitution.
Lock em up!