Challenge to PA Sex Offender Law Begins: National Group Cites Costs and Unconstitutional Provisions

RSOL, Post Office Box 36123 

Albuquerque, NM 87176

www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org

For Immediate Release...
January 2, 2013
Contact: Robin van der Waal 202.709.3890.

 Albuquerque, NM—Reform Sex Offender Laws Inc. (RSOL) recently announced plans to challenge sections of Senate Bill 1183 (Pennsylvania’s new sex offender registration requirements) on multiple constitutional grounds (see first press release here). Today, RSOL began the process of notifying registered persons throughout Pennsylvania regarding the details of this new plan and will seek to organize affected citizens into an active group of advocates to contest the law.

Because the new law requires so many individuals to frequently report in person to a state police barracks for the remainder of their lives, RSOL asserts that the new law substantially violates both state and federal Constitutional protections guaranteed to the citizens it affects. RSOL asserts that these onerous new in-person reporting provisions transform registration into a form of lifetime probation supervision, and therefore, constitute punishment.  

Despite wide misconceptions, registration requirements are not part of a person’s actual sentence or punishment; rather, they are a collateral consequence of the individual's conviction. In fact, for public registration schemes to pass constitutional scrutiny, they cannot impose punishment either by design or effect. RSOL finds it problematic that this new law retroactively adds new offenses to the list of offenses requiring registration. This provision alone has the potential to undo an undetermined number of plea agreements because of representations made to defendants which helped induce them to plea. 

In support of this action, Brenda Jones, RSOL’s Executive Director, stated, “Even though enforcement of the controversial law has begun, RSOL is optimistic that many aspects of the law will ultimately be declared invalid by the courts, and, as a result, legislators in Harrisburg will be forced to revisit this issue. RSOL finds it incomprehensible that those responsible for the fiscal integrity of Pennsylvania have given such paltry consideration to the financial ramifications of SB 1183.”

In a presentation of talking points being made available to Pennsylvania registrants, Jones questioned whether legislators considered the financial impact of:

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Sex Offender Registration Requirements to be Challenged

RSOL, Post Office Box 36123 

Albuquerque, NM 87176

www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org
 

December 20, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Larry Neely
RSOL Legal Committee
202-709-3890.
 

Reform Sex Offender Laws Inc. (RSOL) plans to soon challenge sections of Senate Bill 1183 (Pennsylvania’s new sex offender registration requirements) on multiple constitutional grounds.

Today marks the beginning of enforcement of a controversial new state law that purports to protect citizens from registered sex offenders. RSOL’s executive director Brenda Jones stated, “It is disappointing that Pennsylvania’s lawmakers chose to ignore the lessons learned when Ohio proceeded down this same disastrous path more than five years ago.” Ohio was the first state to be deemed AWA complaint, but the courts subsequently have found several aspects of Ohio’s new law unconstitutional. After expending millions of taxpayer dollars defending an unconstitutional law, Ohio was forced  to revert back to the old registration system for those sentenced prior to the new law’s enactment.

Jones stated that provisions of Pennsylvania’s new law “transform what is supposed to be a non-punitive, civil regulatory measure into a form of lifetime probationary supervision for most persons on the registry,” which RSOL believes to be blatantly unconstitutional. “And further,” she continues, “all individuals on Pennsylvania’s registry will see their registration periods dramatically increase, with the majority becoming life-timers. This,” she emphasized, “is a violation of the ex post facto clause.”

Jones stated that although the new law was touted by its supporters as necessary to bring Pennsylvania into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act (AWA), “It does little if anything to improve public safety, and any marginal benefit achieved is at the expense of trampling over our most cherished constitutional protections.”

Jones concluded her remarks by saying, “It is most unfortunate that RSOL must undertake such a challenge, but make no mistake about it; we cannot and will not stand by while public policymakers shred the constitution and disregard their oaths of office.”


RSOL promotes the elimination of sexual abuse and the preservation of civil rights for all individuals through the use of effective legislation based on empirical research. We envision sexual offense laws based on equal justice and respect for the dignity of all people, protection from retroactively applied punishment, and the establishment of fact-based laws and policies which protect our communities.
 

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Certain Sex Offenders -and- Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF)

QUESTION:

QUESTION: What is meant by the references to "Sex Offender" in the GAO document "SMALL BUSINESS LENDING: Opportunities Exist to Improve Performance Reporting of Treasury’s Programs" released Dec 2012? Page-10 of this document says:

As mandated by the act, Treasury requires each SBLF participant to submit two annual certifications:

(1) Any businesses receiving a loan from an SBLF participant using SBLF funds must certify to the institution that the principals of the business have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor. Under the Securities Purchase Agreement, annually until redemption, the SBLF participant is required to provide the certifications to Treasury that businesses receiving loans from the bank have certified that their principals have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor.

(2) Each SBLF participant must certify that it is in compliance with the requirements of the Customer Identification Program, which is intended to enable the bank to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of each customer.

ANSWER: When a Small Business applies for a SBA Loan at a local bank, they must complete certain application forms. One of those forms now is a form to certify that, none of the PRINCIPALS (Owners) of that business has been previously convicted of a sex offense against a minor as defined in the Adam Walsh Act (42 USC 16911). In addition, those owners, until the loan is paid back, must ANNUALLY sign that form, to prove no sex offense against a minor has occurred in the past year.

In the last Congress (111th) they passed a bill which added that requirement to Small Business Loans. If you want to read more about what happened BACK then use these two links: HERE and HERE you should be able to get the gist of what Congress did back then.

Definitions:
Minor in AWA: A person under 18;

Read 42 USC 16911 HERE it is quite long.

Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF)

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