Dec. 04, 2017
HARRISBURG – House Judiciary Committee Majority Chairman Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) introduced legislation today to ensure sexual offenders remain registered under Megan’s Law.
“A recent court decision has made it imperative that we make some legislative changes to the Adam Walsh Act in order to keep the communities in our Commonwealth safe,” said Marsico. “We have worked hard to come up with a fix that will do just that and are expediting this fix.”
House Bill 1952 would address the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Muniz. In that case, the court held that the Commonwealth’s sexual offender registration act, commonly known as Megan’s Law or the Adam Walsh Act, could not be applied to defendants who committed their crimes before the enactment of the Adam Walsh Act in 2012 based on both the U.S. Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution.
“If left unaddressed, this case may require more than 10,000 sexual offenders to be removed from the state sexual offender registry,” said Marsico. “In order to keep our Commonwealth safe, it is my belief that these defendants still should have to register with the Pennsylvania State Police as sexual offenders.
“To allow potentially dangerous sex offenders to escape registration, as the Muniz decision provides, does not move the Commonwealth forward. Indeed, the decision is a step backward in terms of the safety and security of the Commonwealth’s citizens,” said Marsico. “Consequently, my legislation is designed to require those sex offenders who have not yet finished their period of registration to continue to register with the Pennsylvania State Police under the version of Megan’s Law that was in place when these offenders were convicted.”
The legislation will be referred to a House committee for further consideration.
Representative Ronald Marsico
105th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RonMarsico.com
Media Contact: Autumn R. Southard, 717.652.3721
asouthar@pahousegop.com