Articles

  On October 24, 2018, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed two criminal justice reform bills into law. The first, Act 146 of 2018, extends a particular deadline by which to seek post-conviction relief. The second, Act 147 of 2018, significantly expands DNA testing in Pennsylvania in an effort to ensure the integrity of criminal convictions […]

Can a police officer reenter your house without a warrant after entering for the purposes of emergency aid, a recognized exception to the warrant requirement? The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently decided no, they cannot. In Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2013, authorities saw a group of people on the roof of a sorority house’s […]

Pennsylvania has forfeiture laws pertaining to drugs, fireworks, and alcohol, while requiring that the property have a substantial nexus with the misconduct at issue. But what happens when the State wants to confiscate property but is not authorized to do so by a statute? The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently held common law forfeiture does not […]

On October 9, 2018, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee voted to move forward on a bill that would decriminalize possession of a small amount of marijuana (that is, 30 grams or less) statewide. To become law, the bill – House Bill 928 – must be approved by both the Pennsylvania House and Senate and be […]

On December 20, 2012, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) became effective and repealed and replaced all prior versions of Megan’s Law. On July 19, 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided in Commonwealth v. Muniz, that the new SORNA requirements are punitive (punishment) and cannot be applied to a defendant retroactively. Essentially, as […]