The United States Supreme Court has denied the appeal of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling that Pennsylvania’s sex offender registration law was unconstitutional . Example sex offender registrant under Pennsylvania Law. This past summer, Jose Muniz, convicted in 2007 of indecent assault against a minor and a required registrant under the Sex Offender Registration and […]
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Officer Must Show Citizen in Need of Assistance to Apply Community Caretaking Exception
There are three categories of interaction that occur between an individual and a police officer: 1) a mere encounter; 2) an investigative detention; and 3) an arrest. A mere encounter is a request for information and need not be supported by any level of suspicion. In Terry v. Ohio, the US Supreme Court described an […]
Pennsylvania’s Good Samaritan Law
At the end of 2014, Pennsylvania’s new Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Immunity Law went into effect. The law provides major changes to Pennsylvania’s drug laws by providing immunity for both individuals experiencing an overdose and those who attempt to save their lives. In an effort to encourage bystanders and/or friends of an overdosed person to […]
Expectation of Privacy for Commercial Drivers Less Than Those of Non-Commercial Drivers
On November 8, 2017, the Pennsylvania Superior Court determined that applying the Tarbert/Blouse guidelines is improper in cases involved with the traffic stop of a commercial vehicle and suppression of evidence related to that stop. The PA Superior Court explained their holding in Commonwealth v. Maguire, No. 654 MDA 2016 (November 8, 2017). The case […]
Court Cannot Determine SVP Status
In Pennsylvania, an individual who is convicted of a sexually violent offense must be assessed before sentencing to determine if the individual should be designated as a “sexually violent predator” (SVP). After the assessment, a hearing is then held in which the Commonwealth must prove to the court, by clear and convincing evidence, that the […]
