Chester County Court Judge Allison Bell Royer held on August 22, 2022, that Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry laws were unconstitutional, after a remand from the state supreme court. Here’s a snippet from the opinion on why:

Based on the evidence of scientific and academic consensus presented, we find that [Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry laws] do not have the effect on recidivism and public safety anticipated by the Legislature, and that they are not rationally related to the purposes for which they were enacted.

Commonwealth v. Torsilieri, No. 1570-16 (Aug. 22, 2022)

The opinion is available here as a pdf file:

Commonwealth v TorsilieriDownload

Dale Chappell is the author of hundreds of published articles on the federal criminal justice system, and the Insider`s Guide series of federal post-conviction books. He is a consultant in federal post-conviction procedure and an authority on federal sex offense issues.