For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1 - 21
SORNA SEA-CHANGE: SUPERIOR
COURT BRINGS SANITY TO THE SEX
OFFENDER REGISTRY (AND EVEN
OFFERS A PATH TO REMOVAL) Aaron Marcus
A
component.2 A recent decision by the Pennsylvania
Superior Court rectifies this wrong, and more broadly,
provides an avenue for relief for individuals who have
proven they pose little to no risk to public safety.
This Kafkaesque reality comes as no surprise to
seasoned defense lawyers in Pennsylvania. Under
Pennsylvania's SORNA,1 there are several crimes that land
a person on the registry even though neither the crime
itself, nor anything related to the crime, has a sexual
In Commonwealth v. Muhammed,3 decided in
October of 2020, Ms. Muhammed helped her brother
remove his child from the custody of the child's mother
in contravention of a valid custody order. She pleaded
guilty to interference with custody of children and
was required to register as a sex offender for 15 years,
despite that fact that there was no element of sex in
the case. The Superior Court correctly concluded that it
was unjust to label a person a sex offender when they
sk 10 random people the following question:
should someone who has never committed a
sexual crime be required to register as a sex
offender? The answer would likely be unanimous - a
resounding " no. " But for almost a decade, Pennsylvania
has subjected hundreds of people to the modern-day
scarlet letter even though they have not been charged
or convicted with sexual crimes.
Vol. 6, Issue 1 l For The Defense
21
For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1
Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1 - Contents
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