PENNSYLVANIA Site IDs sexual predators

The majority of those on the Web site are still in prison.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pennsylvania has begun posting on the Internet photos and other information about people deemed to be sexually violent predators.
State police officials said they are following Pennsylvania's Megan's Law, which requires lifetime reporting, in posting the information online.
Critics, however, said that aspect of the law is being challenged, and since most of those posted as of Wednesday afternoon are still incarcerated, the postings serve little purpose.
"It really seems premature for the state to be posting information on the Internet saying that folks are sexually violent predators when there is a cloud hanging over the designation process," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Walczak said the state Supreme Court is examining procedures for determining someone a sexually violent predator.
Carl Baker, deputy chief of appeals for the Defender's Association of Philadelphia, said all of the offenders he saw on the site are in jail.
"I don't know why they're doing it," Baker said. "It doesn't do anything for the community except to spark people's prurient interest. ... It just seems to be punitive."
The photos of about half a dozen people were posted online Wednesday afternoon, and all but one appeared to be incarcerated.
A state police spokeswoman said the law requires those considered sexually violent predators to register even if they are in prison, and registrations are updated when inmates are released.