Tuesday, December 23, 2003
he child molester argued the label 'sexually violent predator' was too vague.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state Superior Court has upheld Pennsylvania's Megan's Law by turning down a challenge from a convicted child molester who had argued, among other things, that the law violated his constitutional due-process rights.
In a 21-page ruling, the three-judge panel described as "meritless" the claims made by Robert J. Kopicz, 58, of Hamburg, who pleaded guilty in 2001 in Berks County to charges involving five child victims.
Megan's Law, named for a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a neighbor, requires some sex offenders to register their addresses with police and get counseling, and puts more restrictive reporting requirements on those deemed to be "sexually violent predators."
About the appeal
Kopicz's appeal said he was being improperly subjected to an increased penalty without a jury hearing, that the term "sexually violent predator" is too vague and that a mandatory assessment hearing did not protect him from self-incrimination.
He also argued the law violated his right to privacy, his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, the separation-of-powers doctrine, double-jeopardy prohibitions and the state constitution.
The appeals court said Kopicz's classification as a violent sex offender does not amount to a form of criminal punishment. Because his guilt had been established by the criminal proceedings, the Megan's Law requirements did not put him in double jeopardy, the judges said, and did not force him to incriminate himself.
"The act's registration, verification, notification and counseling provisions do not constitute criminal punishment. ... [His] double-jeopardy rights are not even implicated during the assessment proceeding, much less violated," according to the opinion by retired Judge Frank J. Montemuro Jr.
Crimes
Kopicz is serving three to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty in 2001 to indecent assault, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. Court records indicate at least three of his five victims were under age 13.
The Berks County prosecutor who handled the appeal, Alisa R. Hobart, said Monday that the Superior Court based much of its decision on the Supreme Court's September ruling in another Megan's Law challenge, but went beyond the Supreme Court in establishing that the law was not unconstitutionally vague.
"This case was really just the Superior Court following the Supreme Court's decision in a lot of respects. So it doesn't surprise me at all, frankly," Hobart said.