HARRISBURG Court rulings are likely to change Megan's Law

Eight years later, Pennsylvania's Megan's Law remains in flux.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- A state Supreme Court ruling four months ago upheld the constitutionality of the major provisions in Pennsylvania's Megan's Law. But with dozens of lower-court rulings pending on appeal and unrest on both sides of the emotionally charged issue, more changes appear likely.
Proponents contend that people want to know if a sexually violent predator, or SVP, lives nearby, and that forcing paroled sex offenders to register with state police cuts recidivism by sending a message that someone is keeping tabs on them.
"When the defendant is aware that the community is notified, just practically speaking, it makes sense to me that the defendant would refrain from engaging in illegal behavior and committing sexual offenses," said Annmarie Kaiser, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.
Critics' view
Critics say that such laws feed the public's visceral reaction to heinous crimes but do not help prevent them. Such laws just make it harder for convicts to adjust to life after prison by stigmatizing their families and making landlords and employers reluctant to associate with them, said Karl Baker, deputy chief of the appeals division for the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
Every state has some version of Megan's Law, named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender living across the street.
In Pennsylvania, there are more than 6,800 registered sex offenders and 24 SVPs who have been released from prison. All sex offenders must report annually to state police for at least 10 years, some for life. SVPs must check in every three months and participate in monthly state-monitored counseling at their own expense for the rest of their lives.
Judges decide which offenders must be evaluated by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, a panel of psychologists, psychiatrists and criminologists, to determine if they are a sexually violent predator -- classified as someone with a "mental abnormality or personality disorder" making them likely to commit new violent sex crimes. Once named an SVP, there is no way to reverse it.
Court decision
Legislative staffers, prosecutors and victims' advocates met recently in Harrisburg to consider how to respond to the Supreme Court's decision throwing out the potential life sentence for those who fail to report their whereabouts. About 5 percent of offenders get charged with not reporting, state police said.
Lawmakers may propose moving the SVP review from before sentencing until afterward in an effort to reduce the number of defendants withdrawing guilty pleas because of stringent reporting requirements, House Judiciary Committee chief counsel Michael S. Schwoyer said.
Defense attorneys say the requirement that SVPs undergo lifelong counseling is one of the law's worst features. They argue that if it's treatment, not punishment, then the defendants should be allowed to go into court and show they have been cured.
Critics of Megan's Law also claim the offender board is no more likely to predict "future dangerousness" than the general public.
Supporters of Pennsylvania's law counter that it's too soon to judge because it has been in effect for only eight years. Many sex offenders convicted under Megan's Law, and about three-fourths of all SVPs, are still behind bars.