Pa. Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To Law Requiring Registration Of Juvenile Sex Offenders
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) - A local attorney, who specializes in juvenile cases, today will ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to take a second look at a law requiring a life time of registration for juveniles who commit particular sexual offenses.
Presently, to receive federal funding for law enforcement under the 2006 Adam Walsh Act, Pennsylvania is required to have a law mandating lifetime registration on the books for juvenile sex offenders. A York County judge found that law illegal, but prosecutors have appealed to the high court.
Attorney Marsha Levick, from Philadelphia's Juvenile Law Center says, "We have challenged the statute successfully. We think it violates the constitutional rights of children in Pennsylvania."
Levick says the combination of the lifetime label and cumbersome registration requirement nullify any likelihood of rehabilitation, "And it is imposed in the face of un-rebutted research that juvenile sex offenders are not like adult sex offenders. The recidivism rate (for juveniles) in Pennsylvania is less than 2 percent."
Levick says each of the juveniles she represents have all been adjudicated, sanctioned and incarcerated for a period of time. In the end, she says the research shows the added label and requirements do nothing to promote public safety.
Pennsylvania is one of several states reviewing the policy, and several other courts have found it unconstitutional.
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