2014 Pa. Super. 142 - Commonwealth v. Perez’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The environment has changed significantly with the advancements in technology since the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Smith . As of the most recent report by the United States Census Bureau, approximately 75 percent of households in the United States have internet access. Yesterday's face-to-face shaming punishment can now be accomplished online, and an individual's presence in cyberspace is omnipresent. The public internet website utilized by the Pennsylvania State Police broadcasts worldwide, for an extended period of time, the personal identification information of individuals who have served their "sentences." This exposes registrants to ostracism and harassment without any mechanism to prove rehabilitation-even through the clearest proof. In my opinion, the extended registration period and the worldwide dissemination of registrants' information authorized by SORNA now outweighs the public safety interest of the government so as to disallow a finding that it is merely regulatory.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Muniz, J., Aplt. · J. Taylor v. The PSP of the Commonwealth of PA

2. “Like the conditions imposed on probationers, registrants under [Megan’s Law IV] must notify the state police of a change in residency or employment.... Offenders also face incarceration for any non-compliance with the registration requirements .... Furthermore, [Megan’s Law IV] requires registrants who do not have a fixed work place to provide “general travel routes and general areas where the individual works” in order to be in compliance.... The Supreme Court in Smith stated that “[a] sex offender who fails to comply with the reporting requirement may be subjected to criminal prosecution for that failure, but any prosecution is a proceeding separate from the individual’s original offense.” Smith, 538 U.S. at 101-02 , 123 S.Ct. 1140 . However, violations for noncompliance with both probation and [Megan’s Law IV] registration requirements are procedurally parallel. Both require factual findings to determine whether a violation has actually occurred- Similarly, but for the original underlying offense, neither would be subject to the mandatory conditions from which the potential violation stems.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Muniz, J., Aplt. · Coppolino v. Noonan

3. “After considering all seven factors, as analyzed above, we conclude that the one factor weighing in favor of finding SORNA punitive does not ultimately make the statute’s retroactive application unconstitutional. Although we conclude the mandatory in-person appearance requirement imposes an affirmative constraint on [Perez], we nevertheless conclude that the restraint is relatively minor when balanced against the remaining factors. As our Supreme Court has noted in past cases, the greater restraints imposed by sex offender registration stem from the public’s benefit of said registration and the consequences that flow therefrom. However, our Supreme Court has also instructed that those effects, while not insignificant, are merely secondary and collateral to the requirements themselves. * * * Based on all of these considerations, we ultimately conclude that [Perez] has not shown by the “clearest proof’ that the effects of SORNA are sufficiently punitive to overcome the general assembly’s preferred characterization, [citation omitted]. Therefore, we further conclude that the retroactive application of SORNA to [Perez] does not violate the ex post facto clause of the federal constitution.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 46 Pa. D. & C.5th 95 - Commonwealth v. Woodruff