Preview:

[J-81-2006] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT CAPPY, C.J., CASTILLE, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, BALDWIN, JJ.

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : : Appellant : : : v. : : : GERALD E. WILSON, : : Appellee :

No. 91 MAP 2004 Appeal from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County dated May 28, 2004 and exited June 11, 2004, at No. 2003-1710.

SUBMITTED: May 8, 2006

OPINION MADAME JUSTICE BALDWIN DECIDED: November 21, 2006

We review whether the provisions of Megan's Law1 (Megan's Law II or Act) authorizing the imposition of criminal liability for failure to comply with the Act's reporting requirements are unconstitutional. In Commonwealth v. Williams, 574 Pa. 487, 832 A.2d 962 (2003) (Williams II), we severed the lifetime penalty provisions applicable to sexually violent predators (SVP) from the Act because the Act required the judge, not a jury, to determine by a diminished standard of proof whether an offender was an SVP. This determination subjected him to a punishment which exceeded the statutory maximum for

1

42 Pa.C.S.

Download j-81-2006mo.pdf

Pennsylvania Law