Due to a recent change in Pennsylvania law, deer hunting season is starting two days early. Instead of the first Monday after Thanksgiving, the first day of buck hunting will be on Saturday, November 30th, 2019 with the first day of antlerless for most Pennsylvania regions starting on December 7th. Before the season begins, hunters should check to make sure that they are complying with the law. Checking to make sure that you are allowed to...

Getting to work, buying groceries, and getting your kids to and from school is almost impossible in most areas in Western Pennsylvania if you don’t have a valid driver’s license.  While ridesharing apps can help, they become expensive and time-consuming. If your driver’s license is suspended, you should check to see what you can do to either get a limited license from the state or to get your license back. Probationary and...

Topic: DUI – Refusal of Chemical Testing – Birchfield – Mandatory Sentence – Alleyne Summary: The mandatory minimum sentence given by the Venango County Court of Common Pleas for a DUI chemical test refusal was unconstitutional. 1.) Defendants cannot be given a mandatory minimum sentence for refusing to submit to a warrantless blood test. 2.) A defendant who refused a blood test cannot be subject to enhanced sentencing based on the refusal to...

On December 26th, 2018, Pennsylvania’s new Clean Slate Law took effect and made more people with certain misdemeanor convictions eligible to get their criminal records sealed. Under the previous law, many with convictions for lower level simple assault convictions found that they were not eligible to have their old convictions sealed. After lobbying and education efforts, the Pennsylvania legislature amended the record-sealing law to help...

On October 20th, 2014, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a law changing the way courts handle prior drunk driving (DUI) convictions at sentencing. In Pennsylvania, you face harsher punishments if you have prior DUI convictions.  Before the change, prior DUI convictions only led to an increased punishment if the defendant was convicted of the prior DUI before committing the new offense.  With the change in the law, any DUI conviction that...

On December 20, 2012, the Adam Walsh Act (SORNA) required many individuals who were convicted of sex offenses but not classified as violent sex offenders to begin registering as sexual offenders.  A new law passed in March 2014 has removed the registration requirement for individuals convicted of second-degree felony Indecent Assault between January 22, 2006, and January 1, 2007; Unlawful restraint (18 Pa. C.S.A. Section 2902(b)); False...