Federal Judge Bars Enforcement of The Silencing Act: “The First Amendment Does Not Evanesce at the Prison Gate”

By Kenneth Lipp

A Federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued an order yesterday that would prevent enforcement of the Revictimization Relief Act, signed into law by a Parthian Governor Corbett last year, and dubbed “The Silencing Act” by the plaintiffs who filed suit to nullify it. The law was designed to allow victims to take judicial action against convicted persons whose expressions “perpetuated the continuing effect of the crime.” Chief Judge Conner stated in his ruling that the “guarantee of freedom of speech subsumes the right to expressive conduct that some may find offensive.”

Plaintiffs in the suit include media outlets, journalists, and inmate advocacy organizations. They named both Attorney General Kathleen Kane and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams as defendants; the court later dropped Williams from the suit given his promise not to enforce the law pending the court’s review.

A spokesman for the Attorney General said her office is reviewing the decision. Ben Finley reports for the Inquirer that bill sponsor Mike Vereb (R, MontCo) stated he will rewrite the bill if Kane fails to appeal the court’s decision.

“Justice isn’t just about the criminals and their rights,” said Vereb, according the Inquirer. “It’s about the victims and their rights.”

From the court’s opinion, the full text of which is embedded below:

“The court concludes that the challenged statute betrays several constitutional requirements; the enactment is unlawfully purposed, vaguely executed, and patently overbroad in scope. However well-intentioned its legislative efforts, the General Assembly fell woefully short of the mark. The result is a law that is manifestly unconstitutional, both facially and as applied to plaintiffs. Thus, the court is compelled to grant plaintiffs‟ requests for declaratory relief, declare the Revictimization Relief Act, 18 PA. CONS. STAT. § 11.1304, to be violative of the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and permanently enjoin its enforcement.”