Legislative Update 11-2-07

Report submitted by Larry Frankel, ACLU-PA Legislative Director

Death Penalty and Mental Retardation

On October 29, 2007, the Senate by a vote of 45-3 passed Senate Bill 751 (which we support) that implements the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring the imposition of the death penalty on persons with mental retardation. As you may recall, the big issue here is whether the legislation will provide for a pre-trail determination of whether a defendant in a capital case is a person with mental retardation. Senate Bill 751 was moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 2, 2007, by a vote of 11-2. On October 23, 2007, the full Senate rejected a proposed amendment that would have stricken the pre-trial procedure and replaced it with a post-trial procedure. There were only 9 votes for the amendment while 40 Senators voted against that amendment. This bill will now go to the House where we will work with our many allies to try to have this pass the House, without any amendments, so that it can then go to Governor Rendell.

LGBT Civil Rights

On October 4 and 5, 2007, the House State Government Committee, chaired by Representative Babette Josephs of Philadelphia, held public hearings on House Bill 1400. The prime sponsor of this bill is Representative Dan Frankel from Pittsburgh. It would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to expand its anti-discrimination protections so that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in employment, housing and public accommodations would be prohibited in Pennsylvania. The hearings were in Pittsburgh and Erie. Another hearing has been scheduled for November 15, 2007, in Philadelphia. At the hearing in Pittsburgh, Representatives Josephs and Frankel asked some very good questions of the many witnesses. Also during the month of October, the ACLU of Pennsylvania along with Equality Advocates of Pennsylvania and the Value All Families Coalition sponsored town halls meetings on LGBT equality in York and State College. Kudos to Andy Hoover for organizing these town hall meetings.

Open Records Law

Both the House and Senate are working on bills to overhaul Pennsylvania's open records law. We have been lobbying for a law that: creates a presumption that a record maintained by government is a public record; looks at the substance and content of a record in determining whether a record is a public record rather than the form in which the record is kept (on paper or in electronic form); recognizes a range of privacy interests that must be considered in determining what is a public record; and provides for some kind of advocate for open records to help make sure that the new law is properly implemented. This is very much a work in progress and we are talking with key legislators and staff about our concerns and making suggestions for amendments to the bills. We will continue trying to make this a better final product as the bills work there way through the legislative process. On October 29, 2007, I participated on a panel on this subject at the Cleve J. Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The panel was taped by PCN-TV and I am sure it will be aired numerous times.

Immigration "Reform"

We have continued our work in opposing various state legislative proposals on immigration. I spoke out in reaction to the notorious "Invasion PA" report and called for an immigration debate based on facts not fear. We submitted written testimony on Senate Bill 9 to the Senate State Government Committee which held a hearing on that bill on October 17, 2007. The legislation would mandate that anyone applying for public benefits show government issued ID and sign an affidavit regarding lawful presence. Drawing on lessons we learned in Hazleton, I pointed out how this bill would harm many U.S. citizens and persons lawfully present in this country. On October 25, 2007, I spoke at a House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee informational meeting on immigration issues and explained the Hazleton decision to legislators who were present. On October 29, 2007, I participated in a program, "Immigration Law in Pennsylvania: Policy and Practice," at Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg. That program was also taped by PCN-TV and I am sure that it too will be aired many times.

ABA Report of the Death Penalty in Pennsylvania

The American Bar Association issued its report on the death penalty in Pennsylvania on October 9, 2007. That report underscored the need to address Pennsylvania's flawed death penalty. Since the issuance of the report, Andy and I have been talking to legislators and staff about the report and the need for more public discussion and debate over its findings.

Emergency Contraception

We have continued our lobbying in support of House Bill 288 that would require that rape victims be given information about and access to emergency contraception in emergency rooms. We are facing stiff opposition from those who believe that religiously affiliated hospitals should be exempted from this mandate. We have helped draft an alternative proposal that would guarantee complete care for rape victims without unduly burdening religious hospitals, but these hospitals still are objecting. While the bill was easily reported form the House Health and Human Services committee in June, we still face hurdles in winning a vote when the bill comes before the full House.

Expungement of Criminal Records

On September 18, 2007, Andy and I both testified at a public hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on several bills that would make some changes to the current law regarding expungement of criminal records. We expressed the ACLU's support for the bill that would make the most significant changes because we believe that making it easier to have old records expunged will help an ex-offender find employment and not become a recidivist. Although no action has been taken on any of the bills since the hearing, we are optimistic that we will see some movement on this issue during this legislative session.

Other matters

We have also found time to stir further interest among legislators in the problems Pennsylvania faces under the Real ID Act and supported a resolution (House Resolution 12) that calls for a study of the impact and effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentences (it passed the House unanimously on October 16, 2007). Andy Hoover spoke at a rally organized by Senator Kitchen in support of legislation designed to give offenders a second chance. And I spent a full day in Washington, D.C., accompanying our lobbyists down there in a series of meetings on warrantless wiretapping.