HB 1170 would expand mandatory E-Verify to the construction industry in Pennsylvania. It would impose unnecessary burdens on construction workers and businesses and would contribute to a massive government database of workers’ information that could be used to facilitate additional forms of data surveillance.

HB 1477 would ensure that individuals with a criminal record are not automatically excluded from earning an occupational license simply because of their criminal history.

Under current law, people are entitled to parole consideration once a year, except in very limited cases. HB 1538 would add 13 new offenses to this statute, which would require people convicted of those offenses to wait three years (instead of one year) to reapply for parole if parole was previously denied.

As filed, HB 1555 would have reformed how long Pennsylvanians stay on probation, eliminated some of the most burdensome conditions of probation, and reduced the amount of time served in prison for probation violations. But as amended, HB 1555 unravels all those reforms and in some cases, makes the probation system in Pennsylvania worse.

HB 1780 would exempt the records of a volunteer fire, EMS, or rescue company from access under the Right to Know Law.

HB 1827 would enhance the penalty for causing or aiding suicide when the person who died by suicide is under 18 years old or has an intellectual disability from a second-degree to first-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Causing or aiding suicide is already heavily penalized under current law and there is nothing in the bill that requires a person to know that the person is under 18 years old or has an intellectual disability.

HB 1841 would mandate background reporting and investigations for prospective law enforcement applicants and requires that those records are maintained in an electronic database. The database is accessible to law enforcement agencies to screen potential officers before hiring, which may help reduce the number of problematic and abusive police officers moving easily from one jurisdiction to another.

Decades of research shows that mandatory sentences don't work — they increase prison populations and costs without deterring or reducing crime. HB 1850 would reinstate previously invalidated mandatory minimum sentences in PA for numerous, non-drug related offenses.

Decades of research shows that mandatory sentences don't work — they increase prison populations and costs without deterring or reducing crime. HB 1851 would create new mandatory minimum penalties for people who possess a firearm and have certain prior felony convictions, no matter how old the prior felony conviction is. The provisions of this bill are so punitive, the estimated costs to incarcerate people under its penalties are $67.2 million after 5 years and $366.4 million after 10 years.

Decades of research shows that mandatory sentences don't work — they increase prison populations and costs without deterring or reducing crime. HB 1852 would require mandatory sentences for a “crime of violence” to run consecutively with any other sentence for a crime of violence that involves a different victim, even if the crime stems from the same criminal event.

HB 1855 would keep people needlessly incarcerated by delaying consideration of parole by adding a mandatory 12-24 months to a person's minimum date of release, depending on the offense.

HB 1890 would mandate hospitals or clinics to arrange for ritual disposal (via burial or cremation) of all medical tissue from a miscarriage or abortion, no matter how early in the pregnancy. Current law already requires the bill's procedures for pregnancies that end after 16 weeks. By requiring ritual disposal before 16 weeks gestation, HB 1890 dangerously expands the definition of a fetus, violates a woman's privacy, and imposes undue burdens on women, their doctors, and medical facilities.

HB 1910 would provide training to officers on interacting with individuals of diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds; implicit bias training; recognizing and reporting child abuse; and annual training on the use of appropriate force. In addition, the bill would require police officers to be tested for post-traumatic stress disorder every two years and within 30 days of any lethal use-of-force incident.

HB 2056 would eliminate the requirement to cause or attempt to cause “serious bodily injury” and allow prosecutors to charge an assault as aggravated whenever a simple assault is committed against a person with a physical or intellectual disability. In other words, it treats a simple assault as aggravated, increasing the penalties from up to 2 years in prison for a second-degree misdemeanor to up to 10 years for a second-degree felony.

Pennsylvania's Tender Years Hearsay Act is a hearsay exception that allows out-of-court statements made by individuals 12 years of age or younger to be entered into evidence under specific conditions. HB 2342 would uniformly expand the Tender Years Hearsay Act to allow the introduction of hearsay statements made by people 16 years of age or younger, further eroding the due process right to confront one's accuser.

HB 2463 would ensure that the Right to Know Law remains in effect during disaster declarations. The bill would require commonwealth agencies to continue to follow procedures established by the Office of Open Records, even if they are otherwise closed due to the emergency declaration.

HB 2530 would amend Pennsylvania’s Religious Freedom Protection Act to prevent any order under a disaster declaration from restricting religious assembly. While the ACLU-PA would not normally oppose a protection of religious exercise, this bill attempts to establish religious assembly as an absolute right, which would likely violate both the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.

HB 256 would enhance the grading of simple assault from a misdemeanor to a felony and increases an aggravated assault against corrections staff from a second-degree to first-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

HB 257 would add 11 new offenses, including misdemeanors, to the list of offenses that impose mandatory consecutive sentences if those offenses are committed against prison staff by a resident.

HB 2626 would include some beneficial updates to the recent election reforms under Act 77 of 2019. But it would also implement last minute changes before the 2020 general election, including eliminating ballot drop boxes, allowing out-of-county PA electors to serve as poll watchers, and moving the deadline to request an absentee or mail ballot a week earlier, creating needless confusion and potential disenfranchisement of voters.

Marsy's Law proposed a crime victims "bill of rights" amendment to the PA Constitution. But the protections it offered victims needlessly and dangerously limited well-established, constitutional due process rights of the accused.

HB 321 would unconstitutionally prohibit terminating a pregnancy following a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Any person violating this provision could be charged with a third-degree felony.

HB 365 is intended to prevent illegal trespassing (“squatting”), but would allow police to evict people from residential properties based solely on probable cause, thereby permitting legitimate owners and occupants to be evicted from their residences without basic due process rights.

For people who have been pardoned, HB 440 would require that their criminal charges be automatically sealed. For those who have been fully acquitted, those charges would be automatically expunged from their criminal record. The bill would also expand PA’s Clean Slate law by removing the obligation to pay outstanding court fines and costs (except restitution) before eligible cases can be sealed.

HB 503 would create a new hearsay exception to allow out-of-court statements from victims or witnesses — of any age — diagnosed with an intellectual disability or autism to be admissible as evidence in criminal or civil trials. The Tender Years Hearsay Act currently permits hearsay to be admitted only for those 12 years and younger.

Pennsylvania's Tender Years Hearsay Act allows out-of-court statements made by individuals 12 years of age or younger to be entered into evidence under specific conditions. HB 505 would significantly expand the list of offenses for which hearsay statements may be admitted, further eroding due process rights of the accused.

HB 726 would require five-year mandatory minimum sentences for those who possess a firearm or a replica of a firearm while committing a “crime of violence” and would require that these sentences run consecutively (back-to-back) with any other sentence the court imposes.

HB 916 would mandate electronic surveillance of people before they have been convicted of a crime, would punish people who are too poor to pay monitoring costs, would impose mandatory consecutive sentences, and would further expand excessive penalties for DUI-related offenses.

HR 1032 would create a House select committee with subpoena power, charged with investigating, reviewing and making recommendations concerning the regulation and conduct of the 2020 general election. The powers delegated to this select committee were broad and its provisions poorly defined, creating a dangerous mechanism for legislative election interference.

HR 1100 would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to coordinate an audit of ballots canvassed in the 2020 general election. While the ACLU-PA strongly supports measures that ensure greater transparency and accuracy in election tallies, this rushed resolution would not only duplicate elements of existing audits, but its parameters appear to be constructed to "prove" a pre-determined outcome.

SB 1110 aims to assist public safety personnel by sharing the address of anyone who tests positive for a communicable disease that is the subject of a disaster declaration. Health departments would share addresses with a confirmed positive case to 911 centers. This means that dispatch centers are the only entities that receive this data and it is only shared with public safety personnel when they are responding to a call at that address.

In response to court closures resulting from the COVID-19 emergency, SB 1119 would suspend all time calculations relevant to court cases and would provide additional time for the filing of any necessary pleadings or other judicial business through April 30, 2020.

In response to court closures resulting from the COVID-19 emergency, SB 1120 would extend the amount of time individuals have to respond to a citation or to pay fines, costs, or restitution In-person payments would not be mandatory and if a payment is missed, a court hearing must be held to determine if a default has occurred.

In response to court closures resulting from the COVID-19 emergency, SB 1128 would limit the ability of the Commonwealth to suspend a license during the emergency declaration. Licenses could not be suspended until the court holds a hearing and a decision is rendered.

SB 1205 would require each police department to adopt a use-of-force policy, train officers in it, and release the policy to the public. It also limits, but does not ban, chokehold restraints.

As amended, SB 14 would change current law in ways that risk making probation worse in Pennsylvania by making it easier for judges to incarcerate people after revoking their probation, increasing the length of incarceration for technical violations, and allowing judges to keep people on probation indefinitely, including those who are too poor to pay their restitution in full.

SB 351 would add ''health practitioner or technician'' to the list of 38 officers or employees to Pennsylvania's aggravated assault statute, which grades a simple assault as aggravated. Ceaselessly expanding this list would all but render the offense of simple assault meaningless. It metes out greater punishment based not on the intent or severity of the assault, but rather on the employment status of the victim.

SB 421 would make the most significant (and badly needed) reforms to Pennsylvania's election code in decades. Some of the bill's most important changes include: providing more time for people to register to vote and to request a mail ballot before each election; expanding ballot access by permitting vote-by-mail; and allocating $90 million to ensure each county uses voting machines with a voter-verified paper trail.

Currently there is no requirement to collect or report data on police use of force incidents. While SB 459 would require some minimal reporting, the use of force report would tell us nothing about the officers responsible, which departments they work for, and who was subjected to the use of force. SB 459 does not require public disclosure of the data. It offers neither transparency nor accountability, and as a result — and by any metric — it fails as a reform measure.

SB 469 would create a new hearsay exception to allow out-of-court statements from victims or witnesses — of any age — diagnosed with an intellectual disability or autism to be admissible as evidence in criminal or civil trials. The Tender Years Hearsay Act currently permits hearsay to be admitted only for those 12 years and younger.

Pennsylvania's Tender Years Hearsay Act allows out-of-court statements made by individuals 12 years of age or younger to be entered into evidence under specific conditions. SB 479 would significantly expand the list of offenses for which hearsay statements may be admitted, further eroding due process rights of the accused.

One of three JRI II bills, SB 500 would establish the County Adult Probation and Parole Advisory Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The Committee is tasked with funding and overseeing improvements to county probation. The bill also provides a funding mechanism to support the Justice Reinvestment Fund and county adult probation and parole departments.

One of three JRI II bills, SB 501 would impose: mandatory minimum sentences; a mandatory period of parole; an unconstitutional procedure to revoke probation and incarcerate someone without requisite due process protections; the use of a problematic risk assessment instrument; would excessively garnish residents' wage and commissary accounts; and would permit courts to revoke probation for vague threats to public safety.

One of three JRI II bills, SB 502 would improve victim services and compensation. The bill expands the definition of crimes under the Crime Victims Act, improves the flow of information from law enforcement to victims, expands the statute of limitations for victim compensation, and lowers the minimum out-of-pocket loss amount required for victims to receive compensation, among other reforms.

SB 637 would ensure that individuals with a criminal record are not automatically excluded from earning an occupational license simply because of their criminal history.

Known as “Deana’s Law,” SB 773 would mandate surveillance of people before they have been convicted of a crime, risks punishing people who are too poor to pay monitoring costs, imposes mandatory consecutive sentences, and further expands penalties for DUI-related offenses.