Court Opinion

ID: 9816188
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 02:43:36.860456+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:04:03.501097
License: Public Domain

FULLAM, District Judge,

concurring.

Solely because we are bound by the panel opinion in E.B. v. Verniero, 119 F.3d 1077 (3d Cir.1997), I concur in the majority’s disposition of this appeal. I do so with great reluctance, however, because I agree in all respects with the dissenting opinion of Judge (now Chief Judge) Becker in E.B. As the material submitted to us under seal (and, indeed, the records in E.B. and other reported cases) demonstrate, the theoretical and “feel-good” benefits of Megan’s Law may in the long run, be overwhelmed by the law’s negative consequences. Statutes enabling, even perhaps encouraging, vigilantism and similar harms, seem utterly at odds with constitutional values. Perhaps an expanded record in the district court on remand may provide a basis for ameliorative measures.