United States of America Ex Rel. Carl G. Gerchman v. James F. Maroney, Superintendent State Correctional Institution, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

FREEDMAN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus raises grave constitutional problems regarding Pennsylvania’s so-called Barr-Walker Act of January 8,1952, P.L.1851,19 Purdon’s Pa.Stat.Annot. §§ 1166-1174.

I

The Barr-Walker Act

The Act provides that if the court is of the opinion that a person who has been convicted before it of indecent assault, incest, assault with intent to commit sodomy, solicitation to commit sodomy, sodomy, assault with intent to ravish or rape, would, “if at large, constitute a threat of bodily harm to members of the public, or…