Criminal Justice
Cash grab: As asset forfeiture quietly expands across Pa., abuses follow
As counties have scaled up the practice to fund local police, our investigation found that seemingly innocent people are getting caught in the rush for cash.
6 years ago
Listen 6:02ACLU to end suit over Pa. public defender funding
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania says it’s dropping a long-running lawsuit against Luzerne County over lack of fu ...
6 years ago
Advocates sue Pa. officials, say they failed to catch major problems at Glen Mills Schools
The suit holds two Pa. departments responsible for constitutional violations and other infractions against children sent to the prominent Delaware County reform school.
6 years ago
Is Philly’s supervised injection site legal? Backers make ‘moral and religious’ defense
Among their arguments: shutting down the proposed injection sites would violate the group’s Judeo-Christian convictions.
6 years ago
Pa. gun owner among many nationwide fighting to overturn Trump-led ban on bump stocks
Federal officials are asking gun owners to immediately destroy or turn over bump stocks after a nationwide ban took effect this week.
6 years ago
Come Monday, Pennsylvanians can apply for pardons for free
The commonwealth's Board of Pardons has voted unanimously to get rid of all application fees, starting March 18.
6 years ago
Fewer inmates will not mean a prison closure in 2019, Pa. officials say
The number of inmates in Pennsylvania has hit the lowest point in a decade, but prison officials say the time isn’t right to close a prison.
6 years ago
81 Pa. county jail suicides in 4 years: A look at how jails report deaths
Numbers from the state Department of Corrections provide context for the breadth of the problem across Pennsylvania. Figures for the most recent year were released in February
6 years ago
Pa. taxpayers continue funding state troopers in towns without cops after years of capitol debate
Republican leaders want to charge municipalities for state police service based on workload indicators like calls for service instead of the governor’s proposed population-dri
6 years ago
Listen 1:22The trial over Pa.’s prison mail policy may be heading toward a settlement
The unprecedented security measures at the center of this trial involved giving inmates photocopies of their mail, while the prison temporarily stored the originals.
6 years ago
The end of civil asset forfeiture? U.S. Supreme Court ruling has advocates hopeful
The U.S. Supreme Court placed limits on the civil asset forfeiture, but Pennsylvania’s high court already reined in the program throughout the state.
6 years ago
Is Pa.’s prison mail policy legal? It might depend (in part) on how fast guards can read
A federal trial is underway on whether Pennsylvania's policy for handling legal mail sent to prisons violates inmates' First Amendment rights.
6 years ago
New law to curb witness intimidation in Pa. is criticized by watchdogs
Critics call the law redundant, “excessively broad,” and potentially unconstitutional.
6 years ago
Federal prosecutors sue to stop nation’s first planned ‘supervised injection site’ in Philly
The civil lawsuit is the first time the federal government has intervened in the hotly debated issue of supervised injection sites.
6 years ago
After year one, Philly DA Larry Krasner earns praise from reformers, scorn from victim advocates
After a year in office, Larry Krasner, considered one of the most progressive district attorneys in the nation, sees himself as orchestrating his own movement.
6 years ago
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