Local judges in Pennsylvania have a substantial influence over the criminal legal system–and not just in a criminal trial. How judges use their discretion throughout the process can make an enormous difference in how long a...
Tom Petty said it well in his hit song, Walls: “Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks.” In late April, Gregory Lee Clark, 54, of St. Clair Township, got a rock. Early in the evening of the 27th, two deputies showed up at...
Most Pennsylvanians know House Bill 1180 as the bill that would legalize marijuana in the state. Introduced in mid-April 2021 by Representative David Delloso, D-Ridley Park, the bill would make marijuana use legal for anyone...
Have you been arrested in Pennsylvania over the last eighteen months for domestic abuse or violating a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order? You’re not alone. Like a number of other crimes, from reckless driving to homicide,...
The media is awash with news about Bill Cosby after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction. We originally updated you about Cosby’s case in October of 2020, and then we explained why the...
If you don’t cooperate with the court’s conditions for parole, your chances of gaining parole are pretty low. What happened in Bill Cosby’s case shortly before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed his...
The arrest of a Pennsylvania couple made headlines recently in part for the gaudy nature of the offense. Christopher Weikert and Tara Gallucci had over 21.5 pounds of meth, worth over $1 million, stashed in their Northampton...
Protection from Abuse Orders: Drawing a Line Between Parenting Choices and Child Abuse
June 29, 2021
A bold and well-qualified spokesperson has finally confronted the big unspoken issue head-on: too many good parents, whether in custody disputes or just while doing their best as parents, face false allegations of child abuse....
A recent report indicates that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is considering new rules for using comfort animals to calm witnesses in court. Court appearances can be stressful, but who would have thought that it would come...
A recent story reports the firing of a Pennsylvania prison guard for slapping an inmate unprovoked and then trying to cover it up. State law supported the guard’s firing. Pennsylvania statute prohibits guards from using...
A defendant may seek to withdraw a guilty plea in Pennsylvania–but it’s getting harder to have the motion granted. The Pennsylvania appeals court recently refused to void the prison sentence of an Erie man who sought...
Automatic Expungements for Marijuana
June 15, 2021
Automatic Expungements for Marijuana Gain Popularity In recent years, the use of marijuana has become increasingly mainstream. Many states have not only decriminalized marijuana possession, but they have also taken steps to...
Recently, actress Olivia Wilde sought and received a restraining order against an apparent stalker of her family. The star, once engaged to Jason Sudeikis, applied for the restraining order to protect herself, Sudeikis, and...
The recent arrest of a Scranton man offers a useful opportunity to discuss stalking in Pennsylvania, particularly what enhancements can do to a stalking sentence. Earlier this year, Gregory Rossi, 49 of Hazelton, received 30...
No one drives perfectly. There are days, though, when the little mistakes someone else makes on the road can tip a driver over the edge. Road rage, or aggressive driving, has serious consequences both for its victims and for those...
We’ve all read procedural dramas or heard cautionary tales of situations where the punishment simply doesn’t fit the crime. When it happens in real life, however, the unfair details can be far more prosaic. Recently, a...
Rhetoric is a powerful thing. In light of COVID-19’s origins, many parties across the United States and the world began to accuse people from Asian countries as well as Asian Americans of purposefully spreading the virus....
Conquering Cold Cases
May 21, 2021
The recent rise of true crime podcasts has made everyone a little more familiar with the term “cold case.” The reality of modern cold cases, however, is often trickier than the average podcast will make it seem. Cold cases...
During the coronavirus pandemic, Public Policy grad student Paige Oustrich wrote her master’s thesis on the requests for, and enforcement of, Protection from Abuse (PFA) orders in Pennsylvania during 2020. Her research...
A criminal record is more than just an informational document. People with criminal records struggle to move on with their lives after serving out their sentences. These parties have a more difficult time securing work, applying...