Pennsylvania

Officer who shot and killed unarmed teen is charged with homicide

A suburban Pittsburgh police officer has been charged with homicide for shooting and killing an unarmed black teen while investigating a drive-by shooting.

Jun 27, 2018 5:35 PM CDT

Lawyer is suspended after using ex-client’s information in complaint about ‘angry feminist cabal’

A Pennsylvania lawyer who claimed in a lawsuit that his client had been victimized by “vigilante justice from student activists” had used information provided by one of the activists in a previous representation, according to a joint petition for discipline. Lawyer Raul Jauregui was suspended for one year based partly…

Jun 19, 2018 7:06 AM CDT

Another ruling by controversial Philadelphia family court judge is overturned

Updated: A Philadelphia family court judge who repeatedly interrupted a lawyer and frequently noted the late hour violated the due process rights of three children when she removed them from the home of their mother, a Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled.

Jun 12, 2018 7:10 AM CDT

Law firms hire company to send ads to ER patients’ cellphones; is it a HIPAA violation?

Some personal injury law firms plan to use a technology called “geofencing” to send ads to cellphones of patients in emergency rooms, pain clinics and chiropractor offices.

May 30, 2018 1:37 PM CDT

San Francisco district attorney to use algorithm to aid marijuana expungements

The San Francisco district attorney’s office announced it will use an algorithm to help determine expungement eligibility for those with some marijuana convictions going back to the mid-1970s. “When the government uses 20th-century tools to tackle 21st-century problems, it’s the public that pays the price,” says District Attorney George Gascón…

May 21, 2018 2:03 PM CDT

Appeals court criticizes ‘judicially created parental alienation’ in case of baby with broken ribs

A state appeals court has accused a Pennsylvania judge of “judicially created parental alienation” and a failure to provide due process when she kept a baby in “protracted foster care” after receiving no explanation for broken ribs and then terminated parental rights.

May 8, 2018 8:00 AM CDT

Judge’s mass contempt trial and ‘high-speed sentencing’ violated due process, appeals court rules

A Pennsylvania judge who sent 54 people to jail for failing to pay fines after holding a mass contempt trial violated the defendants’ due process rights, a state appeals court has ruled. Cambria County Judge Tamara Bernstein didn’t allow any of the defendants to be heard and didn’t allow any…

May 4, 2018 11:40 AM CDT

Black men arrested at Starbucks settle with Philadelphia for $1 each and $200K donation

Two black men arrested last month at a Starbucks in Philadelphia while waiting for a business associate have agreed to release the city from any legal claims in exchange for the payment of $1 each and a promise to donate $200,000 to a program for aspiring entrepreneurs. The agreement between…

May 2, 2018 1:09 PM CDT

Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault in retrial with additional witnesses

Bill Cosby has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a Temple University employee at his home in 2004. Jurors in Norristown, Pennsylvania, found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Thursday, report the New York Times and the Washington Post. It was the second trial for the…

Apr 26, 2018 1:19 PM CDT

Black lawyer says golf club asked her group to leave on slow-play pretext

A black lawyer claims white officials at a golf club discriminated against her group of five black women golfers by asking the women to leave based on a slow-golfing pretext and then calling police. The lawyer, Sandra Thompson, is a solo practitioner in York, Pennsylvania, who is president of the…

Apr 26, 2018 12:03 PM CDT

Pennsylvania DA is charged with protecting drug dealers, trading favorable treatment for sex

A long-time district attorney in Pennsylvania has been arrested on 31 charges that accuse him of thwarting drug investigations and trading favorable treatment for sex.

Apr 5, 2018 8:59 AM CDT

Cosby’s lawyers seek to replace judge because of his wife’s advocacy for sex assault victims

Bill Cosby’s lawyers contend the Pennsylvania judge who is presiding in the comedian’s retrial on charges of aggravated indecent assault should recuse himself because the judge’s wife is an advocate for sexual assault victims. Lawyers for Cosby said in a motion filed on Thursday that Judge Steven O’Neill had shown…

Mar 23, 2018 3:39 PM CDT

Impeachment threat for redistricting ruling is attack on independence, top state justice says

Pennsylvania Chief Justice Thomas Saylor is expressing concern over impeachment resolutions filed by lawmakers against four of his colleagues.

Mar 22, 2018 2:27 PM CDT

Supreme Court turns down GOP request to block Pennsylvania congressional map

A redrawn map will likely govern congressional elections this year in Pennsylvania after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a Republican request to block new district boundaries.

Mar 19, 2018 4:46 PM CDT

Pennsylvania mayor is convicted in scheme to solicit donations in exchange for legal and other work

The mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was convicted along with a lawyer on Thursday in a scheme to solicit campaign donations from law firms and vendors in exchange for city contracts. Mayor Ed Pawlowski, a Democrat, was convicted on 47 of 54 charges, including conspiracy, bribery, attempted extortion, mail and wire…

Mar 2, 2018 11:51 AM CST