Pennsylvania

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

Judge is accused of insulting and yelling at campaign workers for his opponent

A magisterial district judge in Pennsylvania is accused of yelling at campaign workers for his judicial opponent in a misconduct complaint filed Tuesday by the Judicial Conduct Board. The complaint accuses the judge, William Maruszczak, of improper campaign conduct and failing to recuse himself in a suit filed by a…

Mar 1, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Pennsylvania Supreme Court issues its own congressional map

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday issued its own congressional map to be used in May’s primary election. The new boundaries could help Democrats gain three or four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, report the New York Times and the Washington Post. Democrats currently hold five of 18…

Feb 20, 2018 12:32 PM CST

Partner’s son admits embezzling $827K from law firm, says details are fuzzy because of drugs

The son of a partner in a Pittsburgh law firm pleaded guilty to bank fraud for embezzling $827,000 from the firm while serving as office manager. Anthony Calaiaro, 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to forging a partner’s name on about 500 checks payable to himself, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In…

Feb 16, 2018 12:12 PM CST

Rulings make judges legislative targets; impeachment bid in Pennsylvania

Combative lawmakers in some states are trying to punish judges for their decisions. In Pennsylvania, the rebellion includes a call for impeachment.

Feb 14, 2018 3:20 PM CST

Trump nominates 9 to federal court vacancies

Updated: Nine more nominees for federal judgeships were announced Tuesday by the White House. The newest wave of nominees are: • Mark Bennett, former attorney general of Hawaii, to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. • Andrew Oldham, general counsel for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to the…

Feb 13, 2018 4:00 PM CST

Alito denies GOP request to stay Pennsylvania order in partisan gerrymandering case

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. has denied a request by Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania to stay an order by the state's top court that requires the redrawing of a congressional district map in a partisan gerrymandering case.

Feb 5, 2018 1:20 PM CST

Pennsylvania legislative leader defies court order to turn over map data in gerrymandering case

Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati informed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court he won’t comply with a court order to provide voter records and mapmaking material in a partisan gerrymandering case. The Republican lawmaker said he would defy the order in a letter to the court written by Blank Rome…

Feb 1, 2018 1:18 PM CST

Pennsylvania’s top court tosses congressional map, finds state constitutional violation

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that a congressional district map benefiting Republicans violates the state constitution, and it ordered state lawmakers to submit a new plan by Feb. 9. The court said the current map “clearly, plainly and palpably” violates the state constitution, and it may not be used…

Jan 22, 2018 3:17 PM CST

Some states are welcoming back ex-offenders to work behind bars

In 2010, Cindy Stubbs was nearing the end of a 14-year sentence in a South Carolina prison, determined never to return. A mother of four, locked up on gun and drug trafficking charges since she was 34, Stubbs worked inside the prison translating textbooks to Braille. Three months before her…

Jan 18, 2018 1:25 PM CST

Amish family ordered by state appellate court to use electric sewer pump

A split three-judge panel representing a Pennsylvania appellate court has ordered an Old Order Amish family, whose religious beliefs frown upon the use of electricity, to connect to a municipal sewer through an electric grinder pump. The Legal Intelligencer, PennLive and York Daily Record had the story. Sugar Grove Township’s…

Jan 16, 2018 3:54 PM CST

Pittsburgh firms team up to offer AI contract review software to clients

Two Pittsburgh-based businesses—the law firm Horty, Springer, & Mattern and legal tech company LegalSifter—are teaming up to provide clients with new artificial intelligence contract review software. “It’s the next logical step in the use of artificial intelligence in the legal profession,” Dan Mulholland, senior partner at Horty Springer, says in…

Jan 16, 2018 2:33 PM CST

Judge punishes lawyer for using hashtag #killinnazis, tosses $27.8M Xarelto verdict on other grounds

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday overturned a $27.8 million verdict against the makers of the blood thinner Xarelto in a lawsuit by an Indiana woman who claimed the drug caused severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

Jan 11, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Hazing death leads to fraternity’s 10-year ban from Pennsylvania

A Pennsylvania judge has banned the fraternity Pi Delta Psi from operating in the state after the hazing death of Chun Hsien Deng, a 2013 freshman pledge. Prosecutors brought criminal charges against the fraternity, and it was found guilty of aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter, the New York Times reports.…

Jan 9, 2018 5:12 PM CST

3 days into new job, Philadelphia DA Krasner fires 31 staff members

New Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner fired 31 members of the office three days into the job. The move makes “clear his intention to take the office in a different direction,” spokesman Ben Waxman told philly.com. Before winning the election last year, Krasner was a civil rights attorney who often…

Jan 5, 2018 5:01 PM CST