Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated a sentence based on an objective appearance of bias where a former prosecutor against the co-defendant is now presiding as a judge over a related post conviction relief petition. The court stated in relevant part: “In reaching our conclusion, we emphasize that our standard of review is not whether Judge Reichley is…
The Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated a conviction for theft by receiving stolen property finding that the evidence was insufficient to establish that the property was stolen. The court stated in relevant part: “Viewing the record, including the habeas corpus testimony about the VIN number check, and drawing all reasonable inferences from that evidence in the light most…
“Each year, millions of Americans rely on public defenders to fulfill their Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Despite being the linchpin of the criminal justice system, public defense remains both underfunded and understudied. This Article provides empirical analysis to contribute to a critical question: How should public defender systems be structured? Criminal justice advocates, scholars,…
“For decades, in the summertime, America has confined certain of its youth in what are essentially open-air heat camps. In city after city, camp-form is established through the enactment of warm-weather juvenile curfews which keep the youth at home or in state-sponsored centers during summer nights and, increasingly, during days as well. Local governments justify…
“This paper describes a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to evaluation used by an academic-practitioner partnership to refine the logic model for a violent crime reduction program and develop associated performance measures. Through qualitative and quantitative data collection, including semi-structured interviews, engagement with program stakeholders (e.g., program leaders and staff, peer researchers, community residents), community…
From the introduction: “One of our goals in producing this report is to inform school administrators, board members, and parent and student stakeholders, giving details about which groups of students are disproportionately arrested and about the gaps that exist in data reporting. We also want to provide guidance on how to address these issues. We…
From the abstract: “This Article considers an approach to pretrial reform focused on improving the quality of defense counsel. In Philadelphia, a substantial fraction of people facing criminal charges are detained following rapid preliminary hearings where initial release conditions are set by bail magistrates operating with limited information. Beginning in 2017, the Defender Association of…
From the introduction: “This brief tells the story of how the four Models for Change states—Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, and Washington—are already moving to reform and reshape their own state juvenile justice systems. These states have demonstrated strong leadership in juvenile justice policy, value collaboration and engagement, and because of their efforts, have changed the political…
