Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania provides state money for public defense for the first time

Published

12 months ago

January 11, 2024

Pennsylvania provides state money for public defense for the first time

Under the new law, counties must supplement the state money with their own funding, which varies drastically across the state. Philadelphia, for example, provides extensive public defense services through the city’s Defender Association, a nonprofit firm that receives most of its funding from the city.

Chief Defender Keisha Hudson told Spotlight PA in April that the Defender Association budget alone is more than $50 million, six times larger than the money the legislature approved to aid counties. The organization’s budget helps employ 500 attorneys, investigators, and social workers.

A county-by-county review by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee of the General Assembly in 2021 found Philadelphia spends the most money on criminal defense per person, around $30.20 in fiscal year 2019.

The same year, Mifflin County in rural central Pennsylvania spent $3.20 per person.

The December legislation also directs the new committee to develop educational curricula for public defenders, particularly for capital offense cases, and to collect data that will help the state oversee the quality of counsel being provided on a county level.

The goal is to have the funds distributed thoughtfully, said Hughes, and provide support as data comes in.

It won’t be enough to level the playing field, said Sara Jacobsen, director of the Public Defenders Association of Pennsylvania, who will serve on the committee. Prosecutors have received millions of state dollars for decades, she said.

But the $7.5 million might be able to address technological deficiencies that prevent local offices from measuring their caseloads and ensuring no single attorney has too many cases or all of the most difficult cases, she said.

“There are new national public defender workload standards that are out this year that would help offices say for X number of cases we need Y number of lawyers,” Jacobsen said, “but offices in Pennsylvania can’t even do that calculation if they don’t have basic case management.”

And though the new funding marks a historic step forward, it does little to move Pennsylvania’s ranking among other states, said David Carroll, executive director of the Sixth Amendment Center, which tracks how states live up to the constitutional promise of free public defense.

“[Pennsylvania’s] indigent defense cost-per-capita figure rises only slightly (from $9.67 to $10.25),” Carroll wrote in an email to Spotlight PA. “For comparison, the national average in 2022 was $19.67.”

Pennsylvania ranks 45th in total indigent defense funding, Carroll said. The states that spend less per capita are Mississippi, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas.

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the powerful to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania lawmaker’s bill would crack down on ghost guns made by 3D printers

Published

8 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Pennsylvania lawmaker’s bill would crack down on ghost guns made by 3D printers – CBS Philadelphia

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Pennsylvania Rep. Melissa Shusterman wants the state to crack down on ghost guns in 2025.

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Pennsylvania

3 Winning Lottery Tickets Sold In Philadelphia Recently

Published

16 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

3 Winning Lottery Tickets Sold In Philadelphia Recently

PHILADELPHIA — Three Pennsylvania Lottery tickets sold in Philadelphia recently have been named winners in separate contests, according to officials.

In the Saturday drawing for the Treasure Hunt game, five tickets won.

One of the tickets that matched all five numbers drawn, 2-6-10-25-26, was sold at 7-Eleven, 3301 Tyson Ave. in Philadelphia. The other was sold at Omgn Inc., 2100 East Allegheny Ave., also in Philadelphia.

Those ticket and three others split the jackpot prize of $139,917.50 to win $27,983.50.

The other winning tickets were sold in Bucks, Butler, and Lebanon counties.

More than 45,800 other Treasure Hunt tickets won prizes in the drawing. Players should check every ticket, every time.

Additionally, a West Philadelphia Wawa sold a winning lottery ticket.

Lottery officials Monday announced the winning Raffle ticket numbers drawn for the third, four $50,000 prizes in the 4s Galore Drawings as part of the New Year’s Millionaire Raffle.

The Wawa at 3744 Spruce St. sold a ticket between Dec. 3 and Dec. 16 that was selected in the drawing.

Other winning tickets were sold in Cumberland, Bradford, and Westmoreland counties.

The Raffle features four bonus drawings held every other week, each awarding four $50,000 prizes, leading up to the Millionaire Raffle drawing on Jan. 4, 2025.

To learn if your ticket won a $50,000 4s Galore Drawings prize, scan it using the ticket checker on the PA Lottery Official App or at a lottery retailer.

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HS FOOTBALL: LFC and WVC players selected as finalists for Pennsylvania Player of Year Award; Call receives invites to showcase games

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

HS FOOTBALL: LFC and WVC players selected as finalists for Pennsylvania Player of Year Award; Call receives invites to showcase games

Several athletes from the Lackawanna Football Conference and District 2 are among the 55 finalists for the Pennsylvania Player of the Year award selected by the Maxwell Football Club.

Abington Heights wide receiver Shawn Theodore, Honesdale running back Mason Avery, Riverside tight end Richie Kostoff, Scranton Prep quarterback Louis Paris and Wyoming Area running back Lidge Kellum were listed among the 55 players who are Mini Max Award winners according to a release Monday night by the Maxwell Football account on X.

The Mini Max Awards are a prestigious honor for high school football players across the Tri-State Region that includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This year is the first year District 2 players were included among the nominees.

Awards are presented at the annual Mini Max Dinner in Philadelphia on Feb. 2 at the Drexelbrook Convention Center in Drexel Hill. The award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement and sportsmanship in high school football.

In addition to the Mini Max Awards, the Maxwell Football Club also chooses the Player of the Year for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The event culminates with the Jim Henry Award, which goes to one of the three State Players of the Year.

Call receives invites

Valley View freshman lineman Brody Call received invites to three postseason games.

Call, a 6-0, 230-pound standout for the Cougars, is invited to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 26-29, the All-American Bowl on Jan. 17-20 in Miami, Florida, and the Polynesian Bowl Combine and Showcase in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 21-22.

Call started every game for the Cougars and helped lead the team to the District 2 Class 4A championship and an 11-2 record.

Cesare ceremony

The 33rd Fiore Cesare Award and Scholarship ceremony is Friday at 2 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Scranton.

Mid Valley running back and defensive back Jakob Lesher, Delaware Valley quarterback and punter Logan Olsommer, Scranton Prep quarterback Louis Paris, Riverside quarterback Chase Taddonio and Western Wayne running back and defensive back Josh Vinton are the five finalists named by the Roy Davis Scranton Chapter of PIAA Football Officials.

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