Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Public Defense System Is Unconstitutional, Underfunded by at Least $100M, New ACLU Suit Says
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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has failed to live up to its constitutional responsibility to provide an effective defense to people who can’t afford attorneys and will need to spend at least $100 million to fulfill this obligation, the ACLU of Pennsylvania said in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
The group brought the suit on behalf of 17 people facing issues including little to no contact with the public defenders they are entitled to, according to the lawsuit.
It was also filed on behalf of all current and future indigent people, those accused of a crime and unable to pay for a private defense attorney. If the court approves this group as a class, any outcome will extend to all of those affected.
The suit blames the state, not the counties, for failing to properly fund these constitutionally mandated services and names Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) and state House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) as defendants.
At the moment, Pennsylvania only provides $7.5 million to support indigent defense. Counties must make up the rest with limited local funds, and public defenders’ offices are often shut out from funding opportunities available to prosecutors, the suit asserts citing Spotlight PA reporting.
The suit asks Commonwealth Court to rule the current public defense system unconstitutional and retain oversight until the state fully complies with the constitutional right to counsel.
Rather than seeking damages for specific plaintiffs, the suit is pursuing holistic reform, said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director Vic Walczak.
“You’re trying to change how an institution works — here we’re actually talking about how 67 institutions work,” he told Spotlight PA.
Should the court rule in favor of the petitioners, Pennsylvania officials will likely have an opportunity to propose a remedy in consultation with the ACLU of PA. The process will take years, Walczak said.
In a statement to Spotlight PA, Ward spokesperson Erica Clayton said the senator had yet to receive the lawsuit and would need time to review it before commenting.
McClinton spokesperson Nicole Reigelman wrote that “McClinton started her career as a public defender and knows firsthand the value that indigent defense plays in the judicial system.”
Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder, also in a written statement, highlighted the governor’s proposed and ultimately approved funding for public defense in the 2023 budget.
“Governor Shapiro is the first to acknowledge there is a long way to go — which is why he is focused on delivering real results on this critically important issue,” Bonder wrote.
Shapiro is reviewing the complaint and cannot comment further, Bonder said.
The result of the inadequate support is a system in which too few attorneys are responsible for too many cases, and ultimately cannot provide the level of defense the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions demand, attorneys for the petitioners said at a news briefing Thursday morning.
“The right to counsel is not just the right to a warm body with a law degree standing next to you,” Walczak said during the briefing. “It requires a professional who has the time and resources to prepare an adequate constitutional defense.”
Pennsylvania has not provided consistent funding for indigent defense until this year. Instead, state law has made it the sole responsibility of each of the 67 counties to pay for the federal mandate, a burden many are unable to meet.
In 2023, Shapiro proposed $10 million in state funding for public defense, with the promise of consistent funding in the years to come. The legislature ultimately approved $7.5 million in December, giving most public defenders’ offices their first-ever infusion from the state. Shapiro asked lawmakers to increase that allocation to $10 million in his 2024 budget proposal.
The legislature also created a committee to allocate the money and establish statewide standards for public defense, which previously had not existed. In April, the committee announced each county’s allotment, which ranged from about $90,000 for Potter County to $141,000 for Philadelphia.
But even with this new support, each county’s allotment will not be enough to make up the deficit public defender’s offices face, according to the lawsuit, or even the playing field with prosecutors.
To reach parity with average national spending per capita, or with similar states, Pennsylvania would have to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars, the lawsuit argues, a level of spending that counties cannot accomplish on their own.
“Counties do not have the means to raise revenue in the way the state does,” Walczak said, noting counties also have to pay for competing and more politically attractive public services such as education, health and law enforcement.
“You’re talking about an agency, the office of the public defender, that serves a constituency that has no political clout,” he said. “By definition, they’ve got no resources. So, over the course of the last 50 years, indigent defense services have declined persistently.”
The ACLU of PA alleges that public defense is likely underfunded and inadequate in every county, citing a recent study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, and singles out some of Pennsylvania’s rural and sparsely populated counties as particularly unequipped to handle their criminal caseload.
Many of the named petitioners have been incarcerated for months, according to the complaint, but received no contact from a public defender despite attempts to reach out. Others saw attorneys they had never met make legal filings or dismissals with their apparent consent, though none was ever secured.
The suit alleges a part-time public defender in Clearfield County asked petitioner David McCauley to pay him $3,500 for private representation. When McCauley declined, the same attorney showed up to a later hearing as no-cost counsel on behalf of the county public defender’s office.
“We don’t endorse the practices laid out in the complaint,” said Sara Jacobson, executive director of the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania. “That’s not what clients deserve, but that’s also not what public defenders want to be able to provide.”
When there aren’t enough people available to handle the caseload, attorneys have to triage cases, Jacobson said, because that’s all their funding allows.
The complaint describes a man in Lebanon County trying repeatedly to reach his public defender by mail, only to be awoken one night after seven months of incarceration for a midnight meeting with an attorney.
“Of course that’s awful,” Jacobson said. “I know that public defender, though. She had been at the prison until 2 a.m. because she was in court all day.”
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BEAVER FALLS — In the recent history of the Penn-Ohio Football Classic, the games have tended to be close battles. Although Pennsylvania had a 29-14 series lead going into the 45th annual game, five of the previous seven had been decided by a touchdown or less.
Ohio bucked that trend Thursday night at Geneva College’s Reeves Field, though, taking the opening kickoff and driving the length of the field before missing a field goal… but then scored touchdowns on its next two possessions. In the end, Ohio prevailed 28-10.
“We had our chances but we were always playing from behind,” said Central Valley coach Mark Lyons, the Pennsylvania coach. “They had some athletes and played better than us but we had a great bunch of kids.
“It was a great couple of weeks and I’d do it again.”
After Ohio’s initial scoring flurry, the locals did come back. Western Beaver’s Tyson Florence scored on a 4-yard run in the second quarter and Mohawk’s Josh Wilkins kicked a 30-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half but that 14-10 gap was as close as it got.
While it was feared that the uncharacteristically high temperatures might have an affect on the game, it didn’t seem to be major. The crowd was again near-capacity, although it was exclusively on the shady side of the field – no one sat in the sun.
The players also seemed to adjust, although they did notice the heat. The heat wave had been here for most of the practice time and they practiced on the turf at Central Valley, so it wasn’t all new.
“It was really hot out there,” said New Brighton’s Hunter Lewis, chosen as Pennsylvania Defensive MVP. “It’s always hotter on turf and we really only had two full practices in pads.
“Ohio was a tough group and they really came to play.”
For Lewis, like many others, this game will be their last one in equipment, making the experience even more meaningful.
“I’m going to the electrical workers union so this is it for me,” said Lewis. “I was surprised to get the MVP but I had a good time with a great group of guys. I’d do it again.”
Ironically, the Pennsylvania Offensive MVP was also playing his last game. He is the first time recipient of the newly named Jim Wilson Award, commemorating the years of service of the former Freedom head coach and longtime Blackhawk assistant, along with other schools.
“I was just here to have fun and play some ball,” said Blackhawk graduate Maurice Watson-Trent, who rushed for 73 yards on 13 carries. “This was my last game – I’m not going to college, I’m working on my own clothing line – A Maverick.
“It was definitely fun playing with guys I’ve been playing against for years.”
For another Blackhawk graduate playing his final game, Donta Campagna, the game was also special but not for an award he received – he got to be on the field to see his grandfather, Karl Florie, get inducted in the inaugural class of the MAC Coaches Hall of Fame.
“That was a great experience for me and I was glad I was here,” said Campagna. “This was definitely the hottest game I’ve ever played in though.”
Joining Florie in that class on the field were Joe Hamilton, Tom Marsilio and Joe Savage (as a contributor) along with family representing four posthumous inductees Tom Alexander, Rich Niedbala, Larry Bruno, and Pat Tarquinio.
Many of those men were instrumental in setting up the game as a means to give players a chance to play and the coaches association a means to award scholarships.
Awarded scholarships at halftime were Central Valley’s Tyler Costanza, Riverside’s Josh Guenther, Beaver’s Marco Gutierrez, West Allegheny’s A.J. Hughes, Central Valley’s Donte Newton, Rochester’s Michael Norman, Freedom’s Cody Patterson, Laurel’s Braydon Smith, and Ambridge’s Grant Uvodich.
Redefining technical violations and reducing penalties
Theoretically, probation serves as an alternative to incarceration — offenders are allowed to go free but are placed under supervision, which includes certain conditions or rules that must be followed. Technical violations refer to a failure to comply with those conditions.
Conditions vary based on an offender’s crimes and background, but common ones include reporting to a probation officer, drug testing, counseling, maintaining steady employment, performing community service and paying restitution to victims.
But other conditions, Erin Haney said, are “tragically ridiculous and damaging,” resulting in frequent incarceration.
“In Pennsylvania, 54% of prison admissions are for supervision violations,” Haney said. “So there are more prison admissions for supervision violations than there are for people just committing new crimes.”
Haney cited the case of a man whose probation prohibited him from crossing county lines, making it difficult for him to find steady, well-paying work. Although he eventually did secure a job, he struggled to find affordable housing due to another condition that prevented him from living with his family since they also had a criminal record. On top of that, the man was required to pay fines and fees associated with his supervision.
“So what happened was they said, ‘Look, I have to choose between rent and paying my fines and fees.’ And the reality of it is, if I lose my housing, I’m not gonna be able to continue to abide by any of these conditions that you want me to abide by on supervision,” Haney said. “And unfortunately, instead of understanding that that was the situation, this individual’s probation officer found him in violation and incarcerated him.”
When the man was released, he had to look for a new job and housing, was given a longer probationary period with more stringent conditions and had higher penalties he was required to pay.
“And so each month, if he couldn’t pay, if they didn’t violate him, instead what they would do is extend his probation even longer, which meant he had that many more months of having to pay those fines and fees,” Haney said.
Courts were also able to revoke probation in favor of incarceration for squishier reasons — including indications that the defendant exhibited behavior that demonstrated it was likely they would commit a crime in the future, or in order to “vindicate the authority of the court.”
“The idea that a judge had indiscriminate authority to re-incarcerate someone simply to ‘vindicate the authority of the court’ was one of the most troubling aspects of the Commonwealth’s probation system,” Haney said. “This essentially allowed people to be deprived of their liberty not for committing a new crime, but merely for disappointing or disobeying the court in some way.”
Act 44 attempts to address these issues by prohibiting incarceration for minor technical violations, instead reserving imprisonment for more serious breaches like the commission of another crime, failure to complete court-mandated treatment or actions that pose a threat to public safety.
When technical violations lead to incarceration, the law limits confinement to 14 days for a first technical violation, 30 days for a second, and whatever “sentencing alternatives available at the time of initial sentencing” for third and subsequent violations.
Overall, the law mandates that probation conditions be as least restrictive as possible, and tailored to the individual’s personal needs and circumstances.
“So given the option between something that is incredibly invasive and intrusive or something that accomplishes the same goals with re-entry and rehabilitation and accountability and public safety, you have to go with the one that’s least restrictive,” Haney said.
Pennsylvania
California Blue takes men’s Greco-Roman title with last match heroics over Pennsylvania at AFSW Junior National Duals
Air Force Special Warfare Junior National Duals | June 19-22, Tulsa, Okla.
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Men’s Greco-Roman Gold/Silver Results
1st Place – California Blue
2nd Place – Pennsylvania
3rd Place – Illinois
4th Place – Idaho
5th Place – Minnesota Blue
6th Place – Oklahoma Blue
7th Place – Iowa
8th Place – Colorado
1st Place Match – California Blue defeated Pennsylvania, 32-30
285 – Nicholas Sahakian (California Blue) tech. fall Mark Effendian (Pennsylvania), 9-0
100 – Niko Selianitis (California Blue) dec. Grady Moore (Pennsylvania), 13-8
106 – Kole Davidheiser (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Jayren Chan (California Blue), 8-0
113 – Gabriel Dela Rosa (California Blue) fall Max Tancini (Pennsylvania)
120 – Kavin Muyleart (Pennsylvania) dec. Elijah Almarinez (California Blue), 11-7
126 – Lincoln Sledzianowski (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Edwin Sierra (California Blue), 9-0
132 – Isaiah Cortez (California Blue) dec. Aaron Seidel (Pennsylvania), 4-0
138 – Elijah Cortez (California Blue) dec. Sam Herring (Pennsylvania), 8-6
144 – Pierson Manville (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Daniel Zepeda (California Blue), 9-0
150 – Luis Alberto-Desilva (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Jagger French (California Blue), 8-0
157 – Vince Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Tigran Greyan (California Blue), 10-0
165 – Noah Daniels (California Blue) fall Greyson Catlow-Sidler (Pennsylvania), 1:37
175 – Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) fall Dylan Pile (California Blue), 1:16
190 – Thomas Sandoval (California Blue) tech. fall Mason Hartung (Pennsylvania), 9-0
215 – Angelo Posada (California Blue) tech. fall Jason Singer (Pennsylvania), 8-0
3rd Place Match – Illinois defeated Idaho, 40-27
285 – Shilo Jones (Idaho) tech. fall Wyatt Schmitt (Illinois), 8-0
100 – Michael Rundell (Illinois) tech. fall Brand`n Edstrom (Idaho), 15-6
106 – Caden Correll (Illinois) tech. fall Ryan Hirchert (Idaho), 8-0
113 – Caleb Noble (Illinois) fall Hunter Anderson (Idaho)
120 – Inocencio Garcia (Illinois) tech. fall Dylan Frothinger (Idaho), 12-4
126 – Boden Banta (Idaho) dec. Noah Woods (Illinois), 5-5
132 – Hoyt Hvass (Idaho) dec. Gauge Shipp (Illinois), 8-5
138 – Joseph Knackstedt (Illinois) tech. fall Nathan Gugelman II (Idaho), 8-0
144 – Andres Santiago Chaparro Urrego (Illinois) dec. DJ Neider (Idaho), 7-2
150 – Matthew Martino (Idaho) tech. fall Evan Gosz (Illinois), 9-0
157 – Carlos Valdez (Idaho) tech. fall Julian Slaastad (Illinois), 16-6
165 – Cael Miller (Illinois) tech. fall Xander Zollinger (Idaho), 11-0
175 – Jimmy Mastny (Illinois) forfeit
190 – Hudson Rogers (Idaho) dq. Alihan Bereket (Illinois)
215 – Kaiden Morris (Illinois) tech. fall Carson Gooley (Idaho), 13-3
5th Place Match – Minnesota Blue defeated Oklahoma Blue, 34-32
285 – Mason Harris (Oklahoma Blue) fall Logan Bender (Minnesota Blue), 1:25
100 – Landon Thoennes (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Bobby Lima (Oklahoma Blue), 12-1
106 – Zebediah Tibbles (Oklahoma Blue) tech. fall Jacob Kranz (Minnesota Blue), 8-0
113 – Eric Casula (Oklahoma Blue) dec. Eli Schultz (Minnesota Blue), 3-1
120 – Titan Friederichs (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Colt Collett (Oklahoma Blue), 10-0
126 – Isaiah Jones (Oklahoma Blue) fall Lawson Eller (Minnesota Blue), 0:30
132 – Hudson Hackbarth (Oklahoma Blue) tech. fall Aiden Graner (Minnesota Blue), 8-0
138 – Garrett Salt (Oklahoma Blue) tech. fall Trey Gunderson (Minnesota Blue), 8-0
144 – Alex Braun (Minnesota Blue) forfeit
150 – Nolan Ambrose (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Preston Reyna (Oklahoma Blue), 14-6
157 – Conlan Carlson (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Tharyn Hausler (Oklahoma Blue), 9-0
165 – Griffin Lundeen (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Daegan Reyes (Oklahoma Blue), 8-0
175 – Jed Wester (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Deontre Buttram (Oklahoma Blue), 12-4
190 – Peyton Callis (Oklahoma Blue) tech. fall Shane Carlson (Minnesota Blue), 8-0
215 – Ben Schultz (Minnesota Blue) tech. fall Samuel Pritz (Oklahoma Blue), 8-0
7th Place Match – Iowa defeated Colorado, 34-33
285 – Trent Warner (Iowa) forfeit
100 – Coy Mehlert (Iowa) forfeit
106 – Urijah Courter (Iowa) dq. Daniel Jordan (Colorado)
113 – Everest Sutton (Colorado) tech. fall Cooper Hinz (Iowa), 8-0
120 – Dustin John Snider (Colorado) tech. fall Tyler Harper (Iowa), 9-0
126 – Jesse Lewis (Iowa) tech. fall Enrique Soto (Colorado), 11-0
132 – Timothy Koester (Iowa) tech. fall Nick Dardanes (Colorado), 12-1
138 – Chancellor Mathews (Colorado) tech. fall Jordan Schmidt (Iowa), 9-0
144 – Otto Black (Colorado) tech. fall Jabari Hinson (Iowa), 14-4
150 – Benjamin Hansen (Iowa) dec. DJ Wince (Colorado), 5-1
157 – Garrett Reece (Colorado) dec. Kyler Knaack (Iowa), 12-7
165 – Brandon Dean (Colorado) fall Lincoln Jipp (Iowa), 2:40
175 – Leister Bowling IV (Colorado) tech. fall Daniel Magayna (Iowa), 12-2
190 – Brody Sampson (Iowa) tech. fall Ira Sittner (Colorado), 10-0
215 – Quinn Funk (Colorado) dec. Henry Christensen (Iowa) Dec 6-3
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