The Morning Call: If Pennsylvania lawmakers toughen criminal sentences, costs go up
Amid a mounting budget deficit that has led to $232 million in proposed cuts to Pennsylvania’s corrections, courts, treatment and policing programs, the Legislature is considering a bill that would increase prison time for some offenders and drive up taxpayer costs by $85 million annually.
But the financial impact got little attention during a three-hour Senate hearing on a House bill that would reinstate mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug and violent crime offenses.
Rather, prosecutors spoke about the psychological impact mandatory minimums have on easing victims’ anguish and stoking cooperation among defendants who fear them at a time the state is facing a prescription opioid drug and heroin scourge that is claiming multiple lives a day.
“Certain offenders need to go away and go away for a certain amount of time,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman told the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary committees. “You can’t talk about mandatory minimums without [talking about] victims.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: Gun rights rally puts concealed weapons rules in crosshairs
Hundreds of gun rights supporters took their cause to the state Capitol on Monday, pushing for an agenda that includes looser rules for carrying concealed weapons.
A “Make the Second Amendment Great Again” rally in the Rotunda brought together state lawmakers, sheriffs and gun rights enthusiasts for what has become an annual event.
“The right to defend yourself is a God-given right. It is not even given by man,” said Rosco Bickel, a 65-year-old retired machinist from near Oil City, Pennsylvania. Like many others at the rally, Bickel came to Harrisburg with a group, in his case gun owners from Clarion County.
House Speaker Mike Turzai, a Republican expected to announce a run for governor next year, told attendees he and his allies have been able to beat back anti-gun proposals.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: With right funding, projects to expand internet access take off
The Pittsburgh region is known for building bridges — large, steel spans that allow people to easily cross the region’s rivers and rugged valleys.
But when it comes to creating access to the internet, the infrastructure of the 21st century, Pittsburgh is still drawing up the blueprints.
That means certain communities — both in urban pockets and in rural areas of Western Pennsylvania — remain disconnected from movements in today’s economy, as well as from critical health care and education services.
Bridging the “digital divide” is a massive problem that the federal government has long recognized. Though internet adoption across all demographic groups has risen, 1 in 5 Americans — nearly 22 million people — still reported having no internet access in 2015, according to U.S. Census data. In Pennsylvania, nearly 1 million people reported having no internet access that year.
PennLive: 23 marchers arrested at Pa. Capitol after sit-in, disruptions of House committee meeting
Pennsylvania Capitol police arrested 23 protesters from the March on Harrisburg protest Monday morning.
The group has planned a series of actions in and around the state Capitol this week to try to force action on a set of government reform measures including changing the rules for redrawing legislative lines and banning gifts to public officials.
The House and Senate are both in session through Wednesday.
About a dozen protestors were arrested following a lively protest inside and outside a House State Government Committee meeting.
They were there, they said, to demand a meeting with Committee Chair Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County, in whose committee several bills of interest to the marchers have been assigned.
from Watchdog.org
via IFTTT
