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Appeals court overturns county's longest-ever drug sentence
Court News |
2015/09/04 15:15
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Pennsylvania Superior Court has overturned the longest drug sentence ever imposed in a central Pennsylvania county as "manifestly unreasonable and excessive."
Blair County Senior Judge Thomas Peoples imposed the 104½- to 216-year sentence four years ago against 43-year-old Gene "Shorty" Carter, of Philadelphia. Carter had been convicted of running a major heroin ring — while still serving time in a halfway house for a previous drug conviction.
The judge, who has since died, imposed mandatory sentences for 16 separate crimes Carter committed, then ran them consecutively.
Although the appeals court upheld those convictions, the Altoona Mirror reports Friday that the court ordered Carter must be resentenced.
The court cited a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision which determined juries must decide whether mandatory sentences are warranted, not judges. |
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Court fines Washington state over education funding
Court News |
2015/08/14 09:11
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Washington officials are considering a special legislative session after the state Supreme Court issued daily fines a of $100,000 until lawmakers comply with a court order to improve the way the state pays for its basic education system.
Thursday's order, signed by all nine justices of the high court, ordered that the fine start immediately, and be put into a dedicated education account.
The court encouraged Gov. Jay Inslee to call a special session, saying that if the Legislature complies with the court's previous rulings for the state to deliver a plan to fully fund education, the penalties accrued during a special session would be refunded.
Inslee and legislative leaders are set to meet Monday in Seattle discuss what next steps the state should take.
"There is much that needs to be done before a special session can be called," Inslee said in a statement. "I will ask lawmakers to do that work as quickly as humanly possible so that they can step up to our constitutional and moral obligations to our children and lift the court sanctions."
The ruling was the latest development in a long-running impasse between lawmakers and justices, who in 2012 ruled that the state is failing to meet its constitutional duty to pay for the cost of basic education for its 1 million schoolchildren.
Thomas Ahearne, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the court's action "is long overdue."
"The state has known for many, many years that it's violating the constitutional rights of our public school kids," Ahearne said. "And the state has been told by the court in rulings in this case to fix it, and the state has just been dillydallying along."
The lawsuit against the state was brought by a coalition of school districts, parents, teachers and education groups — known as the McCleary case for the family named in the suit.
In its original ruling, and repeated in later follow-up rulings, the justices have told the Legislature to find a way to pay for the reforms and programs they had already adopted, including all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, student transportation and classroom supplies, and to fix the state's overreliance on local tax levies to pay for education. Relying heavily on local tax levies leads to big disparities in funding between school districts, experts say. |
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Penn State ex-officials' case heads to appeals court hearing
Court News |
2015/07/14 09:27
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A long delayed criminal case against three former Penn State administrators accused of covering up complaints about Jerry Sandusky is heading to a Pennsylvania courtroom next month, but not for trial.
Superior Court — a state appeals court — last week scheduled oral argument before a three-judge panel in Harrisburg for Aug. 11 to consider the claims by Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz regarding a county judge's decision earlier this year.
If upheld, the judge's order could clear the way for trial in the matter that has gone on for nearly four years without a trial date being set.
The appeals court file has been sealed, but the online docket indicates the men are appealing a January order by Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover that rejected arguments they had made about the fairness and legality of the grand jury investigation that resulted in charges.
All three defendants held high-ranking positions at the university in 2011, when Sandusky, the former assistant football coach, was charged with sexual abuse of children; Spanier was president, Schultz was vice president for business and finance and Curley was athletic director.
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Jury: Court gunman's relatives guilty of cyberstalking
Court News |
2015/07/13 09:26
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A federal jury says the death of a woman who was shot by her former father-in-law a Delaware courthouse in 2013 was the result of cyberstalking by the gunman's widow and children.
Jurors on Friday found former optometrist David Matusiewicz; his mother, Lenore; and his sister, Amy Gonzalez, guilty of conspiracy and stalking resulting in the death of David's ex-wife, Christine Belford.
Justice Department officials have said they believe there is no precedent for a person being convicted on federal charges of cyberstalking resulting in death, which carries a possible life sentence.
Belford and a friend were killed by David's father, Thomas Matusiewicz, who then exchanged gunfire with police before killing himself.
The defendants will remain in custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 15.
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