HARRISBURG, PA – District Attorneys throughout Pennsylvania lauded new legislation that makes strangulation a stand-alone crime and a felony offense. House Bill 1581 has passed the House and Senate and will be sent to the governor to be signed into law. The bill makes it a crime to intentionally or knowingly impede another person’s breathing or circulation by applying pressure
Read full post hereGood Morning. My name is Dave Freed, District Attorney of Cumberland County. I am also a Past President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and currently serve as its Communications Chair. On behalf of my colleagues at the PDAA, thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today about HB 1692, legislation which we support. I don’t need to remind anyone
Read full post hereHARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association’s Best Practices Committee today announced guidelines to assist law enforcement in conducting neutral, fair, and reliable identification procedures. The recommendations are expected to serve as model procedures that can be used accordingly based on the individual needs of the state’s 67 counties and over 1,000 law enforcement agencies. “Our Best Practices Committee was created
Read full post hereHARRISBURG, PA – Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) today announced that Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold has assumed the office of president, following Risa Vetri Ferman’s installation as Judge of Montgomery County. Arnold has been serving the association as vice president since July 2015. He will serve as president for the remainder of the business year and is expected
Read full post hereMedication reverses heroin and opioid overdoses HARRISBURG (Dec. 14, 2015) – Capital BlueCross today announced it is providing an additional $100,000 to arm police officers with naloxone, the medication that reverses heroin overdoses. Capital BlueCross is committed to its tradition as a strong community partner and doing what it can to help stem the growing heroin crisis in Pennsylvania. This is the
Read full post hereHARRISBURG, PA -- Pennsylvania prosecutors applauded the Commonwealth’s announcement today that $3.4 million in funding would be released as a result of the Pennsylvania Endowment Act, including $1.3 million to support Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs). Since 2012, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association has advocated that a significant portion of the Endowment Act funding should be dedicated to expanding the availability of
Read full post hereTestimony of Ed Marsico, Dauphin County District Attorney Legislative Chair, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association David Freed, Cumberland County District Attorney President, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute Before the House Judiciary Committee Regarding Senate Bill 859, December 7, 2015, Harrisburg, PA Good morning Chairman Marsico, Chairman Petrarca, and members of the Judiciary Committee. My name is Ed Marsico, and I am the District Attorney of Dauphin County and Chair of the Legislative
Read full post hereS.B. 869 Will Help Drug Dealers and Hurt Our Communities HARRISBURG, PA – Pennsylvania’s district attorneys today warned that proposed changes to the Commonwealth’s civil forfeiture system would have grave consequences that will help drug dealers and hurt communities. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association President and Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said that the changes outlined
Read full post hereGood Morning Chairmen Greenleaf and Leach and members of the Judiciary Committee. My name is Jack Whelan, and I am the District Attorney of Delaware County. I am joined today by assistant district attorneys who specialize in human trafficking cases and will speak about their work and perspectives on improving our laws. On behalf of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association,
Read full post hereHarrisburg, PA –The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) announced today that Lycoming County District Attorney Eric Linhardt was elected to its executive committee. His nomination was approved unanimously during the PDAA executive committee’s summer meeting. Since 2010, Linhardt has served on the Board of Directors of the association’s education and training arm, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute. “The Pennsylvania District Attorneys
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