Latest News

PACDL Files Comment Letter to Amendment to PA Rule of Criminal Procedure 117
PACDL has issued a letter outlining its concerns with a proposed amendment to Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure Rule 117.  The August 23 letter can be found here.

PACDL Presented Risk Assessment Testimony August 22

Laurel Gift, Vice President, Western District for PACDL presented testimony in Pittsburgh regarding the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission's Risk Assessment Instrument adopted in June 2019.  Read the testimony here.

PACDL Files Amicus Briefs

PACDL joined the ACLU-PA in an amicus brief in the case of Commonwealth v. Johnson, wherein the court was asked to consider the limitations imposed on law enforcement on its searches of cell phones and other electronic devices to adhere to Constitutional safeguards from overly broad searches by the government. Read the brief here. 

Additionally, PACDL filed a joint amicus brief with the ACLU of PA in the case of Commonwealth v. Small  (8 EAP 2019) in which they urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to re-examine its precedents on the jurisdictional nature of the PCRA's time limits.  Specifically, the brief outlined an argument that the time limits should not be construed as jurisdictional and such a construction has led to injustice and inefficiency. The brief prepared by Michele D. Hangley and Matthew A. Hamermesh can be read here.