Press Statements
Press statements from the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are listed below. Members of the press corp are directed to contact Beth Winters, Executive Director of PACDL at winters@pacdl.org or 717.234.7403 regarding comments, background requests or other information.
Recent Statements
CONDEMNATION OF DAUPHIN COUNTY PRISON OFFICIALS FOR INHUMANE TREATMENT OF INMATES
Harrisburg, PA – March 15, 2024 – PennLive recently reported the cutting of power for over two weeks to certain populations in the basement of the Dauphin County prison and removing protected legal work. Patrick A. Casey, President of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL), made the following statement.
“PACDL vehemently condemns the appalling actions of Dauphin County Prison officials for their decision to turn off the lights in two segregation units, leaving inmates in the dark for a staggering 14 hours per day for more than two weeks. It is deeply distressing and utterly unacceptable that prison officials would subject individuals in their care to such inhumane conditions. This egregious violation of basic human rights and decency cannot be overlooked or excused.
The deprivation of light not only exacerbates the already challenging conditions of incarceration but also poses serious risks to the physical and mental well-being of inmates. Such actions demonstrate a flagrant disregard for established standards of humane treatment and rehabilitation within the correctional system. Correctional facilities have a responsibility to uphold the dignity and rights of all individuals in their custody, regardless of their circumstances.
Additionally, access to legal counsel is a fundamental right, and any actions that impede or restrict this access, including removal of legal work product from inmates’ cells undermines the principles of justice and fairness. It is essential for them to have the ability to communicate freely and confidentially with their attorneys to ensure access to due process. Any policies or practices that limit this communication not only violate the rights of the individuals involved but also erode trust in the legal system.
Finally, we urge the state and Dauphin County Commissioners to prioritize oversight and reform within the correctional system, to conduct a thorough investigation, and report the findings in this matter to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Those responsible for authorizing and implementing this cruel and inhumane policy must be held publicly accountable for their actions. It is imperative that steps are taken to ensure that all individuals in custody are treated with humanity.”
Harrisburg, PA (March 23, 2023) – The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) released the following statement from Patrick A. Casey, PACDL President in response to Governor Shapiro’s announcement of the allocation of state funding for indigent defense in the 2023-2024 budget.
“PACDL applauds Governor Joshua Shapiro’s allocation of resources in the 2023-2024 state budget as an important initial effort to fund Pennsylvania’s indigent defense system and make it a more balanced justice system. This initial investment is a first of its kind effort to turnaround Pennsylvania’s history of failing to provide any state-based funding for indigent defense. This is a critical first step toward meaningful implementation of equal justice under law in our Commonwealth for which our Governor should be congratulated.
PACDL urges the allocation to include an effort to undertake a state study to gain insight into the financial perspective of the indigent defense system and the perspectives of the benefits and challenges associated with public defense, appointed counsel, and contract models of defense as they relate to the American Bar Association standards for a public indigent defense system. This study is essential to determine how much state funding Pennsylvania requires to adequately fund every county and then earmark that full amount in the 2024-25 budget.
Goals of this study would include assessing implementation of the standards across diverse county indigent defense systems and understanding what additional supports are necessary to bolster the implementation of indigent defense standards and improve the quality of indigent defense legal representation. To accomplish these critical goals, identification of the cost of the system is critical before setting forth standards, which local public defender offices will be challenged to meet without adequate funding.”
PACDL has long worked for the provision of effective assistance of counsel in its fullest sense – for lawyers who are not only well-trained, but well-resourced and with reasonable caseloads. PACDL has called for proper staffing and compensation and for necessary resources such as investigative and expert services. Toward that end, PACDL provides comprehensive and high quality continuing legal education programs which are essential to representing accused individuals.
PACDL Statement on Governor Shapiro’s Call to Repeal the Death Penalty
Harrisburg, PA (February 16, 2023) – The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) today released the following statement from Patrick A. Casey, PACDL President in response to Governor Shapiro’s announcement that he will refuse to sign execution warrants and seeks the repeal of the death penalty.
“PACDL has long opposed the penalty of death as a criminal sanction. Every significant study of Pennsylvania’s capital punishment system has concluded that it is severely flawed, unreliable, arbitrarily administered, and fails to halt the execution of innocent persons. Pennsylvania’s death penalty impedes equal justice under law, both actual and apparent, in criminal proceedings.
Crime and delinquency are complex social phenomena requiring the attention and efforts of all facets of state and local governments. PACDL supports efforts to preserve human life by way of a moratorium on executions.
As Justice Blackmun, a Justice with a 20-year history of favoring the death penalty, wrote in 1994, in his dissent in Callins v. Collins,
‘…From this day forward, I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death….Perhaps one day this court will develop procedural rules or verbal formulas that actually will provide consistency, fairness, and reliability in a capital sentencing scheme. I am not optimistic that such a day will come. I am more optimistic, though, that the court eventually will conclude that the effort to eliminate arbitrariness while preserving fairness ‘in the infliction of {death}’ is so plainly doomed to failure that it, and the death penalty, must be abandoned altogether…I may not live to see that day, but I have faith that eventually it will arrive. The path the Court has chosen lessens us all.’
The wisdom of Justice Blackmun in Callins could not be clearer. The penalty of death should be abolished. PACDL joins with Governor Shapiro in his call to the General Assembly to repeal the death penalty with all deliberate speed.”
Statement Regarding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Harrisburg, PA (June 29, 2022)
The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization issued on Friday, June 24, 2022, will have a significant impact on the justice system nationwide. The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) takes no position on abortion. In the weeks, months, and years ahead, PACDL will provide leadership, expertise, and training in evolving areas of law by expanding on its April forum entitled “How the New Criminalization of Abortion Will Impact Your Practice” held two months before the Dobbs decision.
We will be responsive to legislative processes and acts which curtail Constitutional protections or substantive due process rights. We will petition for funding to support our public defenders and the influx of new cases they are likely to shoulder. And, at all times, PACDL will be vigilant in its efforts to help our members defend any client whose life or liberty is impacted by this decision now or in the future.
Our mission as an organization is to ensure that we provide our members with the resources and support to fulfill our duty as criminal defense lawyers to effectively represent the accused.
Statement from PACDL President Peter E. Kratsa Regarding Pennsylvania House Resolution Calling for Wecht Impeachment
Harrisburg, PA (October 10, 2020)
Peter E. Kratsa, President of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) issued the following statement.
“As United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Kavanaugh recently stated: ‘…[A]n independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic.’ Chief Justice Roberts similarly stated that ‘an independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.’ PACDL could not agree more.
For this reason, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers joins Chief Justice Saylor, Chief Judge John E. Jones II of the Middle District, other members of the judiciary, the PBA, local Bar Associations and other stakeholders in our justice system, in condemning in the strongest possible terms House Resolution 1044 calling for the impeachment of Justice David C. Wecht. Resolutions such as these have no place in our constitutional democracy.
Our Supreme Court Justices must be free to exercise their constitutionally mandated duties as a co-equal branch of government. Politically motivated attempts to threaten removal of a Justice because certain segments of our citizenry may disagree with his or her rulings is inimical to that system. Our individual rights depend on the ability of an independent judiciary to enforce the rule of law.”
Capital Punishment in Pennsylvania Report Press Statement (June 25, 2018)
Grand Jury Redaction Comments by PA Attorney General Press Statement (August 16, 2018)
Asylum Seekers, Press Statement (December 24, 2018)