The marijuana decriminalization bill recently introduced by Pennsylvania State Senator Mike Stack is a nice first step, but does not address all the current problems caused by Prohibition. The bill would reduce possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal...
Month: March 2014
Pennsylvania Teen Escapes with Criminal Mischief Charge and His Life
A Pennsylvania teen who broke into a woman's home by kicking in her front door will be charged only with criminal mischief, and more importantly, he is still alive. Earlier this week, 19 year old Cory R. Gootee of York County left a friend's house to smoke a...
DUI Charges Filed Against Pennsylvania School Bus Driver
A Pennsylvania school bus driver has been charged with DUI, recklessly endangering another person, careless driving and reckless driving, after police allege she operated her school bus while under the influence of alcohol. Jennifer Watson of Columbia County is...
Pennsylvania Woman’s Aggravated Assault Charge Withdrawn in Alleged Attempted Penis Severing Attack
A Pennsylvania woman charged with aggravated assault for allegedly trying to cut off her husband's penis with a box cutter created tabloid headlines around the world earlier this month. Lisa Jones-Orock of Lawrence County was arrested on March 15, 2014, on both an...
Search Warrants Often Lead to “Collateral Damage”
Search warrants often lead to charges against not just the target of the search warrant, but also frequently lead to charges against other people with whom the target lives. Those of us in the criminal justice system such as police, prosecutors and defense attorneys...
Pennsylvania Teacher Charged with Sexual Assault for Consensual Sex with Adult Student
Emily Nesbit, a 31 year old former English teacher in Cumberland County, found out the hard way that it is now illegal in Pennsylvania for a teacher to have consensual sex with a student, even if the student is over 18. In 2012, Pennsylvania modified the Institutional...
State College Hypocrisy on Display for St. Patrick’s Day
Amid great controversy, State College bars were paid by the borough and Penn State to close on State Patty's Day for the second year in a row, harming the local economy in order to take the moral high ground. Of course, State Patty's Day always falls on a Saturday,...
State Patty’s Day Spirit Spreads to IUP
While State Patty's Day mayhem is but a mere shell of its former self, it appears the tradition of IU Patty's Day is just gaining traction. Although the IUP student-created holiday has been around since 2012, it did not attract much notoriety until this past weekend,...
Penn State Official Acknowledges Aggressive Marijuana Enforcement
Penn State's head of law enforcement, Steve Shelow, acknowledged at this week's Board of Trustees meeting in Hershey that Penn State Police are aggressively enforcing marijuana laws, which is why there has been an increase in the number of students charged with drug...
Collateral Consequences: Mug Shot Meme Beauty Sues over Use of Her Likeness
Collateral consequences for criminal charges have taken on more long-lasting and devastating forms in the digital age. One such collateral consequence is that mug shots once available only to law enforcement are now posted on the Internet for the whole world to...