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Pennsylvanians For Modern Courts Works To Educate People About The Judicial System

Lindsay Lazarski
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WHYY

The non-partisan group Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is hosting a series of workshops, town halls and awareness programs to help educate low-income tenants on their legal rights.

Credit Courtesy of Maida Milone
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Courtesy of Maida Milone
Before joining Pennsylvania for Modern Courts, Maida R. Milone practiced law and managed for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

About 23,000 households in Pittsburgh spend more than half of their income on housing, according to a needs assessment conducted by the city, putting them at risk of eviction and homelessness.

Maida Milone, Modern Court’s president and CEO, has a long history in the nonprofit world. She says these grassroots programs are integral to their mission of broader judicial reform—to not just change the system, but inform everyone who uses it.

“Fear comes from lack of knowledge,” Milone says. “If you know your rights, if you’re familiar with the process, of landlord-tenant disputes, if the magisterial district judges have a better feel for the people that are coming before them and the issues that they’re facing personally, the results have to be better for everyone.”

Find more information on the workshops here.

Credit New York Times via Chatham University
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New York Times via Chatham University
Although raised by a pair of media professionals, New York Times writer Maggie Haberman says she caught the journalism bug almost by accident—she fell in love with the adrenaline of daily reporting.

Later in the program:

New York Times chief White House correspondent Maggie Haberman shares her impressions on covering businessman-turned-President Donald Trump for the last 20 years. Haberman, who covered City Hall for New York tabloids for many years before joining the Times, says Trump has always cared enormously what the established press says, especially the New York Times.

Haberman is speaking in Pittsburgh tonight at the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University. Find more information here.

90.5 WESA's Alex Lenigan and Julia Zenkevich contributed to this program.

The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in weekdays at 9 a.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Kiley Koscinski covers city government, policy and how Pittsburghers engage with city services. She also works as a fill-in host for All Things Considered. Kiley has previously served as a producer on The Confluence and Morning Edition.
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