Identity & Justice

A Syrian refugee who came to the U.S. three years ago plotted to bomb a church this spring to inspire followers of the Islamic State of Iraq, federal authorities said in announcing the man's arrest Wednesday. 

Pennsylvania voters will decide whether to enumerate victims' rights in the state constitution, a proposal likely to appear on the November ballot.

The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to give its final approval, putting the state's version of Marcy's Law on the ballot as a constitutional amendment referendum.

The remains of Native American children who died while attending school in the midstate more than a century ago will soon be returned to their surviving family members.

A man who told a grand jury investigating child sex abuse that he had victimized 16 to 18 people, but who couldn't be prosecuted because the cases were too old, is now seeking to keep his name and any other identifying information from being made public.

Details of the 2018 investigation and the man's testimony were disclosed this week when the state Supreme Court unsealed documents in the dispute over the grand jury's yet-to-be-released report, with any information that could identify the man blacked out.

A Pennsylvania court has ruled that an evolving legal landscape means a woman can pursue her lawsuit claiming officials in the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese worked to conceal her alleged molestation by a priest. 

The Catholic Church spent more on lobbying efforts in Pennsylvania than in seven other northeastern U.S. states combined, according to a recent report covering 2011-2018.

The analysis, called “Church Influencing State: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse,” draws a connection between lobbying expenditures and inaction on proposals that give victims of sexual abuse more chances to sue.

Fifty years ago police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar frequented by LGBTQ clientele in New York City. Those inside, led by transgender women of color tired of harassment and oppression, fought back. 

Three transgender Pennsylvanians are suing the state over a law that bars people who have been convicted of serious felonies from changing their names. The law is meant to prevent fraud, but the plaintiffs say it goes too far, and that they have a constitutional right to change their names.

Lawyers for the man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue say the FBI has been discouraging witnesses from talking to the defense, undermining the suspect's right to a fair trial.

A lawyer for the man charged in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre says he still wants to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Pennsylvania corrections secretary John Wetzel remembers that when he toured prisons in Germany and the Netherlands several years ago, it was a “transformative experience.”

Earlier this month the federal Department of Health and Human Services announced it had finalized a policy that would protect health care providers against discrimination if they refuse to care for someone based on their “moral convictions.” 

The first of five parish mergers in the Pittsburgh Catholic Dioceses’ reorganization plan will go into effect July 1. 

The governor of Pennsylvania has ordered flags to fly at half-staff to honor a state trooper who died on duty over the weekend in suburban Philadelphia.

State police say other troopers responded to the westbound lanes of I-276 in Bucks County at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday after 58-year-old Trooper Donald Bracket failed to answer radio transmissions.

Police say he was found unresponsive outside his patrol vehicle after "an apparent medical episode" and was pronounced dead at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia.

International law enforcement partners announced Thursday that a large malware conspiracy network has been taken down. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, those behind the GozNym malware attacks attempted to steal an estimated $100 million from victims.

A new civil lawsuit alleges a pediatric practice in Johnstown knew one of its physicians was a threat to young patients, and took steps to protect him before he was arrested.

Five former patients of Johnstown pediatrician Johnnie Barto are seeking financial damages from his employers. In March, Barto was sentenced to at least 79 years in prison for sexually assaulting 31 children, most of them patients. 

On paper, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police appears to be effective at investigating rape cases. In 2017, the bureau reported it closed 58 percent of its rape cases, according to the city’s response to a WESA Right To Know request. The 2017 national average was 36.5 percent, according to national crime-reporting statistics kept by the FBI.

A priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate claims that he had "inappropriate contact" with adult women.

Employees of Pittsburgh's parks community and advocates who utilize park spaces want more diversity in leadership roles. This will make minorities feel more comfortable in outdoor spaces, they said at the fourth Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation Exchange, held at Frick Park on Friday.

A former Pittsburgh police officer sued the city and top police brass in federal court Thursday, alleging he was wrongly arrested and then fired from the police bureau in 2017.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is criticizing the Catholic Church, saying the new rules regarding reporting of sexual misconduct don’t go far enough.

A dark net website that gave users access to illegal items has been taken down, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in Pittsburgh Wednesday. The two men who ran the site have been indicted.