Identity & Justice

Federal authorities say a man acquitted less than two weeks ago in the slayings of five people and an unborn baby at a western Pennsylvania cookout four years ago has been indicted on a firearms charge.

A Philadelphia nonprofit group said it will open the nation's first supervised injection site next week to combat overdose deaths after a federal judge rejected Justice Department efforts to block the plan.

Just over a week after engaging in a public spat over a not-guilty verdict in a case involving a 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, borough Mayor Marita Garrett and Allegheny County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough came together for a forum on combating gun violence.

The Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s handbook says no inmate can have long hair unless it is worn in a ponytail or a bun. But for many Black inmates, that rule doesn’t apply. Instead, they are placed in solitary confinement if they refuse to cut their hair. 

Human-rights groups plan to hold rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Tuesday to protest state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s record on commutation. While Pennsylvania's Board of Pardons recommended more commutations last year than at any time in the past quarter-century, rally organizers say Shapiro, one of the board’s five members, stands in the way of granting the relief more widely.

The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a dispute over a Philadelphia Catholic agency that won't place foster children with same-sex couples.

The number of homeless public school students in Pennsylvania increased by more than 30 percent from 2015-2018, according to a report released last month by the National Center for Homeless Education. 

State attorneys general are finding a national settlement over the toll of opioids to be elusive, as some lawyers for state and local governments are renewing public criticism of the proposed deal with a group of companies led by the nation's largest drug distributors.

A federal judge on Friday began the process of figuring out how the Harrisburg Roman Catholic Diocese will remain functioning and able to pay its bills while its 2-day-old bankruptcy filing inches ahead.

A PA Post investigation into the costs of religious books and other materials prompted a national religious liberties organization to demand that six Pennsylvania jails cease charging Muslim inmates more for religious items than Christian prisoners. 

In Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation authorizing up to $8 million. In California, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last year voted to cover a $482,000 expected shortfall for six Planned Parenthood clinics serving 36,274 patients. And Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, has included a $3 million line item in his proposed 2020-21 budget to also help offset the funding loss for Planned Parenthood providers.

Pennsylvania’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the borough of Jim Thorpe and two of its police officers, for what it says was an illegal traffic stop.

For years, Pennsylvania’s Corrections Department has been grappling with a growing issue: having to dedicate a lot of its budget to caring for aging inmates.

A woman who was abused by a priest in Harrisburg’s Roman Catholic Diocese said the diocese’s bankruptcy decision will make it harder for her to know the full scope of cover-up efforts — and for victims to confront those responsible for abuse.

The Rev. Walter Guzman was one of dozens of priests summoned to the Harrisburg Diocese office Wednesday afternoon, where he learned that the diocese was filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Leaders of Harrisburg’s Roman Catholic Diocese are outlining a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In anticipation of a final court ruling that would clear the way for Safehouse — the nation’s first supervised injection site — to open, the City of Philadelphia has issued a public safety plan outlining how police will protect both those using the site and neighborhood residents.

Barraged with sex-abuse lawsuits, the 110-year-old Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in an effort to work out a potentially huge victim compensation plan, but local chapters may be insulated from the parent organization's financial troubles.

At least 43,000 immigrants have become Pennsylvania citizens since the 2016 presidential election. That’s almost as many voters as the margin Trump won by, according to recent analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

Starting this week, Pennsylvanians who have experienced sexual assault and never reported it to police can apply for a share of $5 million to pay for counseling.

The seminarians walk along a hallway lined with photos of classes of priests who came before them. Some are pious alumni who have become their teachers and mentors; others climbed the Catholic hierarchy to be revered as bishops and cardinals.

Pennsylvania’s law governing legal name changes was up for debate before the state’s Commonwealth Court in Pittsburgh Thursday. Three transgender women have challenged a provision of the statute that bars people from changing their names if they have been convicted of serious felonies.

The defendant in the trial for a 2016 mass shooting was acquitted of all counts Friday. Attorneys for Cheron Shelton argued he was not responsible for the attack that left five adults, including a pregnant woman, dead.

Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement office is starting a conviction integrity unit to review past convictions for mistakes that might result in them being overturned, officials said Wednesday.

A Pennsylvania court this week will consider a legal challenge by three transgender women to a two-decade-old state law that prohibits people who have committed serious felonies from ever changing their names.