My recently retired colleague, Mark Ashton, wrote a great analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Rahimi, and posed some interesting questions about where future challenges related
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RECIDIVIST CONTEMPT YIELDS 10.5 YEAR SENTENCE IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY ABUSE CASE.
Sometimes it can be difficult to persuade clients that the remedies arising from the Protection from Abuse statute can be criminal and quite serious. The ruling on Tuesday in Segreaves
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A RIGHT RESULT BUT FOR THE WRONG REASONS In Abuse Cases Can the Facts Go Far Beyond the Pleading?
In a non-precedential case decided on April 29, 2022 a panel of the Superior Court tackled a common and nettlesome question. We live in an age when petitions filed under
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Family Law Litigation in Pennsylvania; What Hath Covid Wrought?
We try to keep track of trends in family law. 2020 was, for many reasons, an unusual year. But some trends are continuing when we reviewed the statistical survey published
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THE PARNELL CUSTODY TRIAL When the Reach Exceeds the Grasp
Child custody trials can be interesting; alas, not as riveting as the clients seem to think. The Parnell trial pitted an ex Army ranger turned novelist/ U.S. Senate candidate against
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The Kiddie Hearsay Statute: Not Just for Criminal Lawyers
In 1989 the Pennsylvania General Assembly adopted an oddly named law of evidence titled: “Admissibility of Certain Statements.” The thrust of the statute is that under limited circumstances, if a
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SEARCHING OUR ELECTRONIC PAST: The Protection from Abuse Gloves Come Off in Pennsylvania’s Senate Race
This writer grew up as a Republican and recalls with some fondness the wars in the 1970s between liberal “Rockefeller” Republicans and conservative “Reaganites.” The fight was for the soul
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Lessons from the Lauren McCluskey Tragedy
She was 21 and a college student. Anyone who recalls being 21 will also recall that it is an age of experimentation. Today she is dead, murdered by a person
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE “WILLOUGHBY MOMENT”
2017 was a remarkable year in many ways. In late Spring we watched one of America’s favorite entertainers tried for sexual assault. In October, prominent producer Harvey Weinstein was accused
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Domestic Violence: A Report From The Data
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. And, earlier this month the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Court (“AOPC”) issued its summary of statistics related to this form of action.
A
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