Month: September 2019

Last week saw the beginning—and end—of a brief whirlwind of activity in the state House and Senate.
On this week’s podcast, we’ll recap two of the major developments: Republicans staking out a plan of action on guns, and the governor saying he wants to legalize marijuana.
The gun conversations stretched over several days in both chambers. By the time they broke for the month, GOP lawmakers in the House had passed a number of bills governing firearms, none of which gun safety advocates particularly wanted. They had also ruled out passing one of the measures for which those advocates have lobbied most strongly—a so-called “red flag” bill.
A similar partisan tension was evident on marijuana. After Governor Tom Wolf said he wants to allow recreational use of the drug—a position based on a months-long listening tour Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman conducted this year—Republicans came out firmly against the idea.
The legislature returns to session in late October.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Former state senator Mike Folmer vacated his seat last week after an arrest for alleged child pornography possession. We discuss what happens now.

Late last Tuesday, the state attorney general released a statement saying the office had arrested state Senator Mike Folmer and charged him with possession of child pornography. By the next afternoon, the Republican had left office.

The episode shook the Capitol. It also left a hole in one of the Senate’s highest-profile committees. As head of the Senate State Government Committee, Folmer had been intricately involved in negotiations on a major push to overhaul redistricting, and had been helping piece together a package of significant changes to state election law.

This week, PA Post reporters Ed Mahon and Emily Previti join us to explain how Folmer’s abrupt resignation affects those initiatives.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

If a person is given a life sentence in Pennsylvania, they can be fairly confident that—barring a commutation—they’ll be behind bars until they die.
In the commonwealth, life in prison always means life without parole. And if a person is found guilty of non-capital first-degree or second-degree murder, life without parole is the only sentence available under current statute.
That sometimes means that if someone takes part in a crime—say, a robbery—in which someone dies, they can be handed a life sentence even if they didn’t kill anyone. And it also means Pennsylvania locks people up for life at a higher rate than any other state.
Last week, WESA reporter An-Li Herring published two stories explaining this practice and documenting a growing push to change the way Pennsylvania metes out life sentences.
This week on the podcast we’ll get an inside look at her reporting, and hear from two men she spoke to who, until recently, were serving life sentences in the commonwealth.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS