Philadelphia Public Record

Vol. II No. 113 (273)

Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia

August 2, 2011

Philadelphia Daily Record

Shooting Off A Letter PHILA.’S LEGENDARY basketball great will soon adorn a US postage stamp, if Congressman Bob Brady has his way. Story page 3.

The Philadelphia Public Record Calendar

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Aug. 2Democrat Party Chairman Congressman Bob Brady, elected Democrat officials and Union Leaders host Cocktail reception for Bill Rubin, District 10 Council candidate, at AFSCME DC 33 Ballroom, 3001 Walnut St., 6th Floor. RSVP 215-671-Vote. Minimum suggested $500 per person.

Aug. 5Swedish Museum hosts Summer Crayfish Party in FDR Park at 1900 Pattison Ave. Tickets $50.

Call (215) 389-1776 for details.

Reservations end Jul. 29.

Aug. 6Friends of Bill Rubin present District Council 33 Members Night with Camden Riversharks (vs.

Road Warriors at 5:35 p.m. at Camden’s Campbell Field) as DC 33 members work 3rd and 1st

Base concession stands. Tickets $12. Proceeds to Bill Rubin. For info contact Joan Gallagher at (267) 438-6998, Irene Snyder, (215) 582-8611 or Sylvia Bullock (215) 471-6469.

Aug. 6Johnson House, 6306 Germantown, will host 11th annual Jazz In The Garden summer benefit, 4 to 7 p.m. feauring John Blake, Jr., Jazz violinist, and the Alan Segal Quartet. Admissions from 30. For info call 215-438-1768.

Aug.11Friends of Ron Donatucci moved their annual Delaware River Cruise to the Independnece Seaport Museum, Columbus and Walnut Streets from 6:30 TO 9:30 in the Terrace Ballroom. $145 per person. call 215-271-1667 for info.

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THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

2 AUGUST, 2011

Congressman Brady Wants Commemorative Stamp For Wilt Chamberlain Congressman Robert A. Brady (DPhila.) has introduced a resolution that urges the US Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s recordsetting career.

Chamberlain’s career includes 14 years in the NBA playing for

Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1962, Chamberlain became the only NBA player to score 100 points in a single game.

In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahue, Brady said, “I believe that honoring Wilt Cham-

berlain with a commemorative stamp would be a more than appropriate way to celebrate his legendary career and athletic accomplishments, and I express my sincerest hope that the US Postal Service will recognize Wilt Chamberlain and his historic 100point game in the 2012 stamp collection.”

Area Congress Members Line Up For, Against Budget Deal Party lines dictated where Philadelphia’s US Senators and Representatives came down as the package to raise the national debt ceiling went to a vote in the US House of Representatives yesterday and the US Senate today.

US Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced he will be voting against the Budget Control Act and issued the following statement: “Our government is heading for a fiscal crisis,” the Senator said.

“We have doubled spending since 2000. Our deficits are now more than $1.4 trillion per year, and our debt has reached a stunning $14.3 trillion.

“Unfortunately, the debt-ceiling deal announced last night does nothing to deal with the path of our government’s unsustainable deficit spending. For fiscal year 2012, this legislation will only cut two-tenths of 1% of total spending. Not only will our debt grow 2 AUGUST, 2011

each year under this plan, it will continue to grow even as a percentage of our economy. Finally, I am concerned that the long-term cuts over the next decade will not materialize. All Congress has to do to override this bill’s spending restraints in the future is pass another law that overrides them. If Congress is truly serious about cutting spending, it would mandate serious spending cuts in next year’s budget – the only year in which cuts are actually guaranteed.

“While I appreciate the hard work and effort that has gone into this deal, it simply does not contain meaningful spending cuts, nor does it put us on a sustainable fiscal path. Therefore, I will be voting against the legislation tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-Phila.) cast his vote for the measure and praised the compact that was put together.

THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

“Tough times call for strong leadership, and President Obama has provided that leadership by crafting an agreement that will allow us to wake up tomorrow, pay our bills and move on the critical task of improving our economy,” the Congressman said.

“The alternative to this deal was an unthinkable assault on every pocketbook and every American’s checking account: Higher interest rates on mortgages, credit cards, car loans. Delayed payments to veterans, the disabled, older Americans and to small businesses with federal contracts. And deepening economic crisis.

“But what really is persuasive to me is the upside of this agreement: Finally, defense spending is on the table – just like the other so-called ‘discretionary’ programs – when the conversation turns to cutting the deficit. We have protected and |

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increased education spending, especially the Pell Grant studentloan program that had been imperiled.

“The joint debt-reduction committee will undertake the very real imperative of cutting spending in a

sensible way. The committee must make those cuts half domestic, half defense, and spread evenly over the years 2013 to 2021. And it must proceed in ways that protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

“As of today, we are no longer a nation held hostage, no longer in danger of becoming the world’s greatest panhandler. As of tomorrow, we can get to work on jobs, jobs, jobs.”

1st Judicial Dist. Reports Reforms Are Underway Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille released an interim report yesterday on the substantial steps taken by all participants in Philadelphia’s criminal-justice system to address problems.

“This interim report outlines the work of the 1st Judicial Dist.

Reform Initiative and specific reforms that have been implemented during the last 18 months,” the Chief Justice said. “It is encouraging that empirical evidence is beginning to show progress in improving the performance of Philadelphia’s criminal court system. However, much remains to be done as we work to instill public confidence in this critical institution.”

Among the report’s key findings are that more cases are being resolved on their merits earlier in the process; fewer cases are being dismissed; minor cases are being diverted into special programs; bail collections are up substantially; and accurate data regarding case activity is now available.

For example, the percentage of felony cases that proceed at the 4|

first listing of the preliminary hearing rose from 13% to 27% following the implementation of the reforms. Similarly, the percentage of felony cases dismissed at preliminary hearings declined from 16% to 9%. Bail collections increased from $40,000 to $1.6 million in the first year after the 1st Judicial Dist. took over the functions of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions.

Chief Justice Castille, who is also the Supreme Court’s liaison to the 1st Judicial Dist., noted the leadership of Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, who was assigned to initiate the comprehensive review of Philadelphia’s criminal courts and to implement necessary reforms.

Justice McCaffery was uniquely qualified to lead the review based on his experience as a Philadelphia police officer, an administrative judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court and a Pennsylvania Superior Court judge.

“The Initiative established as its mission the implementation of reforms necessary to ensure that Philadelphia’s criminal courts afTHE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

ford fair, prompt and cost-effective adjudications of cases, with special attention to the rights of victims and witnesses, to instill public confidence in, and respect for, the administration of justice in Philadelphia,” said Justice McCaffery.

An advisory board of judges, attorneys and criminal-justice experts with diverse backgrounds to represent the system’s many perspectives are assisting McCaffery on the Reform Initiative (the Initiative). In January 2010, Justice McCaffery began a series of meetings to discuss the Inquirer’s investigative findings with judges, court officials and other criminal-justice stakeholders. Since then, Justice McCaffery, the advisory board and Chadwick Associates, Inc., an independent consultant chosen because of its extensive experience in the FJD, worked with the justice partners to identify systemic problems and to implement reforms, many of which have been implemented by the Supreme Court already.

The Inquirer examined data concerning the outcomes of four categories of violent felonies 2 AUGUST, 2011

(homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) committed in Philadelphia during 2006 and 2007. The series pointed out high withdrawal and dismissal rates, low conviction rates, evidence of witness intimidation and witness fear, a massive fugitive problem and a bail system in disarray.

The Initiative confirmed a compelling need for a comprehensive examination of the operations of the FJD’s criminal courts.

The Initiative took a two-pronged approach to accomplish its review – first, to implement performancebased management for the FJD criminal courts and, second, to address readily identifiable problems on an expedited basis so that necessary reforms could be implemented while work proceeded on the initiative.

The four areas of focus for the initiative included case processing in Municipal Court; ensuring the appearance of criminal defendants at judicial proceedings; witness intimidation; and information technology.

The Initiative concluded that preliminary-hearing practices in Municipal Court impaired fair, prompt, and cost-effective hearings and should more closely conform to practices already in use in other Pennsylvania counties.

Consequently, the Supreme Court established specific rules for Municipal Court judges to reduce unnecessary case continuances and, subsequently, amended state rules of criminal procedure to ensure that cases are adjudicated in a fair, prompt and cost-effective manner.

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A key provision of the Initiative’s work in the area of case processing was to recommend total reform of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions’ office, which was found to be inadequately performing many of its core functions, including accurate record-keeping and proper collection of disposition of court fines, fees and cost collections. The Supreme Court, along with Mayor Michael Nutter and Philadelphia City Council, facilitated this reform within four months of the Initiative’s beginning its work.

Expanded diversionary programs to reduce case inventories and conserve criminal justice system resources for more serious cases have also been an Initiative emphasis, as the Interim Report outlines.

In the FJD, the failure to appear in court rate exceeded 30%. There was approximately $1 billion owed by defendants who had jumped bail and there were 61,000 bench warrants dating back 50 years.

Reforms are being implemented to impose meaningful sanctions on those who violate the conditions of release, reduce the inventory of outstanding bench warrants, ease the burden on the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office for transporting incarcerated defendants to court from state prison, reduce the failure to appear rate and collect owed bail.

Witness intimidation affects the entire criminal justice system because the testimony needed to achieve justice can put the victims’ and witnesses’ safety in jeopardy. Witness intimidation can be difficult for law enforcement to identify and quantify. Prosecutors, detectives THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

and even some defense lawyers say witness fear has become an unspoken factor in virtually every court case involving violent crime in Philadelphia.

The Initiative recommended several reforms to address these issues including the use of indicting grand juries as an alternative to preliminary hearings, which is regularly done in 48 states; the possible use of video surveillance cameras in and around courtrooms; and the distribution and use of a bench book for Pennsylvania judges addressing witness intimidation.

The Initiative examined whether information technology was being used effectively to advance the objectives of the FJD and the larger criminal justice system. It looked at the integrity and accuracy of case activity information, the FJD’s capabilities for analyzing data and producing standardized reports and the ability to share data among criminal-justice agencies.

As a result, steps are underway to ensure that accurate information is entered into the system. A statistician will be hired to analyze data and assist in the development of standardized management reports.

In addition, an independent group studied information flow between criminal-justice agencies, identified major gaps and recommended measures to address them. A group is currently working on a strategic plan to implement those improvements.

The second phase of reforms for study and implementation are under way.

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Rep. Roebuck Honors Students Each year State Rep. Jim Roebuck (D-W. Phila.), Democratic Chairman of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee, invites every principal of each school in his West Philadelphia district to select a student for a special honor.

Roebuck then provides a certificate for each student, along with an honorarium, at each school’s graduation ceremony. The students are those who contribute special talents to their schools.

This year’s winners who were

honored in June include the following:

St. Francis de Sales School: India Piner, going into 9th grade

HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy: Nikkimah McLaughlin, independent living

Spruce Hill Christian School: Cianni Broaster, going into 9th grade

Mastery Charter School – Harrity ES: Indiya Glenn, going into 9th grade

West Philadelphia Catholic HS: Jade Jackson, college-bound

Paul Robeson HS: Sakina Brown, college-bound Penn Alexander School: Ibn-Haneef Nelson, going into 9th grade

West Philadelphia HS: Christian Southern, college-bound Lea ES: Dayonnah Stibbins, going into 9th grade

SEPTA Statement On Funding Commission Report After years of debate and delay, SEPTA executives are encouraged and optimistic a comprehensive funding solution for Pennsylvania’s numerous transportation needs will be favorably addressed by the State legislators this fall.

SEPTA has closely followed the comprehensive work of Gov. Tom Corbett’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission, and we believe their recommendations not only will address many of the critical transportation infrastructure needs facing the Commonwealth, they will also provide a solid financial foundation that is balanced and fair for transit users and taxpayers alike.

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SEPTA is proud to have been a member of the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition, a confederation of dozens of public and private interests that has provided invaluable insight and review of the Funding Advisory Commission’s hard work.

“Never before has such a large and diverse number of transit interests coalesced in Pennsylvania with a common goal – dedicated and predicable funding into the foreseeable future,” said SEPTA General Mgr., Joseph M. Casey. “We believe Gov. Corbett and the State legislature will recognize the benefits of the Transportation Funding Commission’s recommendations,

THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD

and act accordingly” he said.

SEPTA, the largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania, has successfully balanced its operating budget for 12 consecutive years, and recently broke a 22-year ridership record – carrying over 334 million customers each year.

With an aging infrastructure, including facilities that date back to the horse-and-buggy era of the 19th century, the funding recommendations being put forth will enable SEPTA to grow well into the 21st century.

2 AUGUST, 2011