In addition to things like incarceration, fines paid to the government, probation, and community service, criminal courts in Pennsylvania can also order people convicted of certain crimes to pay restitution. Unlike other sanctions, which are meant specifically to punish the defendant for their actions, the purpose of restitution is to help people negatively impacted by […]
If you have been physically hurt or suffered financial harm due to a criminal act, you likely have grounds to file a civil suit against the person who committed the crime against you. However, achieving a positive result from this sort of claim can be difficult without thorough information about the crime that led to […]
Philly.com reports the most recent developments in the Penn State case that has been impacting the school and the entire state of Pennsylvania for more than 5 years. Most recently, two of the administrators facing charges have pleaded guilty for child endangerment related to the incident. The charges of child endangerment were brought against Penn State […]
We recently wrote about the strong passage of House Bill 1947 in the Pennsylvania House. If passed in the Senate and signed into law, the measure would give many more victims of child sex abuse an opportunity to hold their abusers (and the institutions they worked for) accountable in criminal and civil court. In the […]
In our previous post, we began a discussion about the long and difficult aftermath often experienced by victims of violent crime. A recent news story noted that in the case of particularly horrific crimes, even the jurors in criminal cases can be left with emotional scars and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. If jurors can be so deeply […]
No matter what your views on gun control may be, it is difficult to ignore the fact that no other industrialized nation on earth experiences as many mass shootings, murders and other violent crimes as the United States. These horrific incidents are now so common that many Americans have simply stopped watching the news. After […]
Evidence has been uncovered exposing the lengths to which the leadership of Jehovah’s Witness has gone to cover-up allegations of child abuse within their church. Please read this article detailing some of the hardships imposed on victims of child abuse because of these institutional practices: https://www.revealnews.org/article/5-hardships-faced-by-victims-of-jehovahs-witnesses-sexual-abuse/
When a person becomes a sex/violent crime victim, the emotional and psychological trauma they face doesn’t end when the crime is completed. It often doesn’t even end when the perpetrator is arrested, convicted and sent to prison. Depending on the nature and severity of the crime, victims can struggle for years with post-traumatic stress disorder, […]
For many victims of sexual abuse, facing the perpetrator in court can be a scary prospect. And because sexual abuse typically involves layers of shame, embarrassment and fear, victims often find that discussing it in court can also be very difficult. In both criminal and civil sex abuse trials, it is sometimes necessary for victims to take […]
Imagine being the victim of a crime and having the bravery to testify against the perpetrator in court. When you file a civil lawsuit, however, attorneys for the defense essentially call you a liar. Their proof? Some Facebook photos that seem to show you smiling and enjoying life. This type of situation may sound far-fetched, […]