The position of Commonwealth Victim Advocate was, admittedly, my dream job.
Being a political appointment, the position has always held associated risks, and that has never been more evident.
When it comes to those inflicting unthinkable pain and abuse upon others, I have always stood steadfast in the corner of those impacted by crime and abuse, stood up for what was right, and spoke truth to power.
Having been in that dark corner myself as a child rape survivor, I knew all too well what it felt like to face the system and the world alone.
Victim advocates are necessary beacons casting light for those impacted persons to find their way out of the shadows and through a very complex legal system and emotional process.
What’s the worst part of living in Pennsylvania? There are lots of choices | John Baer
Updated Feb 05, 2021;
Oh, brother. If you wanted to create a new family fun game “Name the Worst of Pa. this Week,” you’d have competitive choices.
There’s our vaccine distribution, or Operation Molasses. There’s a monumental government screwup impacting victims of child-sex crimes. And there’s a state budget plan seeking more of your money that kinda sounds like calliope music.
Good thing there was a snow day. The week coulda been worse.
As is, the Keystone State, once again, looks like a place for the Keystone Kops. Or for public officials running around in big shoes, wigs, with seltzer bottles.
Grim milestone: Philadelphia nears its 500th homicide of 2020
WPVI
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PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) With a little more than 48 hours to go until 2021, the City of Philadelphia stands at the edge of a deadly distinction.
As of Tuesday evening, there have been 494 homicides on city streets this year. That s a number not seen in Philadelphia since 1990. We ve seen things we haven t seen in almost three decades, says Inspector Derrick Wood, of Southwest Detectives Division.
Out of the six divisions in the city, Southwest detectives has the highest murder rate. Most people in Philadelphia are good people. It s the small minority of people that are committing the crimes, says Wood.
Lengthy video makes false claims about 2020 election
By ALI SWENSON and JUDE JOFFE-BLOCKDecember 25, 2020 GMT
A 93-minute video circulating online employs false claims and flawed logic to suggest that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election, and that an election technology firm and China were behind it.
The video, featuring Epoch Times reporter Joshua Philipp, alleges that the Chinese Communist Party wanted Biden to be in power and is extending its tentacles into many facets of American society in an effort to spread communism.
To support that argument, it recycles a barrage of false and misleading claims of election-night anomalies, interviews witnesses whose claims have been debunked and does a deep dive into Chinese executives with no meaningful connection to the U.S. election.
NJ Senate set to approve bills addressing sexual assault
TRENTON An eight-bill package addressing sexual assault is scheduled for state Senate approval Thursday – protecting the rights of survivors, improving police and judicial case management and training and putting state harassment and discrimination policies into law.
Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the proposals are common sense. She in particular touts S3070, a proposed three-year “Sexual Violence Restorative Justice Pilot Program” bringing survivors and their abusers together to seek collective healing solutions outside of the judicial system.
“These are not, for the most part, bills that could be argued go a bridge too far. They are reasonable and necessary, drafted in response to survivors’ articulated needs,” Teffenhart said.