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This has the potential to be a change election for our county. Nearly 25% of the court’s seats are open and up for election. It is clear that criminal justice reform is the order of the day and nearly all of the candidates in this race are astute enough to be able to speak the […]
County Council work much be approached to the lens of equity and justice. Clean water and air are a human right. Transgender rights are human rights. Affordable housing is a human right. We must all work together and leave our silos if we truly want to see change in Allegheny County. This is the ninth […]
I’ve been working on developing a glossary to be used across Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services, the Courts, and DHS-contracted service providers. The glossary is nearing completion and had been developed utilizing gender inclusive and gender neutral language throughout the glossary. It is critically important for judges to recognize the importance of word choice […]
For transparency sake, I want to explain that I have turned down a request by a candidate for Magistrate here on the Northside. Her name is Leah Williams Duncan. Dear Ms. Williams Duncan, I have received your request to complete a Q&A for my blog, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. I must decline. In 2013 while […]
I have virtually eliminated cash bail from my practice and doing so only in extenuating circumstances to protect the safety of the community or ensure court appearance. The variables in each and every criminal arrest are too involved to discuss here, but it cannot be denied that in using cash bail, those without cash are […]
But if a global pandemic and ensuing economic crises aren’t enough to motivate public officials to create real safeguards such as public housing (as well as healthcare, the two of which I believe are inseparable) against public health emergencies, when will they? This is the sixth post of our election season series ‘Political Q&A’ with […]
But from that experience comes a perspective that can only benefit those that might come before me as Magistrate: I’ll approach each person as more than their worst day or worst choice or most shameful story. I know first hand that we are all more than any one of those things and we deserve a […]
Let’s re-imagine public safety with a heavy emphasis on mental health and substance use response teams who have many years of school to understand how to evaluate and de-escalate, and how to encourage ongoing treatment for those who need it. We make police do this now. It doesn’t work. We will have more and more […]
My work with youth showed me how the experiences of different groups vary even when engaging in similar behaviors. I have seen how young girls are often treated more harshly by paternalistic judges than male counterparts. Similarly, I’ve seen how the experiences of black youth look drastically different than white youth regarding behaviors in schools. […]
Last year, a pro-Trump candidate got the ACDC endorsement in a legislative race, but this year, in endorsing me, the ACDC is supporting a Black candidate for Mayor for the first time in it’s history. What those two results show me is that we are in a fight for the soul of our local party, […]
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