Thu February 21, 2008 - Harrisburg
In other states they are the law. But in Pennsylvania, county sheriffs can't make an arrest unless they witnessed the crime.
State lawmakers are considering a bill that gives sheriffs and their deputies the same powers as police officers. Thursday the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on the legislation. The hearing room at the State Capitol was packed with sheriffs from all over Pennsylvania in a show of support.
In every Pennsylvania county except one, the sheriff's office is responsible for courthouse security, transporting prisoners and executing warrants. A State Supreme Court ruling two years ago made it clear, sheriff's deputies can not conduct investigations or enforce the law. House Bill 466 would change that. Pa. Sheriff's Association President Bob Merski told lawmakers, "We got these two decisions and now it's taken the knees right out of the sheriff's offices. The deputies can't go out there and do their job. It's a common sense bill." Sheriff Merski also said rural counties with few municipal police departments would benefit the most. The Sheriff's Association conducted a poll that found 65 percent of the public supports the bill.
Montour County District Attorney Robert Buehner testified in favor of the legislation, "Pennsylvania's sheriffs are educated, they're trained, they're professional and most importantly, they're damn courageous." But Buehner is a D.A. in the minority. The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association polled its members and found a majority have problems with the way the bill is written. Cumberland County D.A. Dave Freed told lawmakers they have concerns about the training for sheriff's deputies, "And we need to know that everybody's been consistently trained and they are effective in our duties."
Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office have the same concerns about the level of training. There's also the question of whether the bill gives sheriffs too much authority. Committee Chief Counsel William Andring observed, "There's nothing in this bill that let's the county commissioners say, wait a minute, maybe it's not a good idea to give our deputy sheriffs that kind of broadbased power with no control by the country over that."
House Bill 466 was introduced a year ago and referred to the Judiciary Committee for consideration.
www.whtm.com
Friday, February 22, 2008
Left, right fight national ID in Pa
John L. Micek | Call Harrisburg Bureau
12:09 PM EST, February 21, 2008
HARRISBURG - In case you'd forgotten, here's a vivid reminder that politics makes for strange bedfellows.
One of the General Assembly's most conservative members and one of its most liberal have teamed up to block the implementation of a federal program that they say would create a new national identity card, putting the personal privacy of millions of Americans at risk.
State Rep. Samuel Rohrer, R-Berks, and Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, are co-sponsoring legislation designed to bar the implementation of the federal REAL ID program in Pennsylvania.
Rohrer is best known as one of the Legislature's most vigilant tax hawks. Josephs, the chairwoman of the House State Government Committee, embraces such social causes as civil unions for same-sex couples.
"Fundamentally, [REAL ID] is a violation of several provisions of the Constitution," Rohrer said this week as the House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee kicked off a pair of hearings on the issue. "The most obvious one is that Congress has no authority to implement anything of this type."
The program is "dreadful," because of its potential costs and the volume of personal information that it will centralize, Josephs said in a brief interview. "Here's something that looks like it was put together to harass the American people," Josephs said, adding that, "there is no evidence whatsoever that this will make us any safer from terrorists."
The House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee held a public hearing on the legislation in Philadelphia today. Another is planned for Pittsburgh on March 13. Passed by Congress in 2005, the federal REAL ID Act sets up nationwide standards for drivers' licenses. The cards are supposed to be tamper-proof so that terrorists can't duplicate them.
But critics fear that the required inclusion of so-called "biometric information" on the cards, and the fact that information on the cards would be shared between states, would lead to the creation of a nationwide database of personal identities.
"It's the use of bio-metric information that's contained in the card," Rohrer said. "It's the equivalent to DNA or a fingerprint."
Rohrer also said he's worried about both the threat to personal privacy of such a database as well as its security. He pointed to a recent incident in the United Kingdom in which the personal details of 600,000 people were put at-risk when a government laptop was stolen.
The program has united critics on both the right and left, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative, Harrisburg think-tank.
Officials at the state Department of Transportation are reviewing the financial impact of implementing the program in Pennsylvania, a PennDOT official said at a public hearing in Harrisburg last month.
Critics fear that the cost of implementing the program will run into the millions of dollars. The Bush administration has not included state funding in any of its budgets, and Congress has only appropriated $90 million for the program since 2006, said Jeremy D. Meadows, a policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The federal government has allowed states to use U.S. Homeland Security grant money for REAL ID purposes, but much of that money is "largely already spoken for by other homeland security priorities," Meadows said at that same public hearing.
States have until 2011 to fully comply with federal REAL ID requirements. But people could run into trouble as soon as this May, unless state officials are granted an exception by the Department of Homeland Security to continue studying the program's requirements, PennDOT Deputy Secretary Kurt Myers said.
At that point, only REAL ID licenses will be accepted to board commercial airliners or such federal facilities as nuclear power plants where identification is required. Assuming the state is granted an exception, that requirement wouldn't kick in for Pennsylvania residents until Dec. 31, 2009, Myers said. States would have until 2011 to finally implement the program.
john.micek@mcall.com (717)783-7305
www.themorningcall.com
12:09 PM EST, February 21, 2008
HARRISBURG - In case you'd forgotten, here's a vivid reminder that politics makes for strange bedfellows.
One of the General Assembly's most conservative members and one of its most liberal have teamed up to block the implementation of a federal program that they say would create a new national identity card, putting the personal privacy of millions of Americans at risk.
State Rep. Samuel Rohrer, R-Berks, and Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, are co-sponsoring legislation designed to bar the implementation of the federal REAL ID program in Pennsylvania.
Rohrer is best known as one of the Legislature's most vigilant tax hawks. Josephs, the chairwoman of the House State Government Committee, embraces such social causes as civil unions for same-sex couples.
"Fundamentally, [REAL ID] is a violation of several provisions of the Constitution," Rohrer said this week as the House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee kicked off a pair of hearings on the issue. "The most obvious one is that Congress has no authority to implement anything of this type."
The program is "dreadful," because of its potential costs and the volume of personal information that it will centralize, Josephs said in a brief interview. "Here's something that looks like it was put together to harass the American people," Josephs said, adding that, "there is no evidence whatsoever that this will make us any safer from terrorists."
The House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee held a public hearing on the legislation in Philadelphia today. Another is planned for Pittsburgh on March 13. Passed by Congress in 2005, the federal REAL ID Act sets up nationwide standards for drivers' licenses. The cards are supposed to be tamper-proof so that terrorists can't duplicate them.
But critics fear that the required inclusion of so-called "biometric information" on the cards, and the fact that information on the cards would be shared between states, would lead to the creation of a nationwide database of personal identities.
"It's the use of bio-metric information that's contained in the card," Rohrer said. "It's the equivalent to DNA or a fingerprint."
Rohrer also said he's worried about both the threat to personal privacy of such a database as well as its security. He pointed to a recent incident in the United Kingdom in which the personal details of 600,000 people were put at-risk when a government laptop was stolen.
The program has united critics on both the right and left, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative, Harrisburg think-tank.
Officials at the state Department of Transportation are reviewing the financial impact of implementing the program in Pennsylvania, a PennDOT official said at a public hearing in Harrisburg last month.
Critics fear that the cost of implementing the program will run into the millions of dollars. The Bush administration has not included state funding in any of its budgets, and Congress has only appropriated $90 million for the program since 2006, said Jeremy D. Meadows, a policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The federal government has allowed states to use U.S. Homeland Security grant money for REAL ID purposes, but much of that money is "largely already spoken for by other homeland security priorities," Meadows said at that same public hearing.
States have until 2011 to fully comply with federal REAL ID requirements. But people could run into trouble as soon as this May, unless state officials are granted an exception by the Department of Homeland Security to continue studying the program's requirements, PennDOT Deputy Secretary Kurt Myers said.
At that point, only REAL ID licenses will be accepted to board commercial airliners or such federal facilities as nuclear power plants where identification is required. Assuming the state is granted an exception, that requirement wouldn't kick in for Pennsylvania residents until Dec. 31, 2009, Myers said. States would have until 2011 to finally implement the program.
john.micek@mcall.com (717)783-7305
www.themorningcall.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Allegheny County meeting recap
There was not alot to go over in the old business so we jumped right into the new business. Most of the meeting was discussing the upcoming PA state convention. It is on March 1st. At the convention we will be voting for new officers(chairman, vice-chair, secretary and treasure). Not all current candidates will be seeking reelection. We will also have to pick delegates to the national convention in Kansas City starting on April 23rd. To be a voting delegate at the PA state convention you must be registered with the party and pay your $35 annual dues. There will be a banquet following the convention and the cost is $40 for a single and $70 for couples.
The National convention was also discussed. Topics included potential national delegates and who could serve on the various committees.
It was a good night and after we adjurned we stayed aroud talked and drank more coffee. I look forward to seeing more people at our March meeting on the 18th.
The National convention was also discussed. Topics included potential national delegates and who could serve on the various committees.
It was a good night and after we adjurned we stayed aroud talked and drank more coffee. I look forward to seeing more people at our March meeting on the 18th.
Monday, February 18, 2008
PA Constitution Party state meeting
The Constitution Party State Meeting and Banquet will be held:
March 1st 2008
at the
Hotel Carlisle in the Windsor Ball Room
1700 Harrisburg Pike
Carlisle, PA 17015
717-243-1717
Executive Meeting is from 10:00 am -12:00 pm
State Meeting is from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Banquet is from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Ticket Price
$40.00 per person
or
$70.00 per couple
Please R.S.V.P. 724-586-9739
Speakers to be announced at later date.
March 1st 2008
at the
Hotel Carlisle in the Windsor Ball Room
1700 Harrisburg Pike
Carlisle, PA 17015
717-243-1717
Executive Meeting is from 10:00 am -12:00 pm
State Meeting is from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Banquet is from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Ticket Price
$40.00 per person
or
$70.00 per couple
Please R.S.V.P. 724-586-9739
Speakers to be announced at later date.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Four Parties Start Pennsylvania Petitioning
Pennsylvania has no procedure for an unqualified party to circulate a petition that just names the party. Instead, Pennsylvania only has procedures for petitions that list candidates. However, Pennsylvania permits stand-ins. The Constitution Party stand-in national ticket is Jim Clymer for president and Chuck Baldwin for vice-president. The Green Party stand-in national ticket is John Zachmann for president and K.C. McCurry for vice-president. The Libertarian stand-in national ticket is Rochelle Etzel for president and Chuck Boust for vice-president. The Reform Party petition lists Michael Bloomberg for president and Frank McKay for vice-president.
www.ballot-access.org
www.ballot-access.org
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