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Prize_Huckleberry_79 t1_j16dky7 wrote

TIL that Pennsylvania doesn’t compensate wrongly convicted exonerees. They just toss em out on the street with “tough luck kid”….

That’s incredibly sad, on a disturbing level…

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sappyguy t1_j16hgnk wrote

1 of 12 states that doesn’t compensate wrongly convicted exonerees. Goddamn.

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Prize_Huckleberry_79 t1_j16hkob wrote

Like, who were the heartless fucks that made that decision? In 12 states nonetheless!

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DreamsAndSchemes t1_j16nj0d wrote

There's a reason the parts of PA outside Philly and Pittsburgh are known as Pennsyltucky

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TheBritishOracle t1_j185egp wrote

I visited a friend in west PA a few years ago, stopped by for a few days while I was traveling around the states, had known him from a game for about 10 years before that.

He was a good host, and I always knew he was kinda 'country', but I had no idea that he was basically, well... He explained that there was nothing good outside of America and he had no interest in traveling outside the confines of the US. Europe and the UK were just full of communists. If I joked about any criticism of the US he got really pissed off.

Which wasn't a good idea when he had already shown me his armoury full of every type of weapon you could think of. Including his home made explosives.

He was no means uneducated or isolated, not at all. He was a retired oil exec with a background in engineering, his wife was I think a senior manager in another high tech energy industry. He'd run multiple businesses and was wealthy.

Carried a gun everywhere he went, refused to wear a seatbelt, complained about the government and cops.

I was speaking to friends later who explained to me that basically the people living up the mountains of west PA are the northern equivalent of the deep, deep south.

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Most_Ruin_3005 t1_j18wlad wrote

Same as upstate NY. I've never seen anywhere with more confederate flags flying than certain towns upstate. It's surreal.

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Lockridge t1_j1damfr wrote

try VT NH Maine...haven't heard great things about western Illinois...

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fungobat t1_j173pn8 wrote

Lancaster here, we're pretty cool (at least the city part). Good restaurants and bars.

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BorkieDorkie811 t1_j1763g2 wrote

Lebanon County here. Yes, you're cool, but look at what's immediately around you.

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fergie_lr t1_j18gkmy wrote

Also Lebanon County, Lancaster is where we go to eat and take a break from Lebanon.

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UberGoobler t1_j17but4 wrote

Lehigh County checking in. We’re pretty well behaved…I think?

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MightyThor211 t1_j17i5t0 wrote

Why is it always weird to see someone saying thier from the same town on here. It's like where you.... prince street? Near LGH?

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thegoodnamesrgone123 t1_j17pl2x wrote

I've been out there for Roller Derby games and I went to Kutztown for a bit. There are nice places in the middle (like Lancaster) shitty parts too. Kinda like everywhere I guess.

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yatesinater t1_j17vs59 wrote

Chameleon Club still around? I heard it was closing due to covid

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fungobat t1_j18affy wrote

Yep it's gone. New place opened up in Millersville.

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r-reading-my-comment t1_j19l6ff wrote

The Lehigh Valley wants you to know that you can go fuck yourself.

Edit: and I wouldn't hold philly up as a beacon of light here.

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Healthy-Review-7484 t1_j193anx wrote

Pennsylvania is horribly conservative and racist in the area of law. Other states just hide it better.

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shewy92 t1_j1ec60a wrote

I'm surprised we were the 3rd state to outlaw child marriage back in 2020

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lunartree t1_j16qy7s wrote

It was almost certainly always like that, and changing laws requires the people to vote for change. Remember, Pennsylvania is a pretty conservative state.

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Omophorus t1_j16x2m3 wrote

No, Pennsylvania is not.

The problem is that the state is gerrymandered to hell and the areas outside the Philly/Pittsburgh area are generally pretty conservative.

So while by population is the state is purple leaning blue, the packing and cracking of districts distorts the power balance in the state legislature.

And the conservative politicians in PA are awful.

Doug Mastriano put up a competitive race (ish) against Josh Shapiro for governor, and Mastriano not only looks like a scrotum in a suit but has some of the most reprehensible views on the world and the people in it I've ever encountered.

Once you get outside the cities and the more affluent burbs, I've seen more confederate flags than I ever saw living in North Carolina. They're a loud minority, but the loud part matters. The selfish entitlement is off the charts even as the world rightfully leaves their deadbeat asses behind.

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FindingMoi t1_j17bkl7 wrote

Living in rural PA, I still can’t wrap my head around those who claim the confederate flag is their heritage and how they somehow have a southern accent despite never having been south of Harrisburg.

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Yonk_art t1_j18cwin wrote

And coming from the state with Gettysburg...

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KingWillly t1_j175vxh wrote

>Doug Mastriano put up a competitive race (ish) against Josh Shapiro

Lol what? He lost by almost 15 points. That’s a higher margin than Greg Abbott in Texas

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Omophorus t1_j17609b wrote

Given his views, it never should have been that close.

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fergie_lr t1_j18hlkm wrote

Only thanks to the major cities. Mastriano won many of the counties. But Democrats did show and he only got around 65% in my red county.

Thankfully, gerrymandering doesn’t work for Governor and Presidential races. That’s why they are scrambling for voter suppression.

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mces97 t1_j1789d2 wrote

Why can't someone sue for civil rights violations federally?

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Scrambley t1_j1b5282 wrote

According to Google...

>The following 12 states do not have compensation laws: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

If anyone else was curious.

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jefe357 t1_j18gycq wrote

I study this stuff. What's even crazier is that exonerees often get LESS transitional support (e.g., housing assistance, job training) than parolees do, precisely because they didn't commit a crime -- but then society still discriminates against exonerees as if they were offenders. It's a massive catch-22.

It's also crazy how much compensation laws vary between states. Losing years of your life is "worth" much more in some places than others. And in some states, if you're coerced to confess to a crime you didn't commit, you become ineligible for compensation because the state effectively blames you for your own wrongful conviction.

We're working to fix this, one state at a time -- and you'd think it's a common sense reform, but you'd be surprised (or maybe not...).

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UponMidnightDreary t1_j1ib09p wrote

Terrible disgraceful thing. So glad you and others are devoting your attention and energy here!

It’s one of those things that people tend to disbelieve initially because it is so mind blowingly insane. Once people are aware of the scope, I’ve found most people support changing laws and (where there are payouts but they are capped) increasing compensation. It’s such a scary thing to imagine that it’s easy for people to project themselves into the situation and see how unfair it is.

Major major kudos to you for studying this and working in this area!!!

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applefilla t1_j16nyzf wrote

That's how the system works it's free revenue for the prison industrial complex when they inevitably go back in 🤷 it's ultimately slavery with A LOT of extra legal steps 🙂 Land of the free and what not

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starmartyr t1_j185q3e wrote

The 13th amendment abolished slavery with the loophole that it was legal as punishment for a crime. It's not slavery with extra steps, it's just slavery. Slavery is still legal and widely practiced in the United States.

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A_Gent_4Tseven t1_j18bi4z wrote

Scranton cops blow. Had my car legitimately robbed by a police officer because it was parked at my house, and “teens drink in the woods near this house, so we went in your car and took your stuff out to make sure it wasn’t full of beer”. I was fucking 28 at and not a single fucking teen has ever partied at my damn woods because they get chased the fuck out. But they took shit out of my car I didn’t get back for 5 months because it was, and I quoted the fucking cops, evidence… winter jackets, an empty locked and pulled apart shotgun(to scare bears off from the chicken coop when I get home, the noise keeps them away for a good week) and tried to hit me with illegal weapons charge… the lawyer got my shit back and got it stopped, but the police still come by my house and harass my shit.

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AC13verName t1_j18eo41 wrote

Pennsylvania is one of the most corrupt states in the union. It needs to be investigated hardcore

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SpaceTabs t1_j17vfwm wrote

The state shouldn't have to. That's the responsibility of the county/municipality that did this.

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