As for problems with the city's bail system and its failure to capture and penalize fugitives, Abraham said she and others had sounded the alarm about these problems for years, to little avail.
On witness intimidation, Abraham said she long fought - indeed, she said, "almost begged" - City Council for money to protect fearful witnesses. The response, she said, was "lots of gnashing of teeth, many 'oh, this is terrible,' tons of sympathetic sighs, but not even one dime."
"It was a glaring error," she said, faulting Council for "inertia" and "lack of political will."
In all, she said, the issues highlighted in the newspaper series and at Monday's hearing were long-standing problems of the court system.
"These problems and issues have been with us since at least 1968," Abraham said. "There's nothing new under the sun."
In her testimony, she questioned the newspaper's motive in studying the courts. "Could this possibly be a vain attempt at trying to capture their former prowess as a news-gathering organization?" she asked.
Others at the hearing heralded the newspaper's work and said they were hopeful that its findings on the courts would prompt reform.
"I think that opportunity comes in at a time of crisis and concern," said Goldkamp, the Temple criminologist. Without clearly needed change, he said, "The Philadelphia court system risks being held up nationally as an example of a dysfunctional court system."
In response to the series, Specter introduced a bill that would make it a federal crime to intimidate a witness in a state case and has called on the U.S. Marshals' Service to assist Philadelphia court officials in rounding up fugitives.
During the hearing, Specter called the newspaper's work "a motivating factor" in his push for federal assistance to local courts.
Contact staff writer Nancy Phillips at 215-854-2254 or nphillips@phillynews.com.
Inquirer staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.
