NEWS
May 14, 2013
By Brian Wright O'Connor Nearly 50 years after leaving the University of Pennsylvania for Vietnam, Lt. Col. Mortimer Lenane O'Connor will receive a posthumous Ph.D. today in a ceremony honoring academic achievement and sacrifice on the field of battle. My father, who set aside his dissertation to lead soldiers in war, will be included in the Class of 1968, the year he would most likely have completed his doctorate had fate not intervened. Born in 1930, my dad grew up in the company of soldier-storytellers on Army garrisons from Manila to the Old West, and watched his own father and three uncles set off for war in Europe.
NEWS
July 12, 2010 | By Larry Eichel and Claire Shubik-Richards
Philadelphia officials recently announced a new campaign to collect the staggering amount of bail owed by defendants who have missed court dates over the last several decades. The laudable effort is designed to impose greater consequences for failure to appear in court and to produce more revenue for the city. The millions of dollars in outstanding bail are a symptom of a larger problem: the troubling number of defendants who do not show up for their court dates. Our recent Pew Charitable Trusts study, "Philadelphia's Crowded, Costly Jails: The Search for Safe Solutions," found that about 30 percent of city defendants released before trial miss their court appearances.
NEWS
January 13, 2013 | By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is pressing its opposition to gay marriage, insisting Saturday that children should grow up with a father and a mother after Italy's high court upheld a lower court ruling and granted custody of a child to his gay mother. In its decision Friday, the Court of Cassation said there was no "scientific certainty or experience-based data" to support the father's claims that the child's development was being damaged by living with his mother and her female partner.
NEWS
December 14, 2009 | By Craig R. McCoy, Inquirer Staff Writer
Craig Jackson was just 15 when he shot at three West Philadelphia teenagers within a matter of days, police said, wounding one. At 16, police said, Jackson let loose another volley of bullets, firing at five people gathered on a North Philadelphia street. He hit two. Four shooting incidents. Eight targets. Three people shot. Lots of witnesses. A slam dunk? Not exactly. In fact, by the time Assistant District Attorney Peter Erdely was assigned the Jackson file, the entire prosecution was in deep trouble.
NEWS
December 17, 2007
WHAT'S WITH Philadelphia Family Court? The city is pleading with fathers to have more of an active role in raising their children, but when a loving father goes to court to have time with his child, to be part of the child's life, the court allows him two visits per month. What's wrong with this picture? How does a father have an active role in a child's life with two days out of a month? I'm willing to listen to any rational explanation of this; however, there are none. Kathleen Ludy, Philadelphia
NEWS
February 17, 1986
The Feb. 2 editorial following the Inquirer series "Disorder in the court" offered a four-point mandate for reform: merit selection of judges, strengthening the Judicial Inquiry and Review Board, a more reform-minded bar association and, finally, public participation in a court-watching program. The Citizens Crime Commission supports that agenda, and I agree with your basic contention that, unless this is the kind of judiciary we want, "the constituencies must join together to demand change now. " However, I take issue with your statement that court watching has not been tried here.
SPORTS
January 13, 1996 | By Mayer Brandschain, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
Steve Sader advanced to the quarterfinals of the National B Court Tennis Championship with a 10-2 victory over fellow Philadelphian Bill Diamond yesterday at the Racquet Club. All matches in the 18-player field consisted of one 10-game set because the facility has only one court. Sader performed soundly, keeping the ball well in play and hitting it to best advantage. He moved from 1-1 to 5-1 and ran out from 5-2. Harry Hare of Philadelphia also gained the quarterfinals by defeating Steve Poskanzer of Boston, 10-6, after putting out Barney Tanfield of Philadelphia, 10-1.
SPORTS
September 30, 1995 | THE INQUIRER STAFF
The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York yesterday upheld a lower-court decision against baseball club owners, making it unlikely there will be any changes in the sport's economic system this winter. In a 3-0 vote, the court ruled that the owners' Player Relations Committee tried to illegally eliminate free agency, salary arbitration, and the anti- collusion provisions of the expired collective-bargaining agreement. "The unilateral elimination of free agency and salary arbitration followed by just three days a promise to restore the status quo," Judge Ralph Winter wrote.
NEWS
March 7, 2012 | BY HOLLY OTTERBEIN
PHILADELPHIA's court system, the First Judicial District, is enacting reforms to make it easier for people to challenge court debts they believe are inaccurate. Legal advocates say the changes, scheduled to take effect in about six weeks, will give poor people a better chance at fighting debts. Last year, court officials announced plans to crack down on debtors, who owed the district a combined total of about $1.5 billion in forfeited bail, restitution and other court costs.
SPORTS
June 7, 1996 | By Mayer Brandschain, FOR THE INQUIRER
Joe Altman defeated third-seeded David Jespersen, the 1994 titleholder, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the third round of the Philadelphia Clay Court Tennis Championship last night at the Cynwyd Club. Altman, a Lancaster Catholic High School graduate about to enter William and Mary College, now faces an Audubon schoolboy, Adam Seri. Top-seeded Young Min Kwon, pro at Eastern Racquet Club in Medford, N.J., and a former champion, fought uphill to go ahead, 1-6, 6-4, 5-2, against George Zink, also of Lancaster, when fading light at 8:45 p.m. caused them to break off action.