On today’s episode of The Confluence:
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that judges in Pa. can dismiss charges against people ‘incompetent’ to stand trial
(0:00 - 7:05)
Judges in Pennsylvania now have the authority to dismiss charges against defendants who have been deemed not competent to stand trial. The ruling comes after a decades-old law, Pennsylvania’s Mental Health Procedures Act of 1976, that left severely mentally ill people behind bars indefinitely.
The law requires judges to determine whether people deemed “incompetent” to understand their case can stand trial after receiving treatment. But the law still has ambiguous instructions for what to do when someone is not competent and for various reasons, never will be.
Danielle Ohl, an investigative reporter with Spotlight PA, says there are only two places in the state for people to receive treatment.
“There's Norristown and Torrance State Hospitals… Those two hospitals that are run by the Department of Human Services are the only places,” says Ohl. “When people need that treatment, sometimes they have to wait for it.”
Ohl explains with this new ruling, if people do not gain their competence after treatment, judges can look at the case and “balance their due process rights” against the public’s safety and, if appropriate, dismiss those charges.
New book details the Kaufmann family legacy
(7:12 - 17:03)
In 1868, a young man reached America from Germany and made his way to Pittsburgh and became a peddler. By the end of his life, he created the iconic department store, Kaufmann’s.
The life of the Kaufmann family not only touched the business community but also the artistic and philanthropic.
Marylynne Pitz and Laura Malt Schneiderman are journalists in Pittsburgh and coauthors of a new book about this family, “Kaufmann’s: The family that built Pittsburgh’s famed department store.”
In researching for this book, Pitz and Schneiderman focused on Edgar Jonas Kaufmann, Sr., the son of Morris Kaufmann. Edgar served as Kaufmann’s president for 42 years.
“The thing that Edgar did was that he made retailing a white-collar profession. He established a program here locally, first at Carnegie Mellon, later at Pitt, that allowed people to learn the business of retail, merchandising, managing people,” says Pitz. “A lot of women gained entry into the field this way, so he really created opportunities for people here in Pittsburgh.”
Despite Kaufmann’s initial popularity and influence, the retailer began to decline in the early 2000’s after the parent corporation decided to close shop in Pittsburgh and move to Boston.
“When they did that, they eliminated, in a stroke, 1,200 jobs from downtown Pittsburgh, which amounted to almost 1% of the Downtown workforce,” says Schneiderman.
Conor Lamb is leaving office and discusses his next move
(17:08 - 22:30)
Next month will mark the end of Congressman Conor Lamb's political career, at least for now. Lamb didn't run for re-election this year, after losing his U.S. Senate to now Senator-elect John Fetterman.
Lamb talks to 90.5 WESA's Chris Potter about what he learned after becoming a national Democratic hero when he won a Trump-friendly House seat in 2018.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
