People keep saying, “It’s still the judge.” They’re not judges. They’re magistrates. In Pennsylvania, they only need a high school diploma. No college degree. No law degree. They are elected. In Allegheny County, my former director (now Deputy Court Administrator) and former supervisor (now Deputy Director) openly bragged about 'threatening' magistrates with removal from the bench if they refused to follow our assessments. Some pushed back. Those who did were removed from handling arraignments and preliminary hearings. Others lost reelection to more moderate and left-leaning candidates. If a magistrate dared to go against our recommendation, the Arnold Unit in our main office (named after one of the grants) prepared the case. Our court representatives took it to motions court, where a Court of Common Pleas judge almost always changed the bond to match what our office wanted. Most magistrates had no idea their decisions were being undone behind their backs. The people who built and ran this system in Allegheny County Pretrial Services: Tom McCaffrey, Janice Dean (now Deputy Court Administrator in a position that previously required bar membership—she is not a member of the bar), Chris Shanley, Colleen Murtha Sypolt, and Garrett Larkin. Another police officer lost his life today in Philadelphia—Shane Seiber, a father of two. Every time this happens, ask the same questions: Did the shooter have a history? Was he out on pretrial release? Could this have been prevented? That’s why I’m speaking out. People need to understand who is actually driving these decisions. I will keep saying it as much as I need to if it saves even one life and spares one family from having to prepare a funeral. Please share this. @colin_dunlap @ZitoSalena @realDonaldTrump