The Globe

Pennsylvania coroners refuse to unlock post-mortem experiences – and that hinders analysis on deaths in custody

Source link : https://bq3anews.com/pennsylvania-coroners-refuse-to-unlock-post-mortem-experiences-and-that-hinders-analysis-on-deaths-in-custody/

Impartial journalist Derek Sherwood submitted a information request in Centre County, Pennsylvania, in January 2026. He asked an post-mortem file associated with a 1987 chilly case that he used to be researching for a ebook challenge.
After Coroner Scott Sayers denied the request, Sherwood effectively appealed to the Place of work of Open Data, or OOR, a state company liable for adjudicating Proper-To-Know Legislation disputes.

However Sayers nonetheless refused to unlock the file.

On Might 14, the day earlier than he used to be legally required to agree to the OOR’s choice, Sayers received a short lived court docket injunction that shielded the post-mortem file from unlock.

Round the similar time, PennLive reporter Jenna Sensible asked 3 post-mortem experiences associated with a 2025 crime spree from Susquehanna County Coroner Jessica Chiaramonte. Like Sayers, Chiaramonte additionally denied the request after which filed motions with the Court docket of Commonplace Pleas to seal the experiences.

And once I contacted Clearfield County Coroner Kim Shaffer-Snyder in Might to request post-mortem experiences for 3 males who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, I used to be quoted US$2,100 for a brief stack of published pages.

Those studies mirror a much wider trend. In counties throughout Pennsylvania, coroners automatically refuse to make post-mortem experiences and different information to be had to participants of the general public.

Coroners’…

—-

Author : bq3anews

Publish date : 2026-06-25 09:38:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

—-

12345678

Exit mobile version