Joseph Darius Jaafari

Did you know Spotlight PA is a nonprofit? Learn more about our nonpartisan journalism »

Stories by Joseph Darius Jaafari

Civil rights marchers on a journey from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C. are seen here in Youngstown, Ohio.

A Pa. prosecutor waited months after receiving a police report to charge a man who shot at protesters

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and David Hurst of The Tribune-Democrat

May 7, 2021

Pennsylvania State Police troopers have justified vehicle searches by saying a driver was nervous, sweating, or eating.

How Pa. troopers use sweating, stuttering during traffic stops to launch vehicle searches

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

April 28, 2021

State Corrections Secretary John Wetzel received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this month and recorded it to encourage staff and those incarcerated to do the same.

Workers in Pa. prisons, COVID-19 hotspots, aren’t getting vaccinated. Here’s why that’s dangerous.

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

April 22, 2021

The Department of Corrections will distribute Johnson & Johnson's single dose, coronavirus vaccine to thousands of inmates and correctional officers.

‘A turning point’: Thousands in Pa. prisons will be offered COVID-19 vaccine

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

April 8, 2021

The language of the bill is a carbon copy of a Pennsylvania law from the 1990s that makes it a felony for inmates to spit on another person if they are known to have a communicable disease.

How being sick could result in even stiffer penalties for spitting on Pa. police

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

March 26, 2021

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is offering $25 in commissary credit to inmates who get the coronavirus vaccine, and has seen promising results.

Two Pa. prisons have vaccinated more than 70% of inmates. An incentive program may be making a difference.

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Jamie Martines of Spotlight PA

March 17, 2021

The decision to exclude Pennsylvania State Police comes after a year dominated by police brutality protests and a harder look within law enforcement agencies across the country at how they interact with Black and brown communities.

Pennsylvania State Police will escape legislative scrutiny in 2021 budget process

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Feb. 17, 2021

Sharon Murchison is photographed at her home on January 28 2021, in Philadelphia, Pa. Department of Corrections officials are using faulty data to justify keeping prisoners longer behind bars, leaving families, advocates and data analysts in the dark on how bad it is inside. Murchinson has a husband and two brothers that are incarcerated. She recently testified at a hearing on the above matter.

Confronted with significant flaws in coronavirus data, Pa. corrections officials concede ‘it’s unacceptable’

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Jan. 29, 2021

The Department of Corrections will not release the health status of inmates to family members unless they are listed as the emergency contact in documents that in some cases are as old as when the inmate was first incarcerated.

Pa. prisons don’t always tell families when inmates are sick. Officials are defending that policy.

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Jan. 19, 2021

Law enforcement has erected orange fencing and deployed armed officers outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

Law enforcement in Pa. preparing for possible unrest despite ‘no specific threats’ to the Capitol

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Cynthia Fernandez of Spotlight PA

Jan. 14, 2021

Families of those incarcerated in Pennsylvania's state prison system say the Corrections Department is keeping them in the dark about their loved ones' coronavirus diagnoses and, in some cases, deaths.

An inmate died of the coronavirus, but Pa. corrections never told his family

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Dec. 18, 2020

This divergence from medical and federal health officials is an example of what the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association said is continuous disregard by the corrections department for the lives at risk in prisons as new coronavirus cases in facilities explode.

Pa. corrections dept. tells officer with COVID-19 symptoms to return to work early

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Dec. 14, 2020

A bed at State Correctional Institution at Laurel Highlands in November 2019. Four inmates at the Laurel Highlands facility in Somerset are currently in the hospital, and the facility reported its first death of the pandemic last week.

Serious COVID-19 outbreak threatens hundreds at Pa. prison for medically vulnerable

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Nov. 11, 2020

Protesters and militia gathered outside the Capitol in Harrisburg this April for a reopen protest. A recent report by a worldwide nonprofit that tracks militia groups said Pennsylvania is one of five U.S. states at high risk of violence through Nov. 3.

State, counties prepare to keep Pa. polling places safe amid fears of militia, hate groups

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA, Emily Previti of WITF, and Ramesh Santanam of Postindustrial

Oct. 30, 2020

Poll watchers are different from poll workers who run in-person voting.

Everything Pa. poll watchers can — and can’t — do on Election Day, explained

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Emily Previti of WITF

Oct. 15, 2020

Legal experts say civil forfeiture is a form of “highway robbery,” in which police take money — largely from people of color — to pad their yearly budgets and those of prosecutors.

How Pa. state troopers seize big money from drivers, many of whom are never charged

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Joshua Vaughn of The Appeal

Oct. 1, 2020

Fueled by social media posts that parroted — and then embellished — the state police’s version of events, white vigilantes wielding guns descended upon town squares.

A changing story by police on a rural Pa. shooting helped fuel white vigilantes and misinformation

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Ryan Deto of Pittsburgh City Paper

Sept. 30, 2020

The state inspector general will determine if protocols are followed and training is sufficient.

Pa. inspector general reviewing legality of some state police traffic stops, searches

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Sept. 3, 2020

To justify their searches, state police often claimed that a driver was nervous, sweating, or eating.

Highway ‘stop-and-frisk’: How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Joshua Vaughn of The Appeal

Aug. 31, 2020

The Pennsylvania State Police are investigating who shot at peaceful civil rights marchers traveling through Pennsylvania on their way from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C.

Civil rights marchers shot at in Pa. while on trek from Milwaukee to Washington, D.C.

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Aug. 25, 2020

Advocates say prisons and jails need to release more inmates to ensure proper social distancing. Protesters rallied in Philadelphia this April to make that demand.

Review of COVID-19’s effect on communities of color largely ignores Pa. inmates

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

Aug. 21, 2020

Gov. Tom Wolf (left) signed an order that directed the Department of Corrections, led by Secretary John Wetzel (right), to create a reprieve program for medically vulnerable inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes.

Why Gov. Tom Wolf’s big effort to grant coronavirus reprieves to Pa. inmates came up small

by Matt McKinney of Spotlight PA and Joseph Darius Jaafari of PA Post

June 11, 2020

Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel said simply releasing inmates isn't a viable option. He said there needs to be reentry policies and procedures in place, and that takes time.

Advocates call on Pa. officials to reduce inmate population amid coronavirus outbreak

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of PA Post and Cynthia Fernandez of Spotlight PA

March 20, 2020

Get the top news from across Pennsylvania, plus some fun and a puzzle, all in one free daily email newsletter.