Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Monday vetoed [veto message, PDF] HB 1538 [text, PDF], a bill that would criminally punish public officials that release information about police officers within 30 days of their causing death or serious harm. Wolf explained his veto:

these situations … demand utmost transparency, otherwise a harmful mistrust will grow between police officers and the communities they protect and serve. Further, I cannot allow local police department policies to be superseded and transparency to be criminalized, as local departments are best equipped to decide what information is appropriate to release to the public.

Both the Pennsylvania House and Senate voted in favor of the bill with large majorities—151-32[legislative materials] in the House and 39-9 [legislative materials] in the Senate—enough to overcome the veto should the bill come to a vote again.

Wolf’s veto comes in the midst of public outcry about police accountability. A Minnesota police officer was charged last week in the shooting death of Philando Castile, the same day the city of Cleveland submitted [JURIST reports] a revised use-of-force policy to the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, which is overseeing an agreement by the city to reform their police department. Cincinnati trial judge Megan Shanahan declared [JURIST report] a mistrial on November 12 after the jury declared it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on murder and manslaughter charges in a case involving the shooting of an unarmed black man, Samuel DuBose, by Officer Raymond Tensing in July. In September the DOJ announced [JURIST report] it would investigate the shooting of Terence Crutcher, a unarmed black man killed by a police officer in Tulsa.