Pennsylvania’s Criminal Justice Reinvestment Initiative announced

The US criminal justice system should be consistent, fair and predictable. Often, parole and probation and parole violations are handled inconsistently.

Late June, Pennsylvania announced reforms called justice reinvestment, including punishment  that is characterized as both “swift and certain,” consisting of brief stays in jail for small violators. This is expected to shrink the jail inhabitants by 1000 in the next three years, and save the state $108 million, which will be reinvested to cut recidivism and improve public safety.

Swift-and-certain penalties for probation violators was created by a Honolulu judge hoping to get recidivist drug offenders out of his courtroom. Recidivism was reduced by 50 percent.

The new report described how Pennsylvania could shorten delays for those who serve brief sentences in Pennsylvania prisons while focusing on improving probation.

Critics have cast doubt, claiming that efforts based on punishment have not produced desired results. Specifically, a swift-and-certain program trial last year in Delaware reported no gains resulting versus current probationary practices.

A US-wide trial supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Justice found no decrease in new arrests and sometimes, the rate of probation revocation grew.

Pennsylvania’s plan produces savings by granting automatic parole for those serving short terms after completing the minimum (with good behavior). This could get people released on parole up to five months ahead of schedule.

Other report recommendations include:

• Using more risk-assessment means to assess release conditions or bail before trial. These are pushed as a secure means to get low-risk people out of jails, but some claim that the tools are racially biased. Currently, 12 of 57 counties in Pennsylvania use these tools.
• Create a state-wide probation governing body which bolsters county probation departments and increase funding. Pennsylvania gives only $100 out of the $830 yearly bill for each probationer to the counties; other states contribute a great deal more.

Chester County, Pennsylvania began its program in 2016 for high-risk drug offenders on probation with sporadic weekly drug tests. If someone denies using drugs and tests positive, they receive five days’ jail time but if they admit using drugs, they get two days’ in jail. There used to be nine months of incarceration for probation violations. Remarkably, to date, the rate of positive tests for drugs is down to 7.5 percent from 41 percent and the probation revocation rate has dropped to 40 percent from 59 percent.

Philadelphia is not participating, and their probation detainers are growing the jails’ population. Approximately 50 percent of the city’s prison population is incarcerated on detainers, rendering those people not bail eligible.

Defense attorney Amato Sanita noted that “with the research indicating that even a short time in jail increases someone’s chances of another arrested, we see that the juxtaposition of consequences is key to justice reform.”