The Pennsylvania General Assembly’s legislative session opens this month, and some big changes are being suggested as far as the state’s prison system is concerned. The changes are a culmination of several years of study into Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system by state court officials.
Most people agree that a major problem currently plaguing the nationwide prison system is overcrowding in prisons, as well as crumbling facilities, poor sanitation, and lack of available medical care. According to current statistics, incarceration rates in Pennsylvania are higher than in any other mid-Atlantic state, including the neighboring states of New Jersey and Maryland.
Moreover, in Pennsylvania, spending on the prison system has surged from $1.6 billion in 2006 to approximately $2.5 billion now. The bulk of this spending comes from taxpayer funds.
The new set of criminal justice recommendations were proposed in mid-December, 2016, as part of the Pennsylvania Justice Reinvestment Initiative. The proposed initiative would drive the state’s prison population significantly down and save approximately $108 million over the next six fiscal years.
Half of that amount could then be spent on probation services, thereby reducing the chance of repeat offenders, and the other half would revert to the state’s general fund.
Probation can be hugely preferable to incarceration because it allows a criminal defendant to self-rehabilitate without the black mark of a conviction – or a prison sentence – on his or her record.
Defense attorney Amato Sanita commented, “A probation sentence typically requires a criminal defendant to report to a probation officer; to comply with certain terms and conditions of probation; and to stay out of trouble while the probation is pending. Putting money into probation services will help to make probation a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to incarceration.”
Some other ideas set forth in the proposed initiative include the following:
- Making small downward adjustments of 2-3 months in state mandatory sentencing guidelines, resulting in a huge savings to taxpayers and decreasing Pennsylvania’s prison population.
- Streamlining inmates’ pathways to preexisting intermediate punishment programs by eliminating judicial post-sentence review of program eligibility.
The proposed initiative would also set aside $20 million in state funds for investment into county probation departments over the next four years. This would improve the number and quality of probation services and programs available to criminal defendants, as well as create hundreds of probation officer positions statewide.
The Pennsylvania Justice Reinvestment Initiative will be the basis of several bills introduced at the 2017 – 2018 legislative session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly this January. After the bills are introduced, the ultimate decision on passage and implementation will be up to Pennsylvania lawmakers.
