News Release
For Immediate Release
September 20, 2011
Contact: Aaron Zappia
(215) 657-7700

Appropriations Committee Advances Criminal Justice Reform Act 

Today, the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance Senator Greenleaf’s Criminal Justice Reform Act (SB 100) to the Senate Floor. 

The legislation contains several provisions that address prison overcrowding, recidivism, and reduce the high costs of incarceration.  SB 100 continues the prison reform movement in Pennsylvania, makes better use of already existing alternative sentencing programs, and relies on principles that have been proven highly effective in other states. 

The Criminal Justice Reform Act would: 

• The bill allows the Department of Corrections (DOC) to quickly move offenders with short minimum sentences to community corrections centers for community-based treatment. 

• The bill establishes the Safe Community Reentry Program.  The legislation requires the DOC to establish a comprehensive program to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and reintegration of offenders into the community. 

• The bill will make more nonviolent offenders eligible for Pennsylvania’s alternative sentencing programs.  These programs include county intermediate punishment (CIP), state intermediate punishment (SIP), state motivational boot camp, and the recidivism risk reduction incentive (RRRI). 

• The bill establishes a county probation program providing for swift, predictable and immediate sanctions on offenders who violate their probation.  Currently, parole violations are often punished with lengthy prison sentences that are costly to taxpayers, and fail to reduce recidivism.  A similar program has been highly effective in Hawaii. 

"Over the past 30 years, we have learned that traditional incarceration has failed to correct the behavior of non-violent drug offenders," said Senator Greenleaf.  "Punishment must be balanced with sufficient rehabilitation.  In recent years, most states have adopted more evidence based programs that are proven to stop drug use and prevent recidivism.  Pennsylvania has enacted reforms in recent years, but more must be done to cut the high cost of incarceration and place more non-violent offenders into rehabilitative programs."