Resources and Research
Check out these additional resources for more information on the criminal justice system!
Source:
Zombie politics: The return of failed criminal legal system policies in 2023 – and how to fight back, Sarah Staudt, Prison Policy Initiative, January 24, 2024, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/01/24/zombie-politics/
Resources
Zombie politics: The return of failed criminal legal system policies in 2023 – and how to fight back, Sarah Staudt, Prison Policy Initiative, January 24, 2024, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/01/24/zombie-politics/
Pennsylvania’s Broken ‘Compassionate Release’ Law, by the Number, Danielle OHL, WHYY, April 5, 2022, https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvanias-compassionate-release-law-broken-system/
The Pennsylvania Prison Society is working to change the culture of food behind bars, Joel Wolfram, https://www.cspinet.org/blog/pennsylvania-prison-society-working-change-culture-food-behind-bars
“Because incarcerated people make vanishingly low wages, the extra expense often falls to their families.” See How much do incarcerated people earn in each state?, Wendy Sawyer, Prison Policy Initiative, April 10, 2017, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/us/incarceration-holidays-family-costs.htm|?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap
More people than even are dying in prison. Their caregivers? Other inmates, Samantha Melamed, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 2017, http://www.philly.com/philly/living/more-people-than-ever-are-dying-in-prison-their-caregivers-other-inmates-20170927.html
Safer Communities, Smarter Spending: The Next Phase of Criminal Justice Reform in Pennsylvania, Bob Dick, Policy Brief from the Commonwealth Foundation, September, 2018, https://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/doclib/20180911_SaferCommunitiesSmarterSpending.pdf
Dauphin County Cut Power to men in jail’s ‘hole’ for 2 weeks: “Darkness creates depression”, Joshua Vaughan, PennLive, March 13, 2024 – https://www.pennlive.com/news/2024/03/dauphin-county-cut-power-to-men-in-jails-hole-for-2-weeks-darkness-creates-depression.html
State policy drives women’s incarceration growth, Wendy Sawyer, Prison Policy Initiative, January 9, 2018, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/women_overtime.html
Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections should rethink its policy of scanning mail sent to prisoners, PennLive Editorial Board, PennLive, February, 2024 https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2024/02/pennsylvanias-department-of-corrections-should-rethink-its-policy-of-scanning-mail-sent-to-prisoners-pennlive-editorial.html
Parole Eligibility Education Initiative, Lifers Incorporated and the Pennsylvania Prison Society in conjunction with The Penn Law Program on Documentaries and the Law, https://lifersincpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/LINC-EligibilityIniative.pdf
“Inflation hitting hard in prisons: Inmates paying more for commissary.” See Why is commissary so expensive? Prices for everyday goods in prison soar amid inflation, Alex Arriaga, The Marshall Project, USA Today, May 2, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/05/02/prison-commissary-prices-soar-amid-inflation/70170625007/
“A 2016 survey from the Alliance for Safety and Justice found that 61% of crime victims prefer shorter prison sentences that focus on rehabilitation and increased spending on preventing crime rather than sentences that keep people incarcerated longer.” See New Study Finds Majority of Crime Victims Support Shorter Prison Sentences, Smarter Safety Investments, Alliance for Safety and Justice, Crime Survivors Speak (2016), https://allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/Crime%20Survivors%20Speak%20Press%20Release.pdf
A 2014 RAND Corporation, study found that for every $1 dollar spent on education while in prison saves nearly $5 dollars in future incarceration cost, and would cut the rates of re-offending by more than 40 percent. See Education and Vocational Training in Prisons Reduces Recidivism, Improves Job Outlook, Rand Corporation, August 22, 2013, https://www.bja.gov/Publications/RAND_Correctional-Education-Meta-Analysis.pdf
70 to 85% of prisoners released from prison will return to prison, typically within the first three years of release. However, this number drops immensely to 5.6 percent for prisoners who received a Bachelor’s degree, and less than 1 percent for those prisoners who received a Master’s degree while in prison. See Prison Education Reduces Recidivism, by Christopher Zoukis, last updated June 25, 2023, https://federalcriminaldefenseattorney.com/prison-education-facts/prison-education-reduces-recidivism/
“The Vera Institute of Justice calculates the average cost of imprisonment to be $40,028 per prisoner per year (in 2022 dollars). . . . ABE, secondary, and vocational education each cost about $2,000 per participant. See Returns on investment, Steven Sprick Schuster & Ben Stickle, Mackinac Center, January 24, 2023, https://www.mackinac.org/30587
“Research shows that quality education is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention.” See Prisons as a Growth Industry in Rural America: An Explosives Discussion of the Effects on Young African American Men in the Inner Cities, Tracy Hurling, Prison Policy Initiative, May 15, 1999, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/prisons_as_rural_growth.shtml
Lawmakers questions Pa. Corrections Department head on inmate health and safety, Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, March 30, 2023, https://penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/lawmakers-question-pa-corrections-department-head-on-inmate-health-and-safety/
A January 25, 2018 poll done by the Vera Institute of Justice found that 85% of Americans believes the main goal of prison should be rehabilitation, not punishment. See Overwhelming Majority of Americans Support Criminal Justice Reform, New Poll Finds, Vera Staff, Vera Institute of Justice, January 25, 2018, https://www.vera.org/news/overwhelming-majority-of-americans-support-criminal-justice-reform-new-poll-finds#:~:text=Perhaps%20most%20notably%2C%20the%20poll,removed%20for%20formerly%20incarcerated%20people.
“Surveys of trauma exposure among incarcerated men have found rates of trauma exposure ranging from 62.4% to 100% . . . , compared with rates of 43% to 92% for community-based male populations . . . .” See Screening for PTSD Among Incarcerated Men: A Comparative Analysis of Computer-Administered and Orally Administered Modalities, Nancy Wolff, M Gregory Chugo, Jing Shi, Jessica Huening, and B. Christopher Frueh, National Library of Medicine, February 9, 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4321801/
“The research is clear: visitation, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone — including better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school.” Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families, Leah Wang, Prison Policy Initiative, December 21, 2021, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/12/21/family_contact/
“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections wants more than $300 million in next year’s budget despite a declining population of incarcerated people and the recent closure of two facilities, sparking tough questions from lawmakers. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal to the state legislature included more than $200 million in additional funding for the department, which would bring the agency’s full request to roughly $3.3 billion.” Costs for Pa. Prison System are Soaring Despite Facility Closures, Putting Officials in the Hot Seat, Danielle Ohl, Spotlight PA, May 20, 2024, https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/05/pennsylvania-prison-costs-increase-closures-budget-overspending/
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” -Albert Einstein
PA Legislation We Endorse
Our campaign endorses and urges that passing of the following Pennsylvania House and Senate Bills:
House Bills:
- HB581 Minimum Wage for Incarcerated Individuals Bill
- Which would amend Title 61 (Prisons and Parole) to provide for inmates accounts and for participation and refusal to work
- HB587 Medical and Geriatric Parole Bill
- Which would amend Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and Title 61 (Prisons and Parole), for transfer of inmates in need of medical treatment and for parole for reasons of age, illness, or due to public or disaster emergency
- HB1410 Constitutional Amendment Bill
- Which would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution, providing further for pardoning power and Board of Pardons
- HB1649 Incarcerated People’s Benefit Fund
- Which would amend Title 61 (Prisons and Parole) to provide for incarcerated people’s benefit fund
- HB2296 Parole for Felony Murder Bill
Which would give parole eligibility to those convicted under the felony murder rule as adults after serving 25 years
Senate Bills:
- SB135 Parole Eligibility for Life Sentenced Prisoners Bill
- Which would amend Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses), Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure), and Title 61 (Prisons and Parole), providing for parole power
- SB136 Medical and Geriatric Parole Bill
- Which would amend Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and Title 61 (Prisons and Parole), providing for transfer of inmates in need of medical treatment, parole for reasons of age or illness and for medical parole due to public or disaster emergency
- SB 1224 Connecting Families Bill
- Which would amend Title 61 (Prisons and Parole) to allow phone calls free at all state and county prisons
The Roundtable
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them” – Albert Einstein
The roundtable is a platform to open an opportunity to invite you to a seat at the table in order to have conversations that allow your input on best practices with prison and criminal justice system reforms! Your input matters!
We will use your input to lobby for better criminal justice reforms in Pennsylvania to reduce mass incarceration.
PLM Restorative Justice Initiative
“Working together, with righteousness and hope, we can create a country that is about reverence and reconciliation, not a world of shackles and concrete cells.” – Lateefah Simon, Advocate
It is important for the public to know that there are a great deal of incarcerated people who are serious in their restorative justice efforts, actively involved in their communities, and are seeking ways to help, heal, and repair the harms that they once caused.
Participating in restorative justice projects while incarcerated equips incarcerated people with a sense of purpose that increases prison and public safety!
Incarcerated people also are taking active roles in philanthropic and humanitarian causes, supporting them with their time, effort, and finances (through personal donations and from donations made by prison-approved organizations – which are never touted). Incarcerated people have made massive monetary donations for decades.
Our campaign will work to advocate for the creation of statewide policies that fully embrace incarcerated people’s restorative justice and reconciliation efforts while they are serving out their prison sentences at any Pennsylvania prison or jail!”
