He added, “This is the latest step in my administration’s efforts to make our commonwealth and our society safer… Last year, we ‘banned the box,’ removing the criminal conviction question for job applications covered by the Office of Administration…”
Gov. Wolf encourages passage of more criminal justice reform bills
Furthermore, Gov. Wolf encouraged Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass additional criminal justice reform legislation including:
- Justice Reinvestment Initiatives (JRI2) to provive fair sentencing, increase parole supervision and use of community-based programs and other reforms.
- Bail and Pre-Trial Reforms to ensure that everyone has a right to a fair trial. It will also male sure that risk-assessment tools are consistent across the commonwealth.
- Post-Conviction Relief Act Expansion increases awareness regarding the expiration date of a defendants rights to make an informed plea decision. Currently, a defendant who pleads guilty is shut out from post-conviction relief. Therefore, reform is necessary to give all defendants opportunity to try to prove their innocence.
- Probation/Parole Revocation and Re-sentencing to create uniformity in probation revocation procedures. It will also ensure a correlation between risk and probation lengths, resulting in better supervision.
- Indigent Defense is a critical part of the system that can have a large impact on volume, cost, and human effect. Pennsylvania needs this reform to ensure the independence and quality of counsel under the Sixth Amendment.
- Stepping Up Initiative to reduce the number of people who have serious mental illnesses in the county prison.
Pennsylvania invests in STEM and job training
