“I commend Governor Wolf for listening to the public outcry around criminal justice reform and actively taking steps to shine a light on the issue,” added Rubin.
Gov. Wolf’s proposals to reform Pennsylvia criminal justice system
Gov. Wolf is pushing for a number of initiatives to improve Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system including the following:
- Justice Reinvestment Initiatives (JRI2), which seek to provide 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 and risk-assessment tools are consistent statewide.
- Post-Conviction Relief Act Expansion to reduce time sensitivity by increasing awareness of when a defendants’ rights expire so they can make an informed plea decision.
- Probation/Parole Revocation and Resentencing to create uniformity in probation revocation procedures and ensure a correlation between risk and probation lengths, resulting in better supervision.
- Comprehensive Clean Slate Legislation currently under consideration in the General Assembly. This is the first step to establish a more comprehensive law to provide an opportunity for convicted persons to successfully reenter the community.
- Indigent Defense is a critical part of the system to ensure the independence and quality of counsel under the Sixth Amendment.
- Stepping Up Initiative aims to reduce the number of people with mental illness in county jails.
