Pennsylvania eyes overhaul of parole process

Halfway houses a focus of program

HARRISBURG -- State officials are working to streamline parole interviews and focus halfway house rehabilitation on their parolees as they implement a law designed to save millions of dollars in corrections spending.

Efficiency measures and program overhauls in the state's penitentiary system are expected to save $253 million over five years, according to numbers from the Senate Republican Caucus.  Read more...

Gov. Tom Corbett signs Pennsylvania prison reform into law

Prison reform became law on Thursday, sort of.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 100, which incorporated many of the reform proposals recommended by his Justice Reinvestment Working Group and which passed both the House and the Senate unanimously.

The new law seeks to divert nonviolent, addicted offenders from state prison by better treating their addiction issues at the local level. The law provides for evidence-based practices in county probation departments in line with a program that has proven very successful in Hawaii.  Read more...

Lifers are growing part of prison population

What's behind the increase of older inmates in the state prison system?

Experts point to everything from aging baby boomers and longer life spans to overall prison population growth and a trend toward stiffer sentences.

"Lifers" make up a sizable portion of the elderly state prison population, said Dr. Larry Rosenberg, a Millersville University assistant professor of sociology who teaches a course on modern corrections.

The elderly prison population also includes repeat offenders incarcerated after their "third strike" and inmates serving long sentences for crimes committed in their 40s and 50s, he said.  Read more...

Ankle monitors: a high-demand accessory for minor criminals: In Allegheny County, 925 wait for ankle bracelets

Electronic monitoring devices, black anklets made of rubber and plastic, are not exactly coveted, but in Allegheny County they are certainly in high demand.

Last week, about 1,200 people were wearing the monitoring units, mostly used to enforce house arrest for those convicted in Common Pleas Court of minor criminal offenses. Another 925 people were waiting for them.

The electronic monitoring waiting list started ballooning about a year ago, about the same time the court introduced a program to expedite minor cases.  Read More...

Mistaken prison releases are rare - State and county jails across Pa. have few such incidents, but Delco has had at least 5 since May

Lancaster County prison officials use an iris scanner to identify inmates so there is no mistaking who walks out the door.

In Bucks County, a supervisor triple-checks paperwork to avoid errors; Montgomery County requires at least two corrections officers to discharge a prisoner.

In Chester County, inmates wear photo identification cards.

Even with those measures, wardens say mistaken releases happen, though rarely - no more than one a year from each county jail.  Read More...