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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/18/2024 11:05 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20170&cosponId=23824
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House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: May 4, 2017 01:14 PM
From: Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown
To: All House members
Subject: Mandatory Minimum Reform (Re-Introduction)
 
MEMORANDUM

To: All Members of the House of Representatives

From: Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown

Date: May 4, 2017

Subject: Mandatory Minimum Reform (Re-Introduction)

In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation – former House Bill 1799 of the 2013-2104 Legislative Session – which would allow certain criminal defendants to seek an exemption from a mandatory minimum sentence.

Specifically, my bill would enable a defendant who has been convicted or has pleaded guilty to petition the court to depart from a mandatory minimum sentence if the defendant has been diagnosed with a recognized mental illness, or if all of the following conditions are met:
  • The defendant has no significant history of criminal convictions;
  • The defendant did not engage in violence or possess a weapon in connection with the offense;
  • The defendant was not the leader or organizer of others in the offense;
  • The defendant cooperates with the Commonwealth by providing any truthful information and evidence necessary; and
  • The offense did not result in death or bodily injury to another person.
Our correctional facilities are overcrowded with first-time and non-violent offenders, some of whom need mental health treatment, putting a strain on state and local budgets. I believe my bill provides an important first step in alleviating overcrowding by giving judges, who know the individual facts of each case, the discretion to make sentencing decisions for cases involving first-time, non-violent offenders instead of imposing mandatory minimum sentences.


Please join me by co-sponsoring this important legislation.