Share:
Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 11, 2014 10:46 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Michael J. Stack |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Creation of the Pennsylvania Innocence Commission |
| In the near future, I plan on reintroducing Senate Bill 759 from 2011-12. This legislation would form the Pennsylvania Innocence Inquiry Commission within the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. The Commission would dedicate its efforts to investigating claims of wrongful conviction. We know that the criminal justice system is imperfect and imprisons or penalizes an unknown number of innocent people. These imperfections could not be made any more evident than during the recent juvenile justice corruption scandal in Luzerne County. The Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the President Judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court would appoint the following eight commission members: common pleas judge, district attorney, crime victim advocate, defense attorney, a citizen who is not an attorney or judicial employee, law enforcement officer and two at-large members. A claim of factual innocence may be referred to the Commission by any court, person, or agency. The determination of whether to grant a formal inquiry regarding any other claim of factual innocence is at the discretion of the Commission. If the Commission finds sufficient evidence of factual innocence to merit judicial review, the chairperson shall request the president judge to appoint a three-judge panel to convene a special session of the superior court to hear the evidence and grant or deny a dismissal of charges. A similar commission was established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006 and has heard hundreds of inmates’ claims of innocence. Co-sponsors from last session were Senators Ferlo, Greenleaf, Leach, Williams and Farnese. If you have any additional questions, please contact my Harrisburg office. Thank you. |
Introduced as SB1283