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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 2, 2020 01:35 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Camera Bartolotta and Sen. Anthony H. Williams |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Comprehensive Probation Reform |
| In the near future, we will be reintroducing bipartisan legislation designed to reform our criminal justice system by updating probation policies in the Commonwealth. The purpose of this legislation is to reduce the amount of time and resources devoted to probationers who have completed sentences for past crimes while allowing them to fully re-integrate back into society. This measure will be similar to Senate Bill 14 from the previous legislative session. Currently, probation terms can far exceed the original sentence handed down at trial and create indefinite periods during which even a minor violation could result in re-confinement. In many cases, prolonged terms of probation result from technical violations that can perpetually extend the clock on the probation term. Technical violations could range from committing minor traffic offenses to traveling out of state – violations which anyone not on probation could easily incur in the course of life. This is inconsistent with the spirit of the law, which aims to rehabilitate rather than punish offenders. A number of states across the nation, regardless of rural or urban demographics, have created new frameworks to minimize punishments for technical violations of probation and allow judges to shorten probation time for good behavior. It is time that Pennsylvania join this effort, with consistent terms and fewer punitive conditions for fair probation terms. Please join us in cosponsoring this important legislation to reform the probation system in Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as SB5