Probation, parole reforms considered in Pennsylvania

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During a hearing last month before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union stated that one in every 34 adults in the state is being supervised through probation and parole.
This percentage is the third-highest in the nation and is 36 percent higher than the national average, according to Elizabeth Randol, the legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.
In terms of people, it adds up to more than 300,000, and, in a fact cited in her testimony, Randol said 7,443 people are incarcerated at any one time because of supervision violations.
She testified the system is costing $334 million annually, including $101 million for technical violations.
Technical violations are those that don’t involve new crimes but are counter to other terms of release, such as not attending regular meetings with a person’s parole or probation officer.
In late June, the Judiciary Committee led by Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20th District, presided over two days of hearings to discuss Senate Bill 14, which proposes reforms to the state and county probation and parole systems that would allegedly better serve the public and those on supervision.
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Janna Moll, the spokeswoman for a relatively new group called the Justice Action Network, stated, “Pennsylvania is ripe for immediate action on probation and community supervision reforms.”
She recommended “swift, clear and proportionate responses to (technical) violations,” helping officers address issues before they become serious. She recommended limiting the use of incarceration as a sanction.