I wanted to make you aware of two promising sentencing reform bills that have been introduced in the Pennsylvania state legislature – and ask for your help in making these reforms a reality!
Mandatory minimums are swelling Pennsylvania’s prisons with too many first-time, low-risk offenders. As you know, FAMM does not oppose punishment for those who break the law. We do object to one-size-fits-all punishments that do not allow judges to consider each defendant individually. All too often, nonviolent offenders are sent to prison for excessive terms that do nothing to rehabilitate offenders or make us safer. As a result, they are wasting taxpayer dollars at a time of serious budget problems.
The sponsor of both bills, Senator Stewart Greenleaf, agrees. He said:
Mandatory sentences have been extended from applying to “big-time dealers” to many smaller fish who deal drugs to support their own addiction. Unfortunately, we have not slowed the flow of drugs into our communities. For every dealer we have sent to prison, there has been someone else to take his place. We have, however, put a lot of people behind bars. At least two-thirds of our inmates have drug addiction issues. Pennsylvania’s state inmate population increased from 8,000 in 1980 to 51,000 today and mandatory minimum sentences are a big reason why.
His solution? Senator Greenleaf recently introduced SB 1205, a bill to create a “safety valve” in state law. If SB 1205 were approved, a court could waive (or “set aside”) the mandatory minimum if there is “a compelling reason to believe that a substantial injustice would occur by applying the mandatory sentence.” Judges would be given this important discretion in cases where: (1) the offender does not have a record of committing serious or multiple crimes; (2) the offender did not use or have a firearm or other dangerous weapon while committing the offense (or any prior offense); or (3) the offense did not result in death or serious bodily injury.
Senator Greenleaf said he modeled his safety valve bill after the federal safety valve, which FAMM helped draft in 1994. The federal safety valve has been an enormous success in protecting small-time offenders from lengthy, unjust sentences. (To learn more about how safety valves work, click here.)
Senator Greenleaf’s other bill, SB 100, would reform a number of irrational state sentencing laws. The bill has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but its detailed provisions are still being negotiated by law enforcement, prosecutors, and sentencing reform advocates so it has not yet been voted on by the full Senate.
In its most recent form, the bill includes language to make individuals serving mandatory minimum prison terms eligible for alternative sentencing programs, and the time spent in those programs would count toward their minimum sentence. This would mean these prisoners could get the treatment they need for rehabilitation. (You can find more details about the bill here.)
We need your help to move these bills forward. Here’s what you can do:
- Contact your state representative and senator. Let them know you support SB 1205 and the goals of SB 100, and think smart sentencing reform should be a priority this year. To help you, click here to email or print and send a letter supporting reform to your state lawmakers.
- Share your story. If Pennsylvania’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws have affected you or a loved one, and you are willing to share that story publicly, please write to us and let us know. We want as many personal stories as possible that can help us persuade state lawmakers that mandatory minimums cause real injustices.
Count on us to be in touch with more details about SB 1205 and SB 100. Thank you for your participation in working to build a more just sentencing system in Pennsylvania, and please do not hesitate to contact FAMM if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Julie Stewart
President
Contact FAMM:
By phone: (202) 822-6700
By email: [email protected]
