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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY JOHNSON, WATERS, CALTAGIRONE, LENTZ, MANDERINO, BROWN, PALLONE, CREIGHTON, DeLUCA, DRUCKER, FAIRCHILD, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, HALUSKA, JOSEPHS, KORTZ, MANN, McGEEHAN, MURT, COHEN, PARKER, PAYTON, ROSS, SIPTROTH, WAGNER AND WHEATLEY, MAY 4, 2009 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MAY 4, 2009 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Establishing the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Commission of |
2 | 2009 as a subcommission under the Commission on Crime and |
3 | Delinquency to review the Commonwealth's entire criminal |
4 | justice system within an 18-month period, to propose |
5 | concrete, wide-ranging reforms designed to responsibly reduce |
6 | the overall incarceration rate, to improve State and local |
7 | responses to international and domestic gang violence, to |
8 | restructure our approach to drug policy, to improve the |
9 | treatment of mental illness, to improve prison |
10 | administration, and to establish a system for reintegrating |
11 | ex-offenders. |
12 | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
13 | Section 1. Short title. |
14 | Section 2. Findings. |
15 | Section 3. Legislative intent. |
16 | Section 4. Definitions. |
17 | Section 5. Establishment of commission. |
18 | Section 6. Purpose of commission. |
19 | Section 7. Review and findings. |
20 | Section 8. Duties of commission. |
21 | Section 9. Membership. |
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1 | Section 10. Administration. |
2 | Section 11. Funding. |
3 | Section 12. Effective Date. |
4 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
5 | hereby enacts as follows: |
6 | Section 1. Short title. |
7 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania |
8 | Criminal Justice Commission of 2009. |
9 | Section 2. Findings. |
10 | The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: |
11 | (1) In comparison to bordering states, Pennsylvania's |
12 | violent offenses rate is more than the rates for New Jersey, |
13 | Ohio and West virginia. |
14 | (2) Pennsylvania's 2006 reported murder rate of 5.8 per |
15 | 100,000 persons was greater than both the national rate of |
16 | 5.7 and the northeastern regional rate of 4.5. Of countries |
17 | reporting murders in 2006, rates ranged from 0.7 in |
18 | Schuylkill County to 28.0 in Philadelphia County. |
19 | (3) Minorities make up a disproportionate share of |
20 | prison populations. Incarceration for drug crimes has had a |
21 | lopsided impact on minority communities. Black males have 32% |
22 | chance of serving time in prison at some point in their |
23 | lives, Hispanic males have a 17% chance and white males have |
24 | a 6% chance. |
25 | (4) The State prison population during 2006 totaled |
26 | 44,450 offenders. This was a 5% increase from 2005. However, |
27 | the 2006 population figure is nearly twice that of the prison |
28 | population in 1990. |
29 | (5) Existing practices can incarcerate people who do not |
30 | belong in prison and distract from locking up more serious, |
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1 | violent offenders who are a threat to our community. |
2 | (6) A total of 52,432 violent offenses were reported in |
3 | Pennsylvania during 2006. This is 4% increase over the number |
4 | reported in 2005. A longer trend shows reported violent |
5 | offenses increased 6% over ten years, since 1996 and 9% since |
6 | 2000. |
7 | (7) In the past, reentry programs have undermined public |
8 | safety, making it extremely difficult for some ex-offenders |
9 | to become full, contributing members of society, while |
10 | releasing repeat offenders. |
11 | (8) The national and northeast regional rates have |
12 | increased over the past several years. While New Jersey's and |
13 | West Virginia's rates have decreased, Pennsylvania's and its |
14 | other contiguous states' rates have increased in terms of |
15 | violent offense arrests. |
16 | (9) Those addicted to and abusive of illicit drugs are |
17 | an estimated 10% to 20% of the drug-using population, but |
18 | account for an estimated half of all illicit drug |
19 | consumption. Treating addiction will significantly help |
20 | decrease demand. |
21 | (10) Prisons and jails nationwide have become holding |
22 | facilities for the mentally ill. An estimated 350,000 men and |
23 | women are in prisons and jails with serious mental disorders |
24 | and are 12 times more likely to be in prisons than in mental |
25 | health hospitals. Prisoners are two to four times more likely |
26 | to be schizophrenic, depressed, bipolar or suffering from |
27 | posttraumatic stress disorder. Approximately 73% of mentally |
28 | ill inmates suffer from a substance abuse disorder. |
29 | (11) Prisons have become public health risks. The number |
30 | of State prisoners with HIV is 2.5 times greater than the |
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1 | general population. The number of State prisoners with |
2 | hepatitis C is nine times that of the general population. |
3 | (12) Prison administration is uneven, lacking clear, |
4 | affirmative standards of training and performance, varying |
5 | greatly from institution to institution, locality to locality |
6 | and among Federal, State and local jurisdictions. |
7 | (13) According to a 2007 Bureau of Justice statistics |
8 | survey, an estimated 64.5% of all Federal and State inmates |
9 | experienced one or more incidents of sexual victimization |
10 | involving other inmates or staff. |
11 | Section 3. Legislative intent. |
12 | It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish the |
13 | Criminal Justice Commission of 2009 that will: |
14 | (1) Refocus incarceration policies to reduce the overall |
15 | incarceration rate while preserving public safety, cost |
16 | effectiveness and societal fairness. |
17 | (2) Decrease prison violence. |
18 | (3) Improve prison administration, including competence |
19 | and career enhancement of administrators. |
20 | (4) Establish meaningful reentry programs for ex- |
21 | offenders. |
22 | (5) Reform our State's drug policies. |
23 | (6) Improve treatment of the mentally ill in the prison |
24 | system. |
25 | (7) Reform any other aspect of the system the commission |
26 | determines necessary. |
27 | Section 4. Definitions. |
28 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
29 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
30 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
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1 | "Commission." The Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Commission. |
2 | "PCCD." The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and |
3 | Delinquency. |
4 | Section 5. Establishment of commission. |
5 | There is established a commission to be known as the |
6 | Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Commission. |
7 | Section 6. Purpose of commission. |
8 | The commission shall undertake a comprehensive review of the |
9 | criminal justice system, make findings related to current State |
10 | criminal justice policies and practices and make reform |
11 | recommendations for the Governor and General Assembly to improve |
12 | public safety, cost effectiveness, overall prison administration |
13 | and fairness in the implementation of Pennsylvania's criminal |
14 | justice system. |
15 | Section 7. Review and findings. |
16 | (a) Review.--The commission shall review all areas of State |
17 | criminal justice costs, practices and polices. |
18 | (b) Specific findings.--In conducting the review, the |
19 | commission shall make such findings as it deems appropriate, |
20 | including: |
21 | (1) the statistical areas of increase in the |
22 | Commonwealth's incarceration rate compared to historical |
23 | standards of incarceration in Pennsylvania and the reasons |
24 | for this increase; |
25 | (2) a comparison of incarceration policies, including |
26 | juvenile incarceration policies with other states, outlining |
27 | the different standards applied for types of crime, length of |
28 | sentences, standards of prison administration, quality of |
29 | reentry programs for ex-offenders and recidivism rates; |
30 | (3) an examination of prison administration policies, |
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1 | including the availability and quality of pre-employment |
2 | training programs and the availability of meaningful career |
3 | progression within the profession; |
4 | (4) the costs of current incarceration policies, |
5 | including the relevant costs of law enforcement, the |
6 | proportion of that cost associated with gangs and drug |
7 | enforcement, the costs of constructing and administering |
8 | prison facilities, the costs of postincarceration supervision |
9 | and reentry programs and the cost of lost economic |
10 | opportunities associated with the stigma of incarceration; |
11 | (5) an examination of the impact of gang activities in |
12 | Pennsylvania, and outlining the impact of these activities in |
13 | terms of violence, intimidation and all areas of criminal |
14 | activity; |
15 | (6) an examination of the drug policy and its impact on |
16 | incarceration, crime and violence, sentencing and reentry |
17 | programs, including an analysis of the general availability |
18 | of drugs in our communities, the impact and effectiveness of |
19 | current policies on reducing that availability and on the |
20 | incidence of crime and, in the case of criminal offenders, |
21 | the availability of drug treatment programs before, during |
22 | and after incarceration; |
23 | (7) an examination of the legal and administrative |
24 | changes in policies regarding those who suffer from mental |
25 | illness, including mandatory and voluntary commitment to |
26 | institutional care, the effectiveness and availability of |
27 | alternative methods of treatment, the impact of these policy |
28 | changes on incarceration and the availability of government- |
29 | sponsored or government-assisted programs to address mental |
30 | illness; and |
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1 | (8) any other area that the commission, in its judgment, |
2 | believes to be relevant to a full understanding of the |
3 | present criminal justice system in this Commonwealth. |
4 | Section 8. Duties of commission. |
5 | (a) Recommendations.--After conducting a review of the |
6 | Pennsylvania criminal justice system and making findings as |
7 | required by section 7, the commission shall make recommendations |
8 | for changes in policies and laws designed to: |
9 | (1) refocus incarceration policies to reduce the overall |
10 | incarceration rate while preserving public safety, cost |
11 | effectiveness and societal fairness; |
12 | (2) decrease prison violence, with particular reference |
13 | to protecting those incarcerated from physical abuse; |
14 | (3) improve prison administration; |
15 | (4) institute the use of policies and practices proven |
16 | effective throughout the spectrum of criminal behavior; |
17 | (5) establish a system for the reintegration of ex- |
18 | offenders that provides them with productive skills and |
19 | opportunities; |
20 | (6) restructure the approach to criminalization of and |
21 | incarceration as a result of the possession or use of illegal |
22 | drugs, decreasing the demand for illicit drugs and improving |
23 | the treatment for addiction; |
24 | (7) improve and streamline the treatment of mental |
25 | illness, both in our society and in the criminal justice |
26 | system; |
27 | (8) improve local responses to criminal activity and |
28 | violence carried out by gangs, cartels and syndicates, |
29 | particularly in relation to drug smuggling and distribution; |
30 | and |
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1 | (9) improve and reform any other aspect of the |
2 | Pennsylvania criminal justice system the commission |
3 | determines is required. |
4 | (b) Consultations.--The commission shall: |
5 | (1) consult with government and nongovernment leaders, |
6 | including State and local law enforcement officials; and |
7 | (2) include in its final report required by subsection |
8 | (c) summaries of the input and recommendations based on the |
9 | recommendations required by subsection (a). |
10 | (c) Report.-- |
11 | (1) Not later than 18 months after the selection of the |
12 | chair and the executive director of the commission under the |
13 | PCCD, the commission shall prepare and submit a final report |
14 | that contains a detailed statement of findings, conclusions |
15 | and recommendations of the commission to the Governor and the |
16 | General Assembly. |
17 | (2) The report submitted under this subsection shall be |
18 | made available to the public. |
19 | Section 9. Membership. |
20 | (a) Composition.--The commission shall be composed of nine |
21 | members, as follows: |
22 | (1) One member shall be appointed by the Governor, who |
23 | shall serve as chairman of the commission. |
24 | (2) Two members appointed by the Majority Leader of the |
25 | Senate, in consultation with the chairman of the Senate |
26 | Judiciary Committee. |
27 | (3) Two members appointed by the Minority Leader of the |
28 | Senate, in consultation with the minority chairman of the |
29 | Senate Judiciary Committee. |
30 | (4) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of |
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1 | Representatives, in consultation with the chairman of the |
2 | House Judiciary Committee. |
3 | (5) Two members appointed by the Minority Leader of the |
4 | House of Representatives, in consultation with the minority |
5 | chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. |
6 | (b) Membership.-- |
7 | (1) The individuals appointed from private life as |
8 | members of the commission shall be individuals who are |
9 | nationally recognized for expertise, knowledge or experience |
10 | in such relevant areas as: |
11 | (i) law enforcement; |
12 | (ii) criminal justice; |
13 | (iii) national security; |
14 | (iv) prison administration; |
15 | (v) prisoner reentry; |
16 | (vi) public health, including drug addiction and |
17 | mental health; |
18 | (vii) victims' rights; and |
19 | (viii) social services. |
20 | (2) An individual shall not be appointed as a member of |
21 | the commission if such individual possesses any personal or |
22 | financial interest in the discharge of any of the duties of |
23 | the commission. |
24 | (3) members shall be appointed for the life of the |
25 | commission. |
26 | (c) Appointment; initial meeting.-- |
27 | (1) Members of the commission shall be appointed not |
28 | later than 45 days after the effective date of this section. |
29 | (2) The commission shall hold its initial meeting on the |
30 | date that is 60 days after the effective date of this |
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1 | section. |
2 | (d) Meetings; quorum; vacancies.-- |
3 | (1) The commission shall meet at the call of the chair |
4 | or a majority of its members. |
5 | (2) Five members of the commission, including at least |
6 | one member chosen by the Minority Leader of the Senate and |
7 | Minority leader of the House of Representatives, shall |
8 | constitute a quorum for purposes of conducting business, |
9 | except that two members of the commission shall constitute a |
10 | quorum for purposes of receiving testimony. |
11 | (3) Any vacancy in the commission shall not affect its |
12 | powers, but shall be filled in the same manner in which the |
13 | original appointment was made. If vacancies in the commission |
14 | occur on any day after 45 days after the date of the |
15 | enactment of this act, a quorum shall consist of a majority |
16 | of the members of the commission as of such day, so long as |
17 | at least one commission member chosen by a member of each |
18 | party, Republican and Democratic, is present. |
19 | (e) Action of commission.-- |
20 | (1) The commission: |
21 | (i) shall act by resolution agreed to by a majority |
22 | of the members of the commission voting and present; and |
23 | (ii) may establish panels composed of less than the |
24 | full membership of the commission for purposes of |
25 | carrying out the duties of the commission under this |
26 | title: |
27 | (A) which shall be subject to the review and |
28 | control of the commission; and |
29 | (B) any findings and determinations made by such |
30 | a panel shall not be considered the findings and |
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1 | determinations of the commission unless approved by |
2 | the commission. |
3 | (2) Any member, agent or staff of the commission may, if |
4 | authorized by the chair of the commission, take any action |
5 | which the commission is authorized to take under this act. |
6 | Section 10. Administration. |
7 | (a) Travel expenses.--Members shall receive travel expenses, |
8 | including a per diem, while away from their homes or regular |
9 | places of business in performance of services for the |
10 | commission. |
11 | (b) Staff.--The following staff will be present on the |
12 | commission and shall be paid by the PCCD. Stipends will be |
13 | determined by the PCCD in consultation with the commission: |
14 | (1) The commission shall have a staff headed by an |
15 | executive director. |
16 | (2) With the approval of the commission and PCCD, the |
17 | executive director may appoint such personnel as the |
18 | executive director determines to be appropriate. |
19 | (3) With the approval of the commission, the executive |
20 | director may procure temporary and intermittent services. |
21 | (4) Upon the request of the commission, the head of any |
22 | State agency may detail, without reimbursement, any of the |
23 | personnel of such agency to the commission to assist in |
24 | carrying out the duties of the commission. Any such details |
25 | shall not interrupt or otherwise affect the civil service |
26 | status or privileges of the State employee. |
27 | (5) The commission shall have reasonable access to |
28 | materials, resources, statistical data and other information |
29 | the commission determines to be necessary to carry out its |
30 | duties from the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Department |
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1 | of State and other agencies of the executive and legislative |
2 | branches of the State government. The chair of the commission |
3 | shall make requests for such access in writing when |
4 | necessary. |
5 | (c) Obtaining official data.--The commission may secure |
6 | directly from any agency of the Commonwealth information |
7 | necessary to enable it to carry out this act. Upon the request |
8 | of the chair of the commission, the head of that department or |
9 | agency shall furnish that information to the commission. |
10 | (d) Mails.--The commission may use the Pennsylvania mails in |
11 | the same manner and under the same conditions as other |
12 | departments and agencies in Pennsylvania. |
13 | Section 11. Funding. |
14 | (a) In general.--Funding will come from PCCD, since the |
15 | commission will be a subcommittee under this entity. |
16 | (b) Availability.--Any sums appropriated under the |
17 | subsection (a) shall remain available, without fiscal year |
18 | limitation, until expended. |
19 | Section 12. Termination. |
20 | The commission shall terminate 60 days after it submits its |
21 | report to the General Assembly. |
22 | Section 20. Effective date. |
23 | This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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