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| Pa. revises drug sentencing law |
| By JTO |
| Published: 11/29/2004 |
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Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law a measure that would relax mandatory sentencing guidelines for nonviolent alcohol and other drug offenders, the Associated Press reported Nov. 23. With the policy change, Pennsylvania joins a growing number of other states that are taking action against tough mandatory sentencing laws that were passed in the 1990s. "I think that there are people that we're confining that we either don't need to confine for as long a period of time or we don't need to confine at all," said Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard. Pennsylvania is expected to save more than $20 million a year in reduced prison costs. State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R- Montgomery County), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that prison spending in the state has grown faster than any other part of the budget. "So I think we have to be smart in regard to how we incarcerate people," he said. Under the new law, inmates with nonviolent convictions involving alcohol and other drugs would qualify for an "intermediate punishment" program. They would serve seven to 12 months in prison, two months at a community-based therapeutic facility, and the remainder of their minimum 24-month sentence at a halfway house or group home while receiving addiction treatment. The new law is also expected to lower recidivism rates. |
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