Bills that fill jails are Harrisburg’s version of bipartisanship. We can do without it
As legislators, it is our job to listen what our constituents want, to understand that their priorities are our priorities. Some 91% of Americans say that the criminal justice system needs to be changed, including large majorities who want expanded alternatives to incarceration, community-based violence prevention workers, and expanded support services for victims.
For this, we have collaborated with partners working to end mass incarceration across our state to devise a five-question litmus test. When any criminal offense bill comes to a vote in committee or on the floor, we will ask ourselves the following:
Does this bill:
- Duplicate existing crimes and penalties?
- Increase prison sentences?
- Reduce resources available for incarcerated people to finish their sentences or be eligible for parole?
- Add conditions to parole or otherwise increase the chances that someone will violate their parole?
- Institute a mandatory minimum sentence or mandatory consecutive sentences?
Over 100 protesters march through University City demanding Penn, Drexel pay PILOTs
“An institution with $14 billion in endowments can do so much more. It must do so much more,” Krajewski said. “We can model what it looks like to create real community benefit agreements between a university and neighborhood it aims to serve. We can knock down the ivory towers and strive to make education access as equitable as possible. And we can make it so a poor Black child doesn’t have to question whether they belong when they step onto campus. I was one of those poor Black children, and I don’t want anyone to go through that feeling ever again.”
