June 1 at 1: Join Us, As Government Leaders, Experts Discuss Two PLSE Reports |
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Pennsylvania is 1 of just 2 states where the law dictates a prison sentence of life without parole for people found guilty of “felony murder” – not necessarily killing someone, but participating in some way in a felony in which someone died. The sentence is required regardless of how the death occurred (like a heart attack) or the offender’s role (like the lookout), and it means that the offender can never be considered for parole, regardless of being a model prisoner, or how long they’ve spent behind bars, or how old they are today.
PA has 1,166 such lifers, and is spending over $54 million each year incarcerating them – with increases in the offing as they get older and require more medical care. Does that make sense?
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Our reports and their findings have been praised by academics, public officials and practitioners alike, and PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro put it succinctly: "PLSE’s latest report highlights how an overly punitive law and its disproportionate application have kept too many young people of color from a second chance to rehabilitate and rejoin society, while costing taxpayers, their communities and their families too much.” |
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What’s to be done? On Tuesday, June 1, at 1:00pm, PLSE will host a Virtual Town Hall: Sentencing "Felony Murder": New Data and Their Implications for Life Without Parole in Pennsylvania. Joining the Lieutenant Governor in discussion will be Representative Joanna McClinton, the House Democratic Leader; Mimi McCormick, Executive Director, PA Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, and Shawn Bushway, Ph.D., Senior Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation.
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City Council Joins The Fight Against Court Fees And Costs |
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Readers of this newsletter will remember the study PLSE did of the amount that our low-income clients had been charged in court fees and costs when they were prosecuted and convicted. We found 1,744 cases dating back to 2013 or earlier where 605 of our clients were listed as owing a total of $1,007,251 – an average of $1,664.88 per client – none of which would ever be collected. That study made national news and is now posted on the website of the Fines & Fees Justice Center.
Earlier this month, at a budget hearing here in Philly, several City Councilmembers took up the issue with representatives of the First Judicial District (Philadelphia’s court). They asked some powerful questions, like this one:
Why does it make any sense for the Court to assign fines, fees and costs to defendants who are so poor that they have a public defender representing them? Why does it make any sense at all to hold those amounts as a debt over their heads, and stop them from getting a pardon and the better jobs and incomes they can get from it? – and you know you’re never going to collect that money.
But philosophy wasn’t the point, the budget was, and they turned up the heat big time:
Should we take $1 million out of our budget allocation to you and reserve it for eliminating the fines, fines and fees the Court says are owing from low-income Philadelphians who are seeking pardons? That way, they can apply for a pardon and you can get your funding from us?
As a condition of receiving a budget allocation this year, would the Court agree to create a program by which low-income Philadelphians who are applying for a pardon from the Governor could file a motion to waive fines, fees and costs and have that motion granted quickly and without hearing by the Court?
This is simply AWESOME!! Kudos to Kenyatta Johnson, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, and Mark Squilla for taking up the issue, and to Helen Gym who has signaled her intention to raise this issue again in the fall at a hearing in the Public Safety Committee. Stay tuned!
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Scattergood Hosts “Eye-Opening” Program on Pardons |
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Last year, the Economy League issued its path-breaking report that called pardons “a no-cost workforce development and neighborhood investment policy.” Earlier this month, over 100 people registered to hear DA Larry Krasner, Philadelphia business leader Jeff Brown and others discuss how pardons offered a way out of poverty for “America’s poorest big city.”
Hosted by the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation and its President Joe Pyle, the DA shared his view that once a sentence was fully served, society should do everything it could to let them resume “full membership”. Jeff Brown provided examples of returning citizens he had hired, who had worked their ways up to senior management positions, earning salaries of $80,000 and yet unable to get a mortgage on a home because of their conviction. They agreed that, even beyond financial stability, pardons actually increased both public safety and public health.
PLSE Board member Evan Figueroa-Vargas shared his story, in which the perfect job for him (with a much better salary and benefits for his family of 5) was ripped from him at the very last minute: “I was sentenced again, right then. And my children were sentenced, too.” And the Rev. Dr. Michelle Simmons spoke about how advocacy is needed by everyone to get the Board of Pardons, the Governor and the Legislature to adequately fund a pardons system that provides second chances to more people with much greater speed and transparency.
The facts and figures the panel cited, and the personal stories they told, were called “shocking,” “eye-opening”, and “energizing.” Ending the event, Joe Pyle said he was ready to help, and called on everyone to be trained in how to help others apply for a pardon.
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Pardon Coaching: Do It For Shane, and For Yourself |
“Shane, my client, immediately impressed me with his determination to better his life. During our first of many calls, Shane told me about how, more than a decade ago, in his early twenties, he had turned to selling drugs after losing his job. He told me about how he had struggled to find a job after prison. He told me about how he refused to return to selling drugs, despite the promise of fast cash. And he told me about how much obtaining a pardon would mean to him and his family: he is now 33 with a partner and small children, but because of his felony, he continues to struggle to find a good-paying job, with regular hours or health benefits.”
So writes Lorraine Marie Simonis, a third-year associate at Dilworth Paxson LLP, about her experience as a Pardon Coach. Volunteering with PLSE through the Barristers’ Pardon Project, she explained how she was nervous at the start: “Not only had I been previously unfamiliar with the pardon process—knowing little about Pennsylvania criminal law other than what I’d needed to pass the bar—but as a young associate, I was not used to managing a case or a client on my own.” But she quickly took to being a coach, and (as she wrote) “developing the client relationship ended up being the most fulfilling part of the entire project.”
And her final review? “Serving as a pardon coach is an easy yet impactful way to play a part in making our justice system and our society more just. And isn’t that why we all went to law school?” Indeed, Lorraine. Indeed.
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As of this morning, we have over 140 clients waiting for help to write their pardon applications. We have screened each of them, and think each has an excellent chance for a pardon ... if only they can get someone to help them tell their story of change and potential as powerfully as possible.
That's what a Pardon Coach does. And now it's easier than ever to learn how.
Each month PLSE will host a free training for attorneys, legal professionals, advocates, or anyone who is interested in Pennsylvania’s Pardon Process. Participants will learn how to look up and read a criminal record, how to prepare a pardon application, and what to expect throughout the process. Attorneys can receive a free CLE credit for attending. These trainings will be held virtually on the last Wednesday of each month and run from 12:30 to 1:30pm. Our next event is July 27th. In order to accommodate any schedule, we are also hosting an evening event from 5:30 to 6:30 pm every fourth month.
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Criminal Records: The Afterlife of Probation |
In last month's newsletter, we highlighted a new book about "the afterlife of mass incarceration" and the thousands of ways that "returning citizens" never really get released from prison. One reader wrote back (thank you!) to say that this is also true for people who never left - people whose crimes were not serious enough to warrant prison, but who were sentenced simply to probation.
She is correct: any conviction - no matter if its a misdemeanor, no matter if it was decades ago - results in a permanent criminal record, and probation alone can lead to life-long discrimination.
This was the case for Adrienne Shaw. Adrienne grew up with a very supportive and loving family in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The youngest of ten children, she did well in school and started working after taking some college courses. Adrienne’s journey took a turn when she was accused of illegally tampering with the payment system at work. Her hearing was filled with obstacles, including an inflexible schedule, lawyer troubles, and most importantly, her codefendant accepting a plea deal due to the stress of the process. These elements proved to be too much, and the jury ruled against Adrienne. She never went to prison but was given 7 years of probation and had to pay restitution. She finished her sentence a long time ago, ... but she’s still imprisoned by her record.
Adrienne's story has now been published by one of our Community Hub partners, Uplift Solutions. Read her story here.
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This month, this is the one way we need your help:
Be a Pardon Coach.
We have over 140 clients needing help with their applications.
Helping someone takes just a few hours, and you're done in a few weeks.
And once you're done changing that client's life forever, ask for another to help!
Thank you!
Stay energized, optimistic and healthy,
Tobey Oxholm
Executive Director
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Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity
111 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(267) 519-5323
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