NCJ Number
95866
Date Published
1983
Length
70 pages
Annotation
This report presents an overview of Pennsylvania's correctional system, discusses factors affecting the prison population's size, and recommends initiatives to resolve the serious overcrowding problem.
Abstract
The State's confinement policies, capacities of existing correctional institutions, planned construction, and factors contributing to increases in the incarcerated populations of State and county facilities are examined. The report cites overcrowding as the most critical problem facing corrections today and traces efforts of the State to devise long-term solutions. Options to reduce overcrowding are divided into three categories: those affecting the numbers going in, those impacting the length of stay of incarcerated offenders, and those to increase capacity. The report recommends several initiatives to relieve overcrowding involving a combination of strategies from the three categories. The recommendations address revised bail practices, technical assistance to county jails, alternative secure housing for mentally ill inmates, intensive parole and probation, good time, prerelease programs, and new construction. Tables and graphs are supplied.