Pennsylvania is a place for second chances
We’ve made progress, but there is more to do on justice reform
Rep. Joanna E. McClinton October 1, 2024
Last month, I was honored to speak on a panel about the future of criminal justice reform at a gathering of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. I joined other elected officials, labor leaders and advocates from around the country to discuss progress we’ve made in reforming our justice system and to forecast where the movement may be heading.
As a former public defender and now as a state lawmaker, ensuring that our justice system is fair, equitable, respectful and adequately funded has always been one of my top priorities.
When I was a public defender, I saw real challenges within our justice system and that a lack of investment in our community had created a path to prison rather than a path to prosperity for many of my clients. Often neighbors became entangled in our justice system because of systemic inequality, chronic disinvestment, undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues, and general lack of opportunity.
I took that perspective with me when I was elected to the state House in 2015. And as a state lawmaker, I’ve introduced and supported several measures aimed at strengthening our communities to provide more opportunities for residents, as well as making our justice system operate more equitably to make it easier for people who have paid their debt to rejoin and contribute to the community again.
I’m proud of the progress Pennsylvania has made to invest more meaningfully in our communities and to reform our justice system to better reflect our shared values. Here are a few of the reforms we’ve accomplished:
Over the past several years, we’ve implemented several rounds of Clean Slate, which are laws that allow certain criminal records to be sealed or expunged. This can prevent a minor brush with the law from becoming a lifelong sentence that makes it harder for people to get their life back on track by helping them get better job, housing and education opportunities. Since Clean Slate was passed in 2018, it has been expanded twice and over 40 million low-level criminal records have been erased from public view, improving the lives of 1.2 million Pennsylvanians and their families.
In 2023, we improved Pennsylvania’s probation system to focus it on helping people avoid incarceration for minor technical violations. Now judges are empowered to consider a person’s individual challenges and needs as well as their ability to pay fines and restitution when setting probation conditions. It also requires mandatory probation reviews sooner and incentivizes the opportunity for early termination for people who maintain employment or pursue education while on probation.
Earlier this year Pennsylvania strengthened its distracted driving law to allow law enforcement to ticket a driver who uses a cell phone while driving. The new law also works to prevent bias in policing by requiring the police to collect data on drivers pulled over during traffic stops, including race, ethnicity, and gender. The data will be made publicly available in an annual report. The Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus led the effort to add this provision to the new law.
While each of these reforms, and others, are making a tremendous impact in our communities, there are more justice policies that need to be reviewed and revised, including the pardons process, adult use cannabis and the use of solitary confinement in correctional facilities.
I continue to champion justice reform and to work on these issues with my colleagues and stakeholders. Sometimes change is slow, but we can’t stop working to create a justice system that reflects our values of compassion, equity and dignity. Let me know what issues are important to you by visiting my website (www.RepMcClinton.com) and taking my survey.