Beyond Meek Mill: Pennsylvania’s probation trap

• Ed Mahon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Matt Rourke / The Associated Press

FILE PHOTO: In this Aug. 6, 2019 file photo, Rapper Meek Mill departs from the criminal justice center in Philadelphia after a status hearing.

One in 35 adults under court supervision in the state

Matt Rourke / The Associated Press

FILE PHOTO: In this Aug. 6, 2019 file photo, Rapper Meek Mill departs from the criminal justice center in Philadelphia after a status hearing. (AP Photo)

• The case of Meek Mill, a Philadelphia-born rapper who was sent to state prison in 2017 for probation violations, gained international attention. Mill, who was released from prison in April 2018, is now advocating for criminal justice reform.

• A new investigation from The Philadelphia Inquirer shows the breadth and depth of problems with Pennsylvania’s probation system. “What we found is a system virtually ungoverned by law or policy, resulting in wildly disparate versions of justice from one courtroom to the next,” the reporters wrote. “We found a system that routinely punishes poverty, mental illness, and addiction.”

• It is a compelling investigation, filled with great data and personal stories. An interactive feature puts you in the role of a judge, deciding what to do when faced with resentencing a shoplifter, a person with new violations but no new crimes and a person who said he thought he didn’t have to report to county probation after receiving a notice from state parole saying, “You have completed your supervision.”

• Smart Talk, a live radio show hosted by WITF, dedicated its Monday show to the issue of reforming Pennsylvania’s probation system. Jessica Jackson, chief advocacy officer for the REFORM Alliance, and David Safavian, general counsel and deputy director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform with the American Conservative Union Foundation, appeared on the program.

• So what changes are possible? Bipartisan groups of lawmakers are sponsoring bills to put a cap on probation terms, PennLive’s Ron Southwick reported recently.

Best of the rest

Bret Hartman / AP Images for Marsy'sLawForAll.org

Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III holds a photo of his sister Marsy, who was killed in 1983 by an ex-boyfriend, during the Orange County Victims’ Rights March and Rally, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo)

• WITF’s Katie Meyer has a useful explainer of Marsy’s Law, a proposed victims’ rights amendment to the state constitution. Make sure you read it before voting in the November general election. The question will be on ballots Nov. 5, even if a legal challenge from the ACLU of Pennsylvania is successful.

• The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission postponed a highly anticipated ruling about whether a Bucks County school district can continue using the word “Redskins” to describe its sports team. WHYY’s Aaron Moselle has the back story.

• Government leaders in Philadelphia are preparing for a possible recession, Jake Blumgart reports for PlanPhilly. The city ended 2019 with a fund balance of $439 million, but that is lower than what the Government Finance Officers Association recommends, Blumgart reports.

• In Monday’s issue of The Context, we looked at how criminal justice reforms are shaping district attorney campaigns across Pennsylvania. At a candidate debate Sunday, the Democratic district attorney candidate in Delaware County, Jack Stollsteimer, criticized the high arrest rate for African Americans charged with possessing a small amount of marijuana, Linda Stein reports for the Delaware County Daily Times. He also highlighted his background as a prosecutor. Meanwhile, Republican incumbent Katayoun Copeland brought up Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, nationally known as a progressive prosecutor, as an example of what NOT to do as district attorney.