100 signatures reached
To: The Pennsylvania State legislature has the power to create a pathway to sunset parole supervision after 3 years by passing a bill that ends the unconstitutional practice of lifetime parole and long-term parole (beyond three years).
It’s Time to End Lifetime and Long-Term Parole
Pennsylvania has the highest number of people on lifetime parole than any other state in the nation. Despite evidence that creating off-ramps from parole is successful in many jurisdictions across the country, Pennsylvania has maintained the highest rate of people placed on parole than any other state. We believe that parole is fundamentally an extension of mass incarceration and is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. More than 50 percent of the Pennsylvania prison population is currently incarcerated on a parole violation. The use of parole revocations is one of the most essential drivers of mass incarceration in Pennsylvania. The state spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on unnecessary supervision, parole revocations and re-incarceration of people who have not committed any new crimes. The state, therefore, could save hundreds of millions of dollars by creating a parole sunset for people serving lifetime parole and long-term parole, after successfully completing three years of state parole supervision and meeting specific criteria to qualify for termination of parole.
The United States Supreme court ruled in 2012 that sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. People convicted of murder and sentenced to a life sentence as children who are later released on lifetime parole are set up for failure. In fact, a simple violation would result in a person on lifetime parole being sent back to prison to face harsh punishments informed by the original sentence. Parole tethers our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, neighbors and friends to lasting and indefinite correctional control and surveillance. Supervision is as dehumanizing as it is destructive to individuals, families and communities. Parole supervision comes with an arbitrary list of restrictions on everyday human activities - all of which are consistently and subjectively redefined by parole officers. A lifetime parole sentence is no different than a life sentence in state prison since both will tether a person to the carceral system for life without the opportunity for redemption, the very premise that U.S. Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional for juveniles in in Miller vs. Alabama. So if it’s unconstitutional for a child to serve a life sentence with no hope of release or opportunity for redemption, how can a lifetime of parole be any better since we know that it still equates to a life sentence?
Additionally, data indicates that parole supervision has diminishing returns after approximately three years. In PA, approximately 70% of recidivism occurs within the first three years of release. After that, it is unlikely that a person will re-offend. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to keep people on parole beyond three years, especially when they have made a successful transition without any infractions and have been acclimated back into society as a productive citizen. There are numerous examples of success stories in which people who have served long sentences and got released have gone on to create businesses, lead non-profits, serve as community leaders and engage in politics and public service. Lifetime and long-term parole supervision limits those opportunities and diminishes the success of those who have served as trailblazers and role models by creating barriers for them to succeed as a result of limitations on travel, un-ending supervision fees, low thresholds for parole violations, privacy limitations, and infringements on civil liberties.
The United States Supreme court ruled in 2012 that sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. People convicted of murder and sentenced to a life sentence as children who are later released on lifetime parole are set up for failure. In fact, a simple violation would result in a person on lifetime parole being sent back to prison to face harsh punishments informed by the original sentence. Parole tethers our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, neighbors and friends to lasting and indefinite correctional control and surveillance. Supervision is as dehumanizing as it is destructive to individuals, families and communities. Parole supervision comes with an arbitrary list of restrictions on everyday human activities - all of which are consistently and subjectively redefined by parole officers. A lifetime parole sentence is no different than a life sentence in state prison since both will tether a person to the carceral system for life without the opportunity for redemption, the very premise that U.S. Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional for juveniles in in Miller vs. Alabama. So if it’s unconstitutional for a child to serve a life sentence with no hope of release or opportunity for redemption, how can a lifetime of parole be any better since we know that it still equates to a life sentence?
Additionally, data indicates that parole supervision has diminishing returns after approximately three years. In PA, approximately 70% of recidivism occurs within the first three years of release. After that, it is unlikely that a person will re-offend. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to keep people on parole beyond three years, especially when they have made a successful transition without any infractions and have been acclimated back into society as a productive citizen. There are numerous examples of success stories in which people who have served long sentences and got released have gone on to create businesses, lead non-profits, serve as community leaders and engage in politics and public service. Lifetime and long-term parole supervision limits those opportunities and diminishes the success of those who have served as trailblazers and role models by creating barriers for them to succeed as a result of limitations on travel, un-ending supervision fees, low thresholds for parole violations, privacy limitations, and infringements on civil liberties.
Why is this important?
The harmful practice of sentencing children to long term and life time parole must end as well as the ongoing treatment of people as if they are still the 14 of 15 year old that was convicted fo a crime. As part of our ongoing effort to create a more equitable system of justice, we invite you to join the Coalition for Parole Justice by signing on to this letter as a partner/ally in the fight to end long term and lifetime parole supervision. Founded by Dignity and Power Now, Color of Change, the Abolitionist Law Center, Unincarcerated Minds and Frontline Dads Inc, the Coalition for Parole Justice is a network of directly impacted advocates, legal advocates, national civil rights organizations, and grassroots organizations that seek to eradicate the use of long-term parole and lifetime parole that extends the carceral state into Black and Brown communities and continues cycles of mass incarceration by creating a permanent underclass of second class citizens stigmatized the label of convicted felon and limited to opportunities as a result of supervision restrictions.
By signing this letter, I am indicating my opposition to lifetime and long-term parole and I agree to ending the practice and replacing it with a “sunset” clause or “off-ramp” from long term and lifetime state parole supervision. I am willing to commit my time, energy and resources to support this endeavor and will only support politicians, elected officials, businesses, and community leaders who support ending the practice of lifetime and long-term parole in Pennsylvania. I stand in solidarity with the thousands of men and women in PA currently serving lifetime parole or long-term parole who deserve an opportunity for redemption and to live their lives fully as free men and women, who can’t as a result of the long-term and lifetime parole they are currently serving. In the interest of justice, I believe that this unfair and unconstitutional practice should end and I sign this letter as an act of resistance to this practice that has denied thousands of people the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the guarantee of due process and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
By signing this letter, I am indicating my opposition to lifetime and long-term parole and I agree to ending the practice and replacing it with a “sunset” clause or “off-ramp” from long term and lifetime state parole supervision. I am willing to commit my time, energy and resources to support this endeavor and will only support politicians, elected officials, businesses, and community leaders who support ending the practice of lifetime and long-term parole in Pennsylvania. I stand in solidarity with the thousands of men and women in PA currently serving lifetime parole or long-term parole who deserve an opportunity for redemption and to live their lives fully as free men and women, who can’t as a result of the long-term and lifetime parole they are currently serving. In the interest of justice, I believe that this unfair and unconstitutional practice should end and I sign this letter as an act of resistance to this practice that has denied thousands of people the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the guarantee of due process and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.