department-of-corrections

Bills to improve voting access for incarcerated individuals draw support from lawmakers, advocates

BY: - October 18, 2023

Supporters of House Bill 1756 and its counterpart House Bill 1757 — bills that would permit all incarcerated individuals to vote in Pennsylvania, provide voter information to correctional facilities, and direct the Department of State to create a “uniform policy for civic education” in correctional institutions — are hoping to garner support for the legislation currently before the House State Government Committee. 

COMMENTARY

Expediting pardons is good for Pennsylvania | Opinion

BY: - August 4, 2023

By Andrea Lindsay Last week, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons (BOP) announced updates to its “expedited review” program for pardon applicants, promising to deliver pardons to more people, sooner. This program adopts several of the expedited review tracks proposed in Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity’s (PLSE) 2022 report Expediting Pardons in Pennsylvania, which I authored, […]

Ban on shackling pregnant women, solitary confinement in prison advances in Pa. House

BY: - April 18, 2023

'I'm not saying open the door and let everyone out. All I'm saying is give these women some dignity,' women's safe house director Tonie Willis said

Pa. human services, corrections departments launch doula program for incarcerated mothers

BY: - February 14, 2022

SCI-Muncy and SCI-Cambridge Springs, both all-female facilities, can hold an average of seven to eight pregnant people at any given time, a Department of Corrections spokesperson said.

COMMENTARY

State officials discuss trauma, substance use among incarcerated women | Friday Morning Coffee

BY: - December 3, 2021

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections reports that about 66 percent of the women in state correctional institutions (SCIs) are on the DOC mental health roster; more than 50 percent of the women have a history of substance use.

COMMENTARY

The Pa. Corrections Department shouldn’t renew its contract with Smart Communications. This is why | Opinion

BY: - April 20, 2021

The DOC could institute less draconian measures that would prevent the introduction of drugs into prisons while allowing incarcerated people to receive their mail.

COVID surge in Pa. prisons leads to calls for lockdown at all facilities

BY: - December 16, 2020

In a statement released Tuesday, the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA) called on Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration to lockdown the state’s prisons and stop the transfer of inmates amid the surge in COVID cases. 

sewing_inmate

The state Legislature received masks made by prisoners — but it’s unclear who used them

BY: - April 24, 2020

The 200 masks lawmakers received are just a fraction of a fraction of the 311,193 masks inmates have produced as of last week.

COVID-19 in Pa.: Draft plan to reduce prison pop. includes limited eligibility, gives veto to prosecutors

BY: and - April 3, 2020

It was not immediately clear how many inmates would be eligible for release under the draft legislation seen by the Capital-Star.

Saddled with vacancies, parole board says it’s struggling to keep up with growing backlog

BY: - February 20, 2020

The nine-member board, which grants prisoners early release from state correctional facilities, is currently operating with three vacancies, its chairman, Ted Johnson, told the Senate Appropriations Committee during the agency’s annual budget hearing.

Transgender Pa. prison inmate sues Corrections Dept., claiming they were denied proper healthcare

BY: - February 11, 2020

The lawsuit, filed last month in the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Western District in Pittsburgh, seeks monetary damages and immediate medical care and housing accommodations for the prisoner, who was born as a woman but does not identify as male or female, according to court documents. 

Pa.’s Corrections department could be on the hook for legal fees over prisoner mail policy lawsuit

BY: - November 1, 2019

Documents obtained through a Right to Know request show that the agency has paid out more than $7 million in taxpayer-funded settlements for federal lawsuits in 2019.