Project for Opportunity and Safety

Sentencing reform needed for nonviolent offenders

As someone who worked nearly my entire career as a correctional officer in Dauphin County prison, I saw first hand the effects of mandatory minimums and recidivism based upon an inability for many individuals to shake the yoke of being in the system.

There is wide-scale criminal reform legislation currently pending in the U.S. Senate that would restructure the sentencing process for many non-violent offenders and allow for countless dollars to be saved on housing non-violent convicts for far too long. Moreover, right here in Pennsylvania, conservative leaders in our state legislature are leading the charge on bills referred to as clean slate legislation that will automatically seal the record of non-violent offenders.

As someone who was around inmates for nearly three decades, I heard the stories of being unable to get a job because of criminal records. Good people with real skills who couldn’t earn a legal living because of their record. The reality is that I will always be a prison guard at heart. You will not find a stronger advocate for making sure dangerous people are behind bars.

However, prisons aren’t overpopulated because of violent murderers and rapists. They are filled with small-time offenders who continually bounce in and out of prison because even when they do get out, they have a hard time finding employment because of their record. It’s well past time that our elected leaders, both in Harrisburg and in Washington, take action to correct this problem this summer.