People on parole are set up to fail due to the stress on our system’s capacity. From drug and alcohol tests at their own expense to distant check-ins with a parole officer, they must meet overly cumbersome requirements to remain in good standing. With some parolees being on parole for decades, there are lifetime barriers (i.e., restrictions on housing, employment, travel, education, and public services) that prevent them from regaining their civic rights. Unlike other states, Pennsylvania is one of the only states that has lifetime parole terms and does not have a mechanism that allows compliant parolees to earn early termination of parole.
 
To alleviate the stress placed on these individuals and the agencies that supervise them, our legislation would give low-risk, justice-involved individuals the opportunity to regain their citizenship sooner. It would do so by creating earned compliance credits, which would reduce their time under parole supervision by 15 days for each month they are in compliance with the terms and conditions of their parole. Further, the legislation would give paroled individuals who are 40 years of age or older, and who have served at least five years of consecutive parole supervision, or who have earned compliance credits greater than or equal to the remainder of their parole sentence, the opportunity to petition the court for an early termination of their sentence.
 
It is past time to make more efficient use of Pennsylvania’s supervision resources by setting low-risk parolees up for success, not failure. Please consider supporting common-sense parole reform by signing on to this proposal.