In the near future I intend to introduce legislation to help increase judicial transparency and accountability.
We elect judges to ensure that the laws of our Commonwealth are enforced and that criminals are justly punished. Judges hold a great deal of judicial discretion when it comes to sentencing individuals in our Commonwealth, which can be both a good and bad thing.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing is statutorily required to adopt guidelines on sentencing. These guidelines include a standard range, aggravated range, and mitigated range.

A mitigated range would involve a lesser sentence, which in some cases may be appropriate for a judge to utilize. However, some judges consistently utilize mitigate and below mitigated ranges, simply giving a slap on the wrist to criminal offenders. My legislation will require the Commission to produce quarterly reports to indicate which judges consistently choose lessened penalties. Specifically, the reports will indicate which judges are imposing sentences that are within or below the mitigated range 30% or more of the time.

Please consider co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation to ensure judicial transparency and accountability.