by: Justin Bernard, Op-Ed Contest Participant
With high recidivism rates and prison overcrowding nationwide, a possible solution to both of these issues is to focus on rehabilitative rather than punitive solutions to treating offenders—especially non-violent offenders.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is not immune to the difficulties of overcrowded prisons and high recidivism. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Pennsylvania institutions are currently at 109.7% capacity and only five institutions are at less than 100% capacity. Since 1980, Pennsylvania state spending on its prisons has increased six times faster than the spending on its school system. In the last thirty years, Pennsylvania has added eighteen new prisons—with more projected on the way—each costing approximately $200 million to build. Regarding recidivism, the 2013 Pennsylvania Recidivism Report stated that 71.1% of offenders are either rearrested or reincarcerated within five years after release.
One solution to the Commonwealth’s prison overcrowding and recidivism rates are specialty courts. Special courts—also known as problem-solving or diversionary courts—represent a shift in the way the justice system will handle offenders where the strategy will focus on treatment programs, extended probation, regular alcohol and drug testing, and frequent appearances before the judge to monitor the offender’s progress in the program. Specialty courts can provide more effective results than the punitive strategy applied in the traditional, criminal system. When the strategies of these special courts are implemented in the correct manner, they have the ability to improve public safety, save taxpayer dollars, and give the offender the best chance to turn their lives around in becoming law-abiding citizens; in short, the special courts can be a win-win for society.
Allegheny County has witnessed the positive outcomes with these problem-solving courts. The County boasts a plethora of these specialty courts such as DUI Court, Drug Court, PRIDE Court (for prostitution), Veterans Court (for military veterans), and Mental Health Court.
Providing a brief insight into the success of Allegheny County’s specialty courts and their respective rehabilitative programs, the County’s Department of Human Services declared that DUI Court has helped avoid jail time for over one thousand offenders and saved taxpayers approximately $300,000.
Regarding Drug Court, graduates of the program recidivate at just nine percent in their first year after completing the program and are six times more likely to continue on the path to treatment—long enough for them to kick their addiction.
Concerning Mental Health Court, the three year recidivism rate among graduated participants is 14.5%, which compares favorably to the Allegheny County Jail incarceration recidivism rate of 52.2%.
Despite the evident success of the specialty courts, the programs are not without certain flaws.
One issue is defendants must plead guilty in order to receive acceptance into the programs. Even if the defendant successfully completes the program, the individual’s record will not be expunged. This also leads to due process complications as an offender might plead guilty just to receive treatment and admittance into the program, but is never actually proven guilty by the court.
Another issue that these specialty courts face is the court’s role as a gatekeeper. Whether the offender is allowed admission into problem-solving courts is at the discretion of the judge and the prosecutor. For example, a court might not allow a high-risk offender to receive the help he or she needs due to suspicion of recidivism or non-compliance. One solution would be for the courts to allow a panel of treatment experts to have more input in determining which offenders could benefit from the program.
Riding the coat-tails of the second issue, the third issue is that the judge has too much power and is inexperienced in heading these problem-solving courts. The judges—in regard to these problem-solving courts—have to possess not only knowledge of the law, but also play the role of a social worker, a therapist, and even an accountant (in regard to restitution payments). At times, probation officers and mentors assist the judge, but ultimately the judge oversees various fields in which he or she may not have an extensive background or understanding.
Despite these issues, the specialty courts and their respective rehabilitative programs provide a genuine approach to reduce recidivism among offenders and relieve the burden of prison costs and overcrowding. These issues can be handled in a more cost-effective approach for taxpayers while also aiding non-violent offenders with the treatment they need in order to become positive members of society.
