Making Philadelphia both safer and more just requires a different approach to our work.
With more than 600 lawyers, detectives and support staff, we are the largest prosecutor’s office in Pennsylvania and the third largest in the nation.
We know the safety of our city, the rights of our fellow 1.5 million citizens, and the well-being of the neighborhoods we ourselves live in are at stake.
We are guided by facts, evidence, and the law as we seek justice every day. Our prosecutors are relentless in the pursuit of justice on behalf of victims of crime and the communities we serve. We are also mindful of the impacts of our decisions on individuals, families, and communities. We engage in scientific review of case outcomes to assess our performance, and seek to learn from prosecutors and law enforcement from around the country.
DATA LAB: MEASURING JUSTICE
Accountability is for everyone, including our office. Decades of research, both locally and nationally, have shown that over–policing and over–incarceration have weakened families and communities. Taking a data-driven, community-focused approach helps identify which practices offer the greatest public safety benefit while reducing the harms of mass incarceration.
Data and research shows that:
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People tend to age out of criminal behaviors. Many people sentenced as juveniles to a lifetime of incarceration without the possibility of parole were subsequently resentenced and released following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision. A study of juvenile lifers in Philadelphia showed that just 1% of those released went on to be convicted for a new crime.
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Certainty of consequences – not lengthy sentences – is a greater deterrent to crime. Between 2018-2023, there was an estimated decrease of 40,000 years of future years of incarceration.
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Public opinion polls have shown declining support for capital punishment, and 2022 represented a 30-year low for executions nationally. Though Pennsylvania has not executed a person since 1999, there are approximately 100 people still on death row in the state. Since 2018, there have been no cases in Philadelphia where the death penalty was sought.
ABOUT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: strategic changes
Our reform process is designed to improve accountability and transparency across, not just our office, but the entire criminal justice system.
Integral to this is the work of the Conviction Integrity Unit’s review of past cases to ensure we, and the rest of the criminal justice system, acted appropriately.
We’ve also committed a significant number of new resources to the Special Investigations Unit to take a clear-eyed look at allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct, and how it influenced the outcomes of individual and sometimes whole groups of cases.
Significant reform is underway to build a juvenile justice system that better serves victims, defendants and the future of Philadelphia. We’re using proven, data-driven options for holding youth accountable and increasing community safety. Reforms focus on alternative solutions that make it possible for them to lead productive, fulfilling lives, avoiding the collateral consequences and stigma of justice system involvement.
Building and reinforcing trust with the community are key to the success of any reform agenda. So we’ve also ramped up efforts to ensure we are a familiar and consistent presence in neighborhoods citywide. We regularly participate in year-round community, civic association and police advisory meetings. We talk to fellow residents and continually brainstorm with them on what’s working and what needs to change.
ABOUT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: GENDER EQUITY
We’ve long known that for everyone else to be treated equally to men in the criminal justice system, they need to be treated differently.
In recent decades, the incarceration rates for women are growing twice as fast as those for men. In Pennsylvania correctional facilities, there’s been a dramatic 600% increase since the early 1980s. A top-to-bottom review is overdue.
To ensure no one is left behind in our Office’s criminal justice reform efforts, the District Attorney appointed Judge Carolyn Temin to lead the Task Force on Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System, laying the groundwork policies to guide the efforts of a growing coalition of partners by:
- Presenting policies that are woman/girl-centered to further balance the criminal justice model that remains largely male-based.
- Seeking to reform inequities throughout the criminal justice system, not just those tied to sentencing and incarceration.
- Reflecting findings and recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report.
- Addressing additional disparities based on women’s race/ethnicity and LGBTQ identity.
- Advancing new thinking on girls confined in youth facilities.
- Insisting on evidence-based policies and programs.