The Commission is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Sentencing Guidelines. This review has been highly participatory, involving input from current and past Commission members, an academic review panel, and key criminal justice stakeholders. Additional material related to these efforts can be found on the Commission Policy Meetings page.
Working Draft of Sentencing Guidelines (Proposals and Testimony)
Recorded Public Hearings
Testimony
- Greg Rowe, PA District Attorneys Association
- Matt Weintraub, District Attorney, Bucks County
- Defenders Association of Philadelphia
- Keisha Hudson, Chief Defender, Philadelphia
- Bjorn Dakin, Assistant District Attorney, Allegheny County
- David Lozier, District Attorney, Beaver County
- Margaret Robertson, Janes UMC
- Cindy Lou Miller
- Jasmin Smith, Snyder County Public Defenders Office
- Kelly Lloyd, Montgomery County District Attorneys Office
- April Billet, County Chief Adult Probation and Parole Officers
- Assata Thomas, Director, Institute of Community Justice
- Brian Deiderick, President Public Defender Association of PA
- C. Stephen Enri, PA DUI Association
- Dawn Houser
- Deanna Weaver, Crime Victims Alliance of PA
- DeVonte Douglass, Kings Saving Kings & Queens
- Donna Hill
- Gail Deignan Mershon
- Jennifer C. Selber, Exec Deputy Attorney General, PA Office of Attorney General
- Joseph E. Welsh, Executive Director, Lehigh Valley Justice Institute
- Maria Goellner, PA State Policy Director, FAMM
- Marianne Stein, ACLU of PA
- Mark Houldin, Esquire
- Monica Allison
- Steven L. Chanenson
- Tasliym Goodman
- Kevin Carrington
- Richard Steele, Juvenile Court Judges Commission
Presentations
Academic Review Panel (2020-2021). Convened in November 2020
- Rationales for the Use of Prior Record at Sentencing (Memo 2020)
- Prior Record Score Review (Presentation 2020)
- The Impact of Juvenile Adjudications on Adult Prior Record Scores (Memo 2021)
- Summary of Comprehensive Review: 8th Edition Sentencing Guidelines. (Report June 2021)
Justice Reinvestment II
- Final Recommendations (related to Commission) related to more targeted guideline recommendation and reduction in the impact of PRS. (Presentation 2016)
- Act 115 of 2019 — specific changes related to Commission/guidelines, including changes to 42/2154 (factors considered in guidelines, modification of criminal history, creation of probation guidelines); 42/2154.1 (guidelines for restrictive conditions and link to certification of compliance); and 42/2154.7 (use of risk assessment to help determine intensity of intervention, use of restrictive conditions and duration of supervision). (Summary)
Sentence Risk Assessment
Much of the work in developing and adopting the Sentence Risk Assessment Instrument informed aspects of the comprehensive review of the sentencing guidelines, including the uneven/limited use of PRS reports and the lack of information for consideration prior to sentencing on RNR; and the use of RNR to inform the duration and intensity of community supervision.
Offender-Related Guidelines Review Subcommittee
- Presentation (2018)
- An Empirical Reconstruction of the Prior Record Score, Heinz College Systems Synthesis Project, Carnegie Mellon University. (Report 2018)
- Prior Record Reform Project, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law Community Lawyering Clinic. (Report 2019)