House Bill 587
EXPANDING MEDICAL AND ELDERLY RELEASE IN PA
House Bill 587 Bill Information
Description: HB 587 would provide for parole of incarcerated individuals due to age, illness, or medical reasons during a public health emergency. Specifically, it would repeal provisions related to the transfer of inmates for medical treatment and instead allows the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole to grant parole to individuals with terminal illnesses, chronic debilitating conditions, or serious functional or cognitive impairments. The bill would also enable the Board to grant expedited medical parole during a public health emergency to vulnerable individuals at risk of serious illness or death. Finally, it would require the Department of Corrections to notify and assist inmates and their families with the parole petition process.
PA Justice Alliance Member Positions & Feedback
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HB 587 would permit incarcerated individuals to petition for early release on parole due to age, illness, or medical reasons during a public health emergency. PA’s current compassionate release mechanisms are so narrow as to be impractical in almost every case. Humanizing this system to expand compassionate release options would shift limited corrections resources to where they are most needed.
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HB 587 is a bill that would provide parole opportunities for aging people in prison, which puts us one step closer to a pathway home for elders in prison.
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Blog: An Inspiring Day of Action at the Capitol (10/5/2023)
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The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR) confronts the injustice that leads to death sentences and other excessive punishments through direct representation, impact litigation, training, and assistance to legal teams. We currently represent aging and sick clients seeking medical transfer, commutation, and post-conviction relief, and submit this statement in support of HB 587.
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HB 587 would go a long way in supporting the Department of Corrections, incarcerated people with increasing medical needs, and Pennsylvania’s families and taxpayers. Shifting resources from unnecessarily continuing to over-incarcerate this population into the services, supports, and infrastructure that best provide for all Pennsylvanians would help ensure our incarcerated elders can also thrive as valuable members of their communities.
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With nearly 30% of the PA prison population being over 50 and the cost of medical care to PA taxpayers topping $34 million per year, HCPA stands in support of Medical & Geriatric Parole.
Research has shown that the vast majority of individuals over 50 who have served more than 20 years have the lowest recidivism rates. Over the last several years in PA, this has been proven by the hundreds of former lifers who have been released due to resentencing due to the Miller decision and by expanded commutations.
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HB 587 provides for limited opportunities for compassionate release via resentencing by the original sentencing judge in very specific cases of medical need. PA’s current compassionate release mechanisms are so narrow as to be impractical in almost every case. We would gain so much as a community by humanizing this system to allow for additional compassionate release, while realizing enormous tax dollar savings.
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With the abundance of effective life sentences imposed by Pennsylvania’s courts, many inmates face age-related mental and physical deterioration while in the custody of the Department of Corrections. PDAP strongly supports expanding the circumstances upon which an inmate can receive early parole for medical reasons. HB 587 takes a more compassionate and reality-based approach to the conditions in which an inmate should be eligible for early release.
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House Bill 587 would allow the Parole Board to consider granting parole to:
An individual with a terminal illness, serious medical condition (mental or physical), or deteriorating health.
An individual who is (a) at least 55 years old and (b) served at least 25 years in prison or half the length of the minimum sentence imposed.
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HB 587 provides for limited opportunities for compassionate release via resentencing by the original sentencing judge in very specific cases of medical need. PA’s current compassionate release mechanisms are so narrow as to be impractical in almost every case. We would gain so much as a community by humanizing this system to allow for additional compassionate release, while realizing enormous tax dollar savings.
Read more:
