Philadelphia's Jails Are Filled With Innocent People

Or at least people who haven't yet been convicted of any crime. Why? Well, in recent years, Philadelphia courts have been demanding ever-higher bail amounts, a fact that forces poor people to wait in city jails before their trial or pre-trial disposition. What's more, in recent years, more and more people have been denied bail.

That's too bad, because the cost of keeping prisoners locked up — both the innocent and the ones who've been convicted — is exorbitantly expensive. Too expensive, in fact, for the city to stay on its current course. Over the last 10 years, the cost to operate Philly's jails has more than doubled, jumping to $290 million a year. In fact, Philadelphia spends fully seven cents of every tax dollar on city jails — more than the city spends on its streets and the health department combined.

As the Pew Charitable Trusts writes in a new report, “Philadelphia's Crowded, Costly Jails,” there are plenty of surprising facts behind this trend.

For one thing, the growth in Philly's jail population doesn't correspond with increases in crime. Instead, its growth comes down to political factors unrelated to actual trends in public safety. As the report notes, “To a large extent, the evidence in this report indicates that the size of the population of the Philadelphia Prison System [in Philly, the jail system is referred to as the Prison System, for reasons arcane and uninteresting] is within the power of policy makers to control — without compromising the fight against crime.”

One way policy makers can change the system is by amending punishments associated with probation violation. Over the last 10 years, the number of people held for technical probation violations has significantly increased. While in 2000, only 3,101 people were held for probation violations, that number rose to 5,900 in 2008 — a 90% increase. What's more, these days, those held for probation violations tend to be held for longer than in years past.

It's not just Philadelphia, either. Unfortunately as we've seen, states and cities across the country are still grappling with the cost of old, misguided policies that sought to sweep thousands into prison and keep them there — the old "lock 'em up and throw away the key" mentality. All of which lead to situations like the one Philadelphia currently faces: rising prison populations, dropping crime and jail cells full of those who haven't yet been tried.

Photo Credit: Krooooop