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Climbing Philly jail population renews civil rights concerns
Some inmates are again living three to a cell in the Philly Prison System.
Climbing Philly jail population renews civil rights concerns
After two years of declining populations, the Philadelphia Prison System is getting crowded; its current population is 8,692, according to Public Information Officer Shawn Hawes. That's up from an average population of 8,033 last year and 7,930 in 2010, she says. Prisoners' rights advocates worry that it will only climb further, given several policies put in place this year to crack down on illegal weapons and court no-shows. The prisons are currently in the midst of a two-year monitoring period resulting from a lawsuit regarding over-crowding, according to Angus Love of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. "The population was close to 10,000 when we filed [the suit]. We're very concerned that we're going to have to go back in and deal with this issue again, when we thought it was resolved."
Hawes says that Philadelphia Prison System does, on some nights, keep dozens of inmates in "triple-cell" situations — where an extra inmate stays into a two-person cell by use of a rubber "boat" on the floor. At the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, she says, "Some days there might be two cells [housing three people per cell], some days there might be 60. We do triple-cell when necessary." The Philly Prison System has also reopened part of Holmesburg Prison, where a gym has been renovated into a "dormitory" filled with bunks for about 100 men.
David Rudovsky, an attorney who was involved in the lawsuit, says diversionary programs that have been put in place through the courts and the District Attorney's Office had helped to bring the number of inmates down.
But the creation of a Bench Warrant Court this spring — where those who turn themselves in or are picked up on bench warrants are generally held in contempt and sent to jail — is having a significant effect. Before the special court was created, those who had court dates and didn't show up generally were simply given a new court date. "In last three months, hundreds of people have been sent to prison. The impact appears to be that it's caused a rise of at least 400 inmates just in Philadelphia," Rudovsky says.
The other factor cited by both Rudovsky and Hawes is an increase of arrests of those carrying illegal weapons. Part of a new tough-on-crime strategy announced by Mayor Nutter early this year, the DA has been pushing to step up prosecution of those found to be carrying illegal guns. Per a city press release from March: "In January 2012, there was a 22.6 percent increase over January 2011 in the number of individuals with illegal gun charges who are being held in City jails in pre-trial detention. In February 2012, there was a 16.5 percent increase over February 2011."
Hawes says the Philly jail system is equipped to house up to 10,000 inmates. However, the system was designed with a capacity of 6,910.
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