Philly’s Prison Population Drops
Increased efficiency in the justice system lowers number of inmates
Philadelphia’s prison population dropped 11 percent from 2009 to 2010. The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative released a report detailing the decline and attributed the change to the city’s use of fines and community service to deal with smaller, non-violent crimes. The recent change in the philosophy on prosecuting marijuana-related crimes probably didn’t hurt, either. The report also shows that the current corrections budget is $10 million less than it was three years ago. [CBS 3]
