There is bipartisan agreement that it’s too hard for people serving life in prison to get out when they are aging and ailing. But two proposals to change that face an uncertain future.
There is bipartisan agreement that it’s too hard for people serving life in prison to get out when they are aging and ailing. But two proposals to change that face an uncertain future.
There is bipartisan agreement that it’s too hard for people serving life in prison to get out when they are aging and ailing. But two proposals to change that face an uncertain future.
Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about Broken ‘Compassionate Release’ Rules Strand Pa.’s Sickest Prisoners as Costs to Taxpayers Soar and more from the State College, PA region
Originally published on February 4, 2021 6:56 pm
A first-of-its-kind court case in Pennsylvania is asking a big question: How long do people need to stay in prison before they get a second chance?
More than 1,000 people are serving life without parole in Pennsylvania, even though they never intended to kill anyone. Seventy percent of those people are Black.
I met Tyreem Rivers on the phone in November, when his voice was a little muffled. Well, I have two or three masks on, Rivers said with a laugh. I have at least two masks on, so I m trying to stay safe.
Staying safe is hard when you re confined with hundreds of other men during a pandemic. Rivers, 43, has spent more than half his life in prison. He grew up in a rough part of Philadelphia. When he arrived behind bars in 1997, he says he was hooked on drugs and could barely read.