Harrisburg, PA, October 2 2018 – PA Senator Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) will host a press conference featuring a bipartisan group of supporters for Senate Bill 942, reforming parole in PA. This presser will follow the Judiciary Committee Meeting scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in RM. 8 E-B West Wing, which will include SB942.

Senator Street (D) “The time for parole reform in PA is overdue. We are reminded of the diverse face victims, who more frequently included those who have lost a loved one and have someone serving Life without Parole. They may be Juvenile Lifers, battered women convicted at time when Battered Women’s Defense was non-existent in the court of law, and hundreds of men and women who have never taken a life. The growing bipartisan support of this legislation speaks to an issue that is morally grounded and goes beyond partisan ties.”

Sue Fritche Esq., Lead Attorney of The Women’s Law Project “The number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700% between 1980 and 2016. The female prison population stands nearly eight times higher than in 1980. As of 2017, 2,857 women are incarcerated in Pennsylvania. Of that population, approximately 208 women are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Many of the women serving life without parole in Pennsylvania committed their crimes in response to coercion or abuse that went unrecognized by our criminal justice system”

Senator Street is continuing the fight for ‘Redemption’ to urge his fellow PA Senators to pass this legislation, supported by a diverse bipartisan coalition.

WHO: Senator Sharif Street, Representative Jason Dawkins, Americans for Prosperity, American Civil Liberties Union, Cut50, Mothers in Charge, Coalition to End Death by Incarceration.

WHEN: 12:30 PM

WHAT: Bipartisan Support of Senate Bill 942, Ending Life without Parole in PA

WHERE: Capital Media Center, East Wing, State Capital Building, Harrisburg, PA