About 30 people came together at recent workshops run
by Urban Rural Action (URA),
a nonprofit group that aims to bridge the divide between people in rural and
urban America.
URA partnered with the Pennsylvania Prison Society to try to
build a consensus on criminal justice reforms.
“We live very differently oftentimes in urban and rural
America, and when you’re able to understand the needs and the different
dynamics, you’re able to better understand especially how state policies can
change,” said Adams County organizer Chad Collie.
The group agreed on a set of points that include prioritizing
rehabilitation over punishment, planning for re-entry after incarceration, and
ensuring inmates under 18 are not held in facilities for adults.
“When you give yourself some time to talk and do that in a
respectful manner, we can come to a balancing point on a lot of subjects, one
of those being criminal justice reform,” Collie said.
Collie said he hopes the consensus statement from the
workshops can be used to raise awareness and influence policy at the state
level.
He said they plan to continue discussions on issues such as
gun violence.
Collie added the workshops inspired the formation of two new
groups in Adams County: one focused on re-entry services and another to examine
the cash bail system.
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