Corrections in Pennsylvania

Corrections in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s Correctional System

Pennsylvania has made history by being the world’s first true penitentiary, mainly due to its civilized prison cells, its structural edifice, and its groundbreaking facilities. This was constructed in about the same time as the rest of the US states are struggling with their own justice systems. It was the Bureau of Corrections that initiated this, as they saw prison problems fast arising. With their further investigation, they were able to come up with a wholly improved correctional system. This is championed by the retired Army Major General Jacob L. Devers. This pioneering achievement leads to the development of other U.S. State’s penitentiary systems.
And as regards to Pennsylvania’s penal system, it was during the late 1600 that the death penalty in the state is commonly served through hanging or as referred to as the gallows. And as expected, this practice is widely adapted by most of the American States. Most of these hangings are actually done open to the public.
In 1834, it was the State of Pennsylvania that became the first one to eradicate the idea of public execution. It was shortly legislated that the death penalty sentence was to be done per county and within the confines of its respective county jails. And this had effectively continued on for the next 80 years. By 1913, death by hanging is soon replaced by the electric chair. The chair was used until 1962, and it again has become a widely accepted method of carrying out death penalty throughout America. But by 1990, the electric chair was then replaced by the lethal injection process, which, until currently, is perceived as the most humane way of execution. The then governor, Robert P. Casey, made this feat possible. He was the one who signed the legislation to aptly change Pennsylvania’s mode of execution. But it was earlier in 1982 that lethal injection was first introduced and used in the US, courtesy of the state of Texas.
Prison Population and...

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