by KYW’s Mike Dunn

Mayor Nutter’s just released plan to ease overcrowding in the city’s prisons includes the idea of allowing some non-violent criminals to leave the jails, as long as they report in daily. 

The Mayor’s new plan to reform Philadelphia prisons comes as the jails hold a record number of inmates, topping 9,000.

In the short term, Nutter is planning to allow some non-violent inmates, such as those with drug or mental health problems, to report daily to health centers rather than stay in prison.

Wendell Pritchett is a top advisor to the Mayor: “These are people in jail who shouldn’t be in jail and who could be taken care of in other kinds of settings. They’re going to be non-violent, non-sex offenders; people who could be working or doing other things other than actually being in jail while they’re serving their sentences.”

Nutter is also looking at increased use of house arrest and GPS tracking as alternatives to jailing non-violent offenders. 

Pritchett says a long-term goal is to keep offenders from repeatedly returning:
“Really the long term solution is lowering the recidivism rate.  That’s really the challenge that the whole administration is focused on – to prevent people from going to jail.”

Nutter’s plan comes amid a federal lawsuit against the city for what plaintiffs say are "inhumane conditions" in the prisons, including the practice of putting three inmates in cells designed for just two.