The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s (SCOPA) Criminal and Procedural Rules Committee is asking for comments on the proposed changes to bail and detainer rules before submitting back to SCOPA.
The public has until March 8, 2022 to submit comments on the proposal to:
Joshua M. Yohe, Counsel
Criminal Procedural Rules Committee
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Judicial Center
PO Box 62635 Harrisburg, PA 17106-2635
FAX: (717)231-9521 criminalrules@pacourts.us
The below document from the ACLU explains how you can provide public comment to the Committee, summarizes many of the proposed changes to bail and detainer rules, and offers some suggested points of emphasis should you choose to submit comments.
Your comments do not have to be fancy or lengthy. You should explain:
who you are (individual or organization)
why you care about Pennsylvanians impacted by bail or supervision detainers
what you want to make sure the rules say
It is enough to say that it is important that the rules do, or don’t do, something specific. Please write about what issues are important to you.
Feel free to email Nyssa Taylor, an attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, at ntaylor@aclupa.org or 856-244-1136. She can try to help you directly or refer you to someone else who can.
For a sample letter, based on ACLU comments, see below.