100 inmates in Philly jails have been released with the consent of prosecutors, courts and public defenders

One hundred people awaiting trial in Philadelphia jails were released in recent weeks as part of an effort to reduce the city’s jail population amid what advocates have called “dangerous” conditions and an ongoing staff shortage .

Over the past five weeks, the Defender Association of Philadelphia, in collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office and the First Judicial District, has been working to identify a list of people charged with relatively low-level crimes who remained in jail because they couldn’t afford money. bail, said Andrew Pappas, director of the public defenders.

Pappas said he and his team “looked at the individual, at their big picture, and said, you know, this person doesn’t need to be locked up.”

Municipal Court Judge Karen Simmons held weekly emergency bail hearings to review the cases and determine whether a person’s bail should be reduced

In all, 19 women and 81 men facing 123 cases saw their bail reduced and were released, Pappas said. About 35% received some form of pretrial supervision, he said, and about a quarter received social services such as addiction treatment and housing assistance.

The releasedes, who faced charges ranging from drug possession and shoplifting to illegal gun possession, had few or no prior arrests, Pappas said:

The majority would likely receive probation if convicted, and yet, he said, they are all considered innocent until then.

“They have the right not to be detained pending trial for a crime for which they have not been convicted,” he said.

Some people had been in custody awaiting trial for more than six months, he said, while others had been held for a few weeks. All their cases were in the early stages, he said.

The prisons are dangerous, Pappas said, especially amid an ongoing and unprecedented staffing shortage of correctional officers. The personnel crisis has been going on for so long that in the summer a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit over prison conditions held city officials in contempt for not taking the necessary steps to mitigate the issue.

Although the bail hearings were not held in response to that ongoing lawsuit, Pappas said, the judge overseeing the case did come to observe one day.

“The overcrowding and understaffing are not just our concerns,” Pappas said. “The entire system has some motivation to reduce the prison population.”

The number of people in Philadelphia’s prisons has fallen dramatically over the past decade. About 4,500 people are incarcerated in the city’s four facilities — nearly half fewer than in 2015, according to Department of Prisons data.

Pappas said he would meet again with prosecutors and court officials on November 18 to discuss a new list of defendants. It’s not clear, he said, whether the program will continue afterward.

He said the program shows that “if we work together, if we look at people as individuals and do it safely, it’s a win-win for everyone.”

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia courts declined to comment. The Public Prosecution Service did not immediately respond.