“I first got on probation when I was 12 years old."

Latonya Myers has advocated for probation reform for years.

"I thought I was going to be protected, but I was prosecuted” 

Last Friday, she watched Senate Bill 838 be signed into law-- the Criminal Reform Act. A major focus of the new law is to address how the state handles 'technical violations'.

“I couldn’t take myself back to school if my mother didn’t wake me up. I couldn’t get back in the house if I got locked out. But my probation officer would find me in violation of technical violations," said Myers. "Would send me back to placement. Instead of addressing the underlying issue.”

Sections of the law require individual circumstances to be evaluated when assigning probation to a person. Senator Anthony Williams, who represents parts of Philadelphia and Delaware counties, gave an example of how this impacts those on probation.

“Your probation officer says ‘you have to be in my office at 12 o clock in the middle of the afternoon to see you, to make sure you are doing well.’ You just started a new job and you have to tell them ‘well, if I leave, they’re going to tell me you don’t have a job," said Williams. "All those kind of things are called technical violation. When you technically violate, you can be sent back to prison. Which interrupts all of your positive work you have done to restore yourself to society.”

The criminal reform act lays out standards for what is and is not a technical violation.  

“The guidelines are Erie to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh to Harrisburg," said Williams.

There are also new opportunities to get off probation if guidelines are met.

The law garnered an impressive amount of bipartisan support from organizations on both sides of the aisle. However, there was criticism that it complicates probation instead of bringing change. 

The ACLU of Pennsylvania says online that the law "does nothing to limit the amount of time someone can be sentenced to probation." The organization also raises concerns with a new 'administrative probation' in the law that is for those who have not finished paying restitution.

The entire text of the law can be found here.

Pennsylvania remains 1 of 7 state left in the U.S. that, as the ACLU pointed out, has no limit on how long a probation sentence can be. Those at Friday's bill signing say this Criminal Reform Act will change how probation is handled in the state, and offer consistency as individuals re enter society.

The law goes into effect midsummer of 2024.