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3 Prison J. 1 (1923)

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl3 and id is 1 raw text is: THE PRISON JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE SCIENCE OF PENOLOGY Published Quarterly by THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY (Organised 1787) 119 South Fourth St., Philadelphia, Pa. This Number (Twenty Cents) Fifty Cents a Year (Applicationfor entry as Second-class Matter will be made at the Post Office at Philadelphia) THE PENAL REFORM SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA By FLORENCE L. SANVILLE Just a year ago there came into being a new movement directed at the Present penal system in Pennsylvania. Starting in Philadelphia, it has now established local branches in widely-scattered sections of the state, crystallizing ad focussing for immediate and concrete action the public opinion which has been fostered through the years by such organizations as The Pennsylvania Prison Society. The Penal Reform Society is organized for the purposo- f-cnibuting to the movement for the humane and scientific treatment Vtit 84ilhent. Its ultimate aim is the substitution for the present punitive Aaliods of dieting with the wrongdoer of methods of a preventive, remedial ailtedu(dlibual afaracter. Its inception was due to a personal experience of th~ivriterj which, because of its bearing upon the question of individual responjibiIjty, ir worth relating here. January, a year ago, I was summoned for jury\seice yrbie.Court of Oyer and Terminer in Delaware County. As soon as T4hglieasd Wthis in- POlved the disposal of criminal cases, I knew that I could tal'5Fj*e In such a disposal. Delaware County jail is no worse than others. On the contrary, a humber of visits have convinced me that in many respects it is decidedly above the average. But I was as incapable of condemning an erring man or woman to such an environment as I should be of rendering a verdict which would send a fellow-being to the gallows or electric chair. The physical and moral corrup- tion inherent in a jail sentence is almost as abhorrent as the death penalty it- self- I could no more serve in conscience on one jury than on the other. But a mere refusal to take part in a discreditable proceeding was too passive a means of combating it. I found a surprising number of like-minded women, some of whom had refused jury service for the same reason. Last March a group of these launched the organization known as The Penal Reform Society- a Positive effort to wipe out the evils which adhere to our present treatment of crime and criminals. This effort is manifest in two directions. One is the Digitized from Best Copy Available VOLUME 111, No. I JANUARY, 1923

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