Today, a federal judge held the City of Philadelphia in contempt of court for failure to comply with the April 2022 settlement agreement reached in Remick et Al. v. City of Philadelphia.

The judge’s ruling cited the city’s failure to take “all reasonable steps” to address a chronic staffing shortage (47% or 800 vacancies). As such, the jails cannot provide sufficient out-of-cell time resulting in thousands being subjected to what amounts to de facto solitary confinement.

An April 2024 Philadelphia Inquirer article cites the court monitor’s report in detailing issues the staffing shortage creates and exacerbates including: “unsanitary conditions, a backlog in off-site medical appointments due to insufficient transport staffing, and an inability to provide timely behavioral health care.”

The overall impact is devastating and reverberates beyond prison walls.

However, the judge declined to rule on sanctions in order to have more time to “think thoughtfully and carefully” about next steps.

Sanctions must take into account the profound trauma and harm experienced by those incarcerated in Philadelphia jails, and must be sufficient enough to spur the city to action. To that end, we have suggested daily fines of $5/day for every incarcerated person, payable directly to them upon their release.

The city and jail have failed to address the crisis created by staffing shortages — which the independent court monitor has said can be addressed by decreasing the jail population. And while Commissioner Resnick has gone on record stating they will focus on population reduction, a July 7 Philadelphia Inquirer article states “police leaders and (Mayor) Parker have made clear that even though incarceration is not the goal, enforcement plans do involve arrests of drug dealers and of those engaged in public drug use, prostitution or other ‘quality-of-life’ crimes.” There is an obvious contradiction in Resnick’s plan to reduce the jail’s population and “enforcement plans” that will increase arrests.

Meanwhile, communities suffer from what amounts to the city’s failure to act and meet its basic duty to provide minimum standards for safety and care. We look forward to the next steps.