Philadelphia Commission for Effective Criminal Justice (Pa.)

The Philadelphia Commission for Effective Criminal Justice was founded in 1974 by Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor William R. Klaus and Supreme Court Judge Edmund Spaeth, Jr. to work toward major, system-wide changes in the Philadelphia criminal justice system. Relying on grants from area corporations and private foundations, the Commission's eighteen-member board of directors addressed the failure of the system to provide fair and effective criminal justice.

In the wake of the important 1972 case, Jackson vs. Hendrick, which held that the conditions of confinement within the Philadelphia County prison system were unconstitutional and in violation of state laws, Walter Cohen became Master of the Court of Common Pleas. In January 1975 he also took over as Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission for Effective Criminal Justice, cementing a close relationship between the Court and Commission staffs. From 1975 until its funding ran out in 1979, the Commission undertook a detailed study of the conditions outlined in Jackson vs. Hendrick as well as such other important criminal justice issues as calendaring of judges, community and private sector input, screening and diversion, short-term detention, and agency coordination. The staff also conducted studies involving Philadelphia's criminal justice institutions, including the municipal court, the sheriff's office and the court of common pleas. In addition to various study reports, the Commission published, in 1975, a criminal justice guide as well as a monthly newsletter, " Connections."