The Indeterminate Sentence— The Muncy Experience

• DOI: 10.1177/003288557205200104
• Author: Carolyn Engel Temin
• Published date: 01 April 1972
• Date: 01 April 1972
• Subject Matter: Articles

-42-

The

Indeterminate

Sentence—

The

Muncy

Experience

By

Carolyn

Engel

Temin

Executive

Director,

Chancellor’s

Drug

Commission

Philadelphia

Bar

Association

The

Pennsylvania

State

Correctional

Institution

at

Muncy

was

established

by

the

legislature

in

1913.

In

its

day

it

was

considered

a

model

of

penal

reform.

It

was

based

on

the

then

prevalent

theory

that

women

delinquents

needed

to

be

removed

from

their

debilitating

urban

environments

and

placed

out

in

the

country

where

their

rehabilitation

would

be

accomplished

through

exposure

to

healthy

country

air

and

invigorating

chores

such

as

planting

seeds

and

milking

cows.

In

order

to

accomplish

the

miracles

of

transformation

that

were

to

result

from

this

correctional

model,

it

was

mandated

that

the

inmate

be

sen-

tenced

for

an

indeterminate

term

so

that

the

powers

that

be

would

have

complete

control

over

the

length

of

sentence

and

would

not

be

under

any

pressure

to

release

the

inmate

before

the

transformation

had

been

accomplished.

The

&dquo;idealistic&dquo;

en-

vironment

in

which

the

inmate

was

confined

was

thought

to

override

any

arguments

about

the

length

of

sentence

of

the

person

so

fortunate

as

to

be

placed

in

this

model

of

penal

re-

form.

The

Muncy

Act

provided

that

all

women

sentenced

for

crimes

in

Pennsylvania

should

be

sent

to

the State

Correctional

Institution

at

Muncy

( then

euphemistically

known

as

the

&dquo;In-

dustrial

Home

for

Women&dquo;)

for

an

indeterminate

term,

the

maximum

of

which

was

the

maximum

sentence

provided

by

law

for

the

offense

for

which

she

was

convicted.

This

was

in

direct

contrast

to

the

sentencing

statutes

applying

to

male

convicts

which

provided

that

when

sentencing

a

male

a

judge

would

set

a

maximum

sentence,

not

to

exceed

the

maximum

provided

by

law,

and

a

minimum

sentence,

not

to

exceed

one-half

the

maxi-

mum

sentence

imposed.

Under

Pennsylvania

law,

the

minimum

sentence

expiration

date

represents

the

date

a

man

who

has

received

a

penitentiary

sentence

becomes

eligible

for

parole.

He

may or

may

not

be

released

by

the

paroling

authority

at

that

time,

but

he

cannot

be

released

before

then.

(A

penitentiary

sentence

is

a

sentence

of