Compassionate Release in Pennsylvania: How to Represent Terminally Ill Incarcerated People on their Medical Transfer Petitions

If you are an attorney interested in attending this program, please click the link below to email your name, title, company, contact information, and bar numbers for jurisdictions in which you are requesting CLE credit DechertCLE@Dechert.com. Once we receive this information, we will confirm your registration status. The webconference will be run via Microsoft Teams. Please see here for their minimum system requirements.

Session:
Philadelphia, PA - December 14, 2022 – 2:30 – 5:00pm ET
Online Webconference – December 14, 2022 – 2:30 – 5:00pm ET

This CLE program will provide attendees with an overview of Pennsylvania's Medical Transfer Statute (Compassionate Release), the mechanism by which individuals who are terminally ill and have a prognosis of less than a year to live may petition a criminal court to be released to a medical facility or to home hospice care. In the 13 year period following the enactment of the current statute, it is estimated that only 35 people have been successful in getting released.

Pennsylvania has one of the oldest populations of incarcerated people in the country, and the need for attorneys to take these kinds of cases is dire. Staff attorneys from the Abolitionist Law Center will provide an overview of the statute, discuss the best strategies for success in bringing these cases before a criminal court and providing support to families post-release, as well as providing an analysis of the crisis of aging people in Pennsylvania and what you can do to help.

There will also be a discussion about the ethical challenges in supporting medical autonomy and decision making at the end of life. By the end of the presentation, attorneys will be equipped to represent incarcerated individuals in these matters, and will be eligible to join a mailing list for pro bono case referrals.

^{Applications for CLE credit are pending in NJ, NY, and PA.}