The cap, which seeks to limit the city jail population to 3,750 inmates, has resulted in the release without bail of defendants charged with all but the most serious offenses, such as murder, rape and armed robbery.
According to a recent study by the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Task Force, the court-ordered cap has been resulting in the release of about 800 people each month who otherwise would have remained jailed until their trials.
In March, a new consent decree was approved that could release an additional 175 pretrial detainees each week. A stay has been issued against that decree, and the District Attorney's Office is appealing the decree in federal court.
According to Abraham, the prison cap limit has "already wreaked havoc on the justice system" by raising the fugitive rate - the rate of pretrial detainees who fail to show up for court hearings - to unacceptably high levels.
Abraham cited a recent report that shows that 61 percent of bench warrants issued for defendants who failed to appear in court for trial between January 1990 and last month were for defendants released because of the prison population cap.
Among those cited in Abraham's suit are the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Gov. Casey, the City of Philadelphia, Mayor Goode and various city prison wardens.
The suit seeks various forms of relief, all of them designed to increase prison space in Philadelphia prisons and halt the mass release of pretrial detainees.
It seeks to compel the city to provide more jail cells. If the city cannot find the funds for the additional cells, the suit asks that the state be compelled to provide the money.
