"The biggest problem was the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system," said Greenleaf, a veteran Republican who represents parts of Montgomery and Bucks Counties.
Greenleaf introduced the resolution to establish an investigative panel on the same day U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) sought an additional $20 million in federal funding to expand the effort to track fugitives in the region.
The funding would go to federal marshals to help round up defendants who have failed to appear in court in Philadelphia and neighboring counties.
In Philadelphia alone, 47,000 defendants have skipped court and are wanted on bench warrants. The city courts have only a tiny squad to pursue them.
Specter, a onetime Philadelphia district attorney now locked in a close Democratic primary race with U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Delaware County, made the request in a report to Congress issued after a series of hearings he held in the aftermath of The Inquirer series.
"The Philadelphia Inquirer convincingly turned a harsh light on what many in the criminal justice system have known and what many have chosen to ignore," Specter said.
He cited "an unacceptably low conviction rate for violent crime and an unacceptably high rate of fugitives."
Greenleaf's proposed advisory panel would have to be approved by a state Senate majority, but he said passage seemed assured. It would have 18 months to finish its work.
The panel would augment the work of a blue-ribbon task force appointed by the state Supreme Court to examine the Philadelphia courts.
Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, another former Philadelphia district attorney, and fellow Justice Seamus McCaffery established that panel in response to the Inquirer series. The two justices have already imposed sweeping changes in court rules to address issues the newspaper raised.
