Larry Krasner.

Along with the usual factors that prosecutors consider before recommending a sentence, such as a defendant's prior criminal history and the severity of the crime, assistant district attorneys in Philadelphia should now also consider how much each jail sentence would cost the taxpayer, according to a new policy outlined by District Attorney Larry Krasner.

On Thursday, Krasner said the cost of incarceration will be considered by prosecutors when making their sentencing recommendations. According to the District Attorney's Office, Philadelphia will apparently be the first prosecutors' office in the United States to institute a cost-efficiency policy in sentencing.

During a press conference announcing the changes, Krasner said the policy is aimed at bringing “balance back to sentencings.”

“Fiscal responsibility is a justice issue,” Krasner said. “A dollar spent on incarceration should be worth it. Otherwise that dollar may be better spent on addiction treatment, on public education, on policing, and on other types of activity that makes us all safe.”

The new sentencing considerations will be based on the estimation that inmates cost taxpayers $42,000 a year. According to the policy, ADAs will be expected to weigh how much each proposed prison sentence would cost, and then explain why a jail sentence, rather than an alternative sentence, such as addiction treatment, justifies the incarceration cost.

At the press conference Thursday, Krasner was dismissive of suggestions that the changes would embolden criminals, saying that the notion of sentences as deterrents has not worked and that many people who might be affected by the changes have addiction or judgment issues and would likely not be aware of the policy anyway.

“We are not concerned this is going to produce a zombie invasion of crime,” he said. “It's doubtful people would be aware these policies exist.”

Prosecutors, however, were admittedly unsure exactly what the long-term outcome of the new policy will be.

At the start of the press conference, Krasner said the efforts were “designed to end mass incarceration,” but Carolyn Engel Temin, a top deputy in his office, used less sweeping language.

Temin said cost of incarceration would not be the single decisive factor in making sentencing recommendations, but the DA would incorporate costs along with other factors.

“It's a factor to be considered. It does not mean that this is the reason for deciding a certain sentence is appropriate,” Temin said. ”We aren't designing it to do anything special with regard to a specific case.”

Another top deputy, Robert Listenbee, said that, in conjunction with other new initiatives, such as no longer seeking bail for certain crimes, the change is part of the office's overall efforts toward ending mass incarceration. However, he noted, the sentencing determinations will ultimately remain in the hands of the judges.

“Judges will then decide how they want to address these issues, both in the courtroom and also in the policy situations that they are part and parcel of,” Listenbee said.

All three said what they hoped the new policy would bring about is that ADAs will be more mindful of how they make their sentencing recommendations.

“ADAs will be more careful with what they recommend,” Krasner said. “We want them to be independently active, moral agents with their own moral compass, who use their discretion, like real professionals. That has to be developed and it won't be developed if we continue to have a system where years are not compared to money, are not compared to their other uses.”