The United States recognizes decent housing as a necessity for human survival and dignity through the Section 8 program, which assists low-income persons in accessing housing. Section 8 housing vouchers enable qualified persons to get public housing at subsidized and affordable prices.

Public safety is considered part of the program's agreement between states and landlords. To qualify, applicants must pass specific criteria. To ensure security for existing tenants, existing housing policies – federal and state — restrict persons with a history of certain crimes from getting public housing assistance.

I find it necessary for Pennsylvania to deny people with criminal or drug histories a second chance to qualify for Section 8 benefits. Research shows that people with a criminal record are likely to commit offenses in the future. For those who committed homicide, drug-related crimes, or robbery, the rate for those who commit again is remarkably higher. Given this, it is of utmost importance for landlords and the state to restrict such persons from accessing public housing.

The report by Matt DeLisi, a sociology professor at Iowa State University, also says there is a high correlation between psychopathy and homicide, and there is a cultural belief that murderers are psychopaths. Behavioral characteristics of psychopaths include a lack of empathy for others, self-centeredness, and perceiving their victims as a means to an end. These people pose a significant risk to public safety and should be denied public housing assistance.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a set of guidelines to aid the execution of the Fair Housing Act and the use of criminal history. The policies prevent public housing authorities (PHAs) and landlords from discriminating against particular groups (such as African-Americans and Hispanics). Historically, these groups are disproportionately overrepresented in prison despite being minority groups in the general population.

Some say that HUD policies allow landlords to discriminate against felons disproportionately. However, this is unfounded. Race is not a factor, and people with a criminal history should be denied housing assistance for the sake of public safety. 

I don't think that there is any landlord who wants to be murdered, raped, stolen from, or assaulted. When landlords deny housing to criminals for these serious crimes, they should not be misconstrued as racially discriminating against someone. They are just being mindful of their security and that of existing tenants. Landlords are neither sociologists nor psychologists, and they can't tell who will recommit a crime in the future and who will not. Better to be safe than sorry!

In conclusion, people with a criminal or drug history should not be given a second chance to qualify for the Section 8 housing voucher in Pennsylvania. I believe that public safety and social order supersede the right of people with a criminal history to access decent housing.