In the twilight of his political career, Greenleaf has become an unlikely champion for criminal-justice reform, though he's not necessarily the reformer advocates want. He's far to the right, for example, of Philadelphia Democrats who've introduced radical reforms such as a bill to abolish life without parole. But in the Republican-dominated legislature, he's what they have — for now. After he retires at the end of the year, the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee will almost certainly go to one of his more conservative colleagues.