Pennsylvania Faces Court Deadline With 1,100+ Felony Murder Cases Still Unresolved
The 120 day stay of the Commonwealth vs. Lee ruling has ended with no new law to determine whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling, which deemed mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for felony murder unconstitutional, should retroactively apply to over 1,100 people currently sentenced for felony murder.
Related to: Sentencing Reform, State Advocacy
[Washington, D.C.] — The 120 day stay of the Commonwealth vs. Lee ruling has ended with no new law to determine whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling, which deemed mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for felony murder unconstitutional, should retroactively apply to over 1,100 people currently sentenced for felony murder. As a result, each case must be evaluated by courts across the state to determine resentencing eligibility.
Under felony murder laws, like Pennsylvania’s second-degree murder law, individuals can be convicted of murder if they participated in certain felonies that resulted in a death, even when they did not kill, did not intend to kill, or played a far more limited role than the person who caused the death.
A report recently released by The Sentencing Project, Felony Murder: An On-Ramp for Extreme Sentencing, notes that felony murder laws have become a major but often overlooked contributor to mass incarceration and racial inequity in the American legal system. These laws do not improve public safety.
“With only hours remaining before the court’s midnight deadline, Pennsylvania lawmakers have advanced competing proposals, including House-passed legislation that would establish parole eligibility after 30 years for people serving second-degree murder sentences while creating a framework for future sentencing guidelines and release reviews,” said Sara Cohbra, Second Look Network Director at The Sentencing Project. “Although these proposals represent movement toward reform, they continue to rely on lengthy mandatory minimum sentences and stop short of the broader sentencing changes needed to replace rigid felony murder laws with policies that deliver accountability.”
The Sentencing Project is urging lawmakers to build on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling by following a roadmap for reform that includes eliminating life-without-parole and mandatory minimums for felony murder, protecting young people and emerging adults from the harshest punishments, narrowing accomplice liability, ending prosecutions for deaths caused by third parties, requiring meaningful proof of intent, and applying reforms retroactively.
