The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s finding that mandatory life sentences for those convicted of second-degree murder are unconstitutional is now in full effect, after the justices refused a request to pause the ruling.
However, because the decision has yet to be applied retroactively, it will likely be at least a year before individuals incarcerated for the crime can petition to have their punishment reconsidered, according to the Abolitionist Law Center.
ALC is among the groups representing Derek Lee, whose case reached the high court. He was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with a deadly 2014 robbery in Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania’s felony murder law, which requires judges to sentence offenders to life behind bars without the possibility of parole, violates the state Constitution's prohibition on “cruel punishments,” the court determined in a landmark ruling March 26.
Someone is charged with second-degree or felony murder when they are accused of participating in a serious felony that results in a person being killed, even if they did not pull the trigger. Unlike first-degree murder, prosecutors do not need to prove an intent to kill.
The justices put a four-month hold on their decision to give Harrisburg lawmakers time to rewrite the statute. The deadline passed July 24. Competing proposals were floated, but there was no agreement in the divided legislature, which is currently in summer recess.
Prosecutors in Lee’s case asked for a 120-day extension to provide elected officials with another chance to resolve the issue. The court denied the request without comment.
Justice Kevin Dougherty filed a dissenting statement, arguing that “our decision was a seismic event” and that there does not appear to be “an irreconcilable legislative impasse.” His letter was co-signed by Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy.
ALC said last month that its attorneys have identified a case that could be brought to the Supreme Court in an attempt to get the justices to apply their ruling retroactively. Other petitions are being prepared to compel the justices to consider the issue, according to the organization.
Even so, the “process will likely take at least one year, but could take several years for the litigation process to play out,” ALC wrote in a fact sheet published in July.
About 1,100 people are locked up in Pennsylvania for second-degree murder, including roughly 500 from Philadelphia.
Absent a legislative remedy that would route resentencing through the Pennsylvania Parole Board, the procedure could resemble the aftermath of court decisions in 2012 and 2016 that found mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional. People convicted of second-degree murder would likely have to petition for individual resentencing hearings, a process that stakeholders have said would be expensive and time-consuming compared to the parole board.
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