Roughly 500 Philadelphians who have been convicted of second-degree murder, along with hundreds of families affected by the homicide of a loved one, are waiting for the next move.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled March 26 that the state’s longstanding mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the offense – also known as felony murder – violates the commonwealth constitution’s prohibition on “cruel punishments."
Someone is guilty of second-degree murder if an accomplice kills an individual while they both commit a serious felony, such as a robbery, rape or burglary. Unlike first-degree murder, prosecutors do not have to establish any intent to kill.
“Second degree murder does not distinguish between the lookout, and the killer who pulls the trigger,” Chief Justice Debra Todd wrote in her majority opinion. “Despite this wide-ranging conduct and differing degrees of culpability, both the killer and the lookout will be subjected to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”
Todd and her colleagues found that those serving a life sentence for the crime “must receive a meaningful consideration of release, based upon their individual culpability and circumstances surrounding their crime.”
Those found guilty of committing felony murder could still be sentenced to life in prison without parole going forward, but that cannot be the only punishment allowable by law, the court determined.
The justices ordered that Derek Lee, whose appeal reached the state Supreme Court, be resentenced. He was convicted of second-degree murder in relation to a deadly 2014 robbery in Pittsburgh.
However, their landmark decision did not touch the issue of “retroactivity,” or whether the court’s constitutional finding applies to the approximately 1,100 people currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania for felony murder.
The process could resemble what followed the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2012 and 2016 that mandated the resentencing of juveniles serving mandatory life sentences without a chance at parole.
Philadelphia had more juvenile lifers than any city in the nation; however, that total was still half as many as currently behind bars for second-degree homicide.
“It was a herculean effort,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said, recalling the review of juvenile cases during a recent news conference. “It took a period of years.
“The prospect of facing over 500 potential resentencings, I mean, it’s very doable, but it does require the dedication of a lot of time and a lot of resources to make sure that we do justice in these cases.”
Krasner said his office would begin contacting family members of homicide victims whose cases may be impacted. Another legal challenge may have to get to Pennsylvania’s highest court for the ruling to apply retroactively, meaning it could be a long time before anyone can petition for a new sentence.
“At this time, that’s many years down the road,” Peter Andrews, of the DA’s Law Division, said. “We’re in a waiting period because the opinion gives the legislature time.”
The Supreme Court paused its judgment for four months, in an effort to allow the state House of Representatives and Senate to come up with a remedy.
Two bills introduced last year would grant parole eligibility once someone convicted of second-degree murder has been incarcerated for 25 years.
A hearing on the House measure is scheduled for Thursday, April 9. In addition to expanding access to parole for those presently behind bars, the proposal would set a maximum sentence of 50 years for those newly convicted.
In the upper chamber, Sen. Sharif Street, a Democrat from Philadelphia, is advocating for a similar bill that would set the minimum punishment at 25 years imprisonment, with no delineated maximum.
Both pieces of legislation instruct the Parole Board to “consider the level of culpability of the person in the underlying murder, including whether the person directly caused or intended to cause a death” when determining when someone should be permitted to leave prison.
