Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling against life sentences

Philadelphia — On March 26 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling in Commonwealth v. Derek Lee found mandatory life without parole for felony murder to be an unconstitutional punishment. This decision could lead to the largest resentencing in the state’s history. The justices determined that Lee’s life without parole sentence, which did not consider his individual culpability, was disproportionate and cruel under the federal Eighth Amendment and a 1790 Pennsylvania provision.

The Pennsylvania Constitution Article IX, Section 13 — that prohibits “cruel punishments” rather than “cruel and unusual punishments” as in the U.S. Constitution — was interpreted by the court as offering broader protection for incarcerated people. The landmark decision could impact 1,100 people serving a life without parole sentence for second-degree murder, giving them an opportunity to seek relief.

The case was brought before the court in October 2024 by the Abolitionist Law Center who view the win as an important step in their work to end death by incarceration (DBI). Established in 1974, the mandatory life without parole law held all accomplices in an act that resulted in a death responsible even if they did not commit the murder.

Of the over 1,000 people currently sentenced to life without parole for felony murder, 70% are Black. Life without parole is the only possible sentence in the state for felony murder. With more than 5,200 people serving Death by Incarceration sentences for all murder convictions,  Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of DBI sentencing in the world. Courts in Philadelphia issue more DBI sentences than any other jurisdiction on the planet. 

Only the federal system and ten other states — Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming — have mandatory life without parole sentences for felony murder convictions. Texas “law of parties” has a similar effect.

Because of the potential impact of their ruling, the state’s Supreme Court justices are giving a 120-day deadline for the state’s legislature to remedy the unconstitutional sentencing issue through legislation. Because the legislature is problematically right leaning, passage may entail another major battle. But opponents of DBI in Pennsylvania are used to fighting.

Bret Grote, Legal Director of the Abolitionist Law Center said: “This ruling represents the culmination of decades of movement building by incarcerated people and their families and communities, while also marking the onset of a new phase in the struggle to abolish Death By Incarceration. The movement to end DBI has forced an epochal transformation in state constitutional jurisprudence that will have profound ramifications for future generations fighting for the dignity, humanity and right to redemption of incarcerated people in Pennsylvania and beyond.” (Abolitionist Law Center press release, March 26)

Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center, noted, “This ruling brings a measure of hope and redemption to over 1,000 people serving death by incarceration in Pennsylvania; however it is also another step in our battle to abolish all death by incarceration sentences in Pennsylvania.”

Lee was also represented by the Amistad Law Project and the Center for Constitutional Rights. Amicus (friends of the court) briefs were filed by the Pennsylvania ACLU, the MacArthur Justice Center, Eighth Amendment Law Scholars, the Sentencing Project, Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, Fair and Just Prosecution and Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM). Former Pennsylvanian Department of Corrections Secretaries John Wetzel and George Little also submitted briefs.

All briefs and documents on the case are available at tinyurl.com/yvhnbww7.