Tomorrow is a webinar focused on Commonwealth v Lee, Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision ruled that mandatory life sentences without parole for second-degree murder, commonly termed felony murder, are unconstitutional under the state constitution. Speakers will discuss the broad coalition effort in Pennsylvania to end LWOP (Life Without Parole) for felony murder. Felony Murder Elimination Project wishes to share this invite with our supporters and advocates, especially those in the felony murder, LWOP, and JLWOP organizing spaces.
In Commonwealth vs. Lee, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that mandating life without parole for everyone convicted of second-degree murder, regardless of their individual role or intent to kill, violates the state’s prohibition against “cruel punishments”. The ruling stems from the case of defendant Derek Lee, who was sentenced to life without parole for a 2014 robbery in which his accomplice killed someone while Lee was in another part of the house.
“We determine that a mandatory life without parole sentence for all felony murder convictions, absent an assessment of culpability, is inconsistent with the protections bestowed upon our citizens under the ‘cruel punishments’ clause of our Commonwealth’s organic charter,” wrote Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd for the majority. The outcome ensures that, going forward, people convicted of second-degree murder will receive sentences that consider their individual responsibility in the course of the crime.
Before this ruling, Pennsylvania was one of only two states (Louisiana) that still required automatic life sentences for second-degree murder. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and other advocates have urged lawmakers to establish a “thoughtful, just process” for those currently serving these sentences.
This decision potentially affects over 1,100 people currently serving mandatory life sentences for felony murder in Pennsylvania. The court explicitly did not take a position on whether the ruling should be retroactive, instead leaving such a decision up to the legislature. The legislature could address the issue by lifting the prohibition on parole for people serving a life sentence from a second degree murder conviction, said Quinn Cozzens, an attorney with the Abolitionist Law Center who served as counsel on the case.
- Webinar details
Date – Thursday, August 20 - Time – 12:00a – 1:00p Pacific Time
- Video call link – Commonwealth v. Lee: Pennsylvania’s State Constitutional Challenge Against Mandatory Felony Murder LWOP
