Pennsylvania’s prisons hold more than 1,100 inmates convicted of murder and serving life sentences without the chance of parole for murder.
On Friday, the State Supreme Court said it would hear arguments on whether or not such sentences are constitutional. The appeal stems from the sentencing of a Pittsburgh man for second degree murder. The Abolitionist Law Center filed the petition last July, contending that inmates and their families have a “right to redemption and…the opportunity to come home someday.”
It claims Pennsylvania and Louisiana are the only two states in the nation that permit mandatory life sentences without parole for felony murder, even when there was no intent to kill.
Comments