Ruling overturning mandatory life terms for second-degree murder now takes effect
The Pennsylvania General Assembly allowed a July 24 court-ordered deadline to pass without passing a legislative fix for the state’s unconstitutional sentencing scheme for second-degree murder, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The inaction means the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s March ruling — which found that mandatory life without parole without considering a person’s individual role in a killing violates the Pennsylvania Constitution — will now take effect.
Under current law, a killing is considered second-degree murder if it occurs during the course of a violent felony, including robbery, rape, or arson. Someone can be found guilty of the crime if they participated in the underlying felony, even if their actions did not lead directly to another person’s death.
The state Supreme Court ruled in March that this automatic life without parole sentence, imposed without any consideration of the defendant’s individual responsibility for the death, violates the Pennsylvania Constitution. The justices gave lawmakers until July 24 to rewrite the sentencing laws.
The court also declined to make the ruling retroactive, leaving it to the legislature to decide whether people already serving life sentences for second-degree murder convictions should be eligible for parole.
With no action from the legislature, the court’s ruling now takes effect. Going forward, judges will be required to consider a person’s individual responsibility before imposing a life sentence for second-degree murder. The fate of existing inmates, however, remains uncertain without legislative action to extend the ruling’s protections retroactively.