Pennsylvania Supreme Court taking up case which could help free prisoners convicted of murder

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will soon consider whether to ban the sentence of life without parole for criminals who were convicted of murder but did not directly take a life.

Under Pennsylvania law, a person involved in a deadly crime can be charged with murder if someone is killed, even if they didn’t directly do it.

The case questions the constitutionality of the law and is specifically about a Pittsburgh prisoner named Derek Lee.

“I think its entirely possible that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will say that this does violate the constitutional prohibition against cruel punishment, in that that Mr. Lee and others similarly situated weren’t the trigger person, they didn’t intent to kill anyone,” John E. Jones III, Dickinson College president and a former federal judge, said. “They’re certainly liable at a certain point and degree but they don’t deserve to be in prison for the rest of their lives.”

This could impact roughly 1,200 prisoners, and oral arguments begin Oct. 8.

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