Is life without parole for 2nd-degree murder cruel and unusual punishment? Pennsylvania high court to decide.
KDKA TV News, 05/13/24: “They’re serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder even though they did not pull the trigger.
The state has thrown away the key for hundreds of inmates with no hope of release. But should they get at least a chance at a second chance?
The state Supreme Court will decide if these inmates, who did not directly commit murder, will live out their days and die in prison, or whether they will be given at least a chance at rehabilitation and eventual freedom.
Betty Lee is the mother of Derek Lee, whose case will go before the high court. She believes her son and hundreds of others should be given that chance.
‘Allow those who deserve it, who work at it to come home, to come home one day and not just rot away,’ Betty Lee said.
Even though he did not shoot Butler, Derek Lee was charged and convicted of second-degree murder because he was part of the robbery in which Butler was killed.
Under state law, Lee is now one of about 1,100 Pennsylvania inmates who are serving the mandatory life in prison for second-degree murder with virtually no hope of release. It is believed to be the highest number of inmates in the nation.
‘It’s a sentence that denies people any hope, it’s a sentence that denies rehabilitation,’ said Quinn Cozzens of the Abolitionist Law Center in Pittsburgh.”