Pennsylvania Supreme Court hears high-stakes case challenging death by incarceration sentences
Tag24, 10/09/24: “More than 200 people packed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday as justices heard arguments in a landmark case challenging the constitutionality of sentences of life in prison without parole in felony murder convictions.
In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee case, advocates argue that life in prison without parole (LWOP) sentences violate the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution and state constitution’s prohibition on ‘cruel punishments.’
Lee was convicted of second-degree felony murder during a 2014 home robbery, even though he did not kill anyone. Prosecutors said he was upstairs when the victim, Leonard Butler, was fatally shot by an associate in the basement.
Lee is represented in the case by the Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, and Center for Constitutional Rights.
Attorney Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center argued in court that Lee’s LWOP sentence, if unamended, will see him die in prison even though he did not take a life or intend to take a life.
‘This must no longer be permitted under the Pennsylvania constitution,’ Grote insisted.
‘We’re not arguing there should not be severe penalties for second-degree murder,’ he added. ‘Life with parole is a very serious penalty.'”