Friday, May 9, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. 
PA Dept. of Corrections Board of Pardons
Online

At this month’s PA Board of Pardons’ Commutation Hearings, the five-member Board will consider and vote on whether to commute Marie “Mechie” Scott’s death by incarceration sentence. Their vote must be unanimous for an individual to receive commutation.

For months, ALC and our allies Amistad Law Project and Let’s Get Free, along with people across Pennsylvania, have been calling on Gov. Shapiro and Dept. of Corrections Secretary Laurel Harry to listen to the officials at State Correctional Institute Muncy, who think it’s time for Mechie to go home.

Marie is 71, battling cancer, and has been incarcerated for 51 years for participating in a crime at age 19 that led to a death she did not cause or intend. The person who actually committed the murder was freed years ago, but Mechie received PA’s mandatory sentence for 2nd-degree/felony murder: life in prison without parole.

Despite her history of good behavior, years of mentoring, and all of the community support she has, the Board of Pardons previously denied her the opportunity of a commutation hearing around six times. This is the first time she’s had a chance to win release.

Please tune in to this session to show that the community cares about what happens to Marie Scott and the other individuals who will be having commutation hearings at this session.

Watch the Board of Pardons hearing