TribLive: “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that mandatory life in prison without parole for those convicted of second-degree, or felony, murder is unconstitutional.

In a 72-page opinion, Chief Justice Debra Todd, writing for the majority, said such an automatic sentence is “inconsistent” with the protection guaranteed under the state constitution against cruel punishment.

Todd said, “Second degree murder does not distinguish between the lookout, and the killer who pulls the trigger.

‘Despite this wide-ranging conduct and differing degrees of culpability, both the killer and the lookout will be subjected to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.’

Opponents of the mandatory sentencing scheme hailed the ruling. They included Gov. Josh Shapiro, the state’s public defenders association and various advocacy groups that called the court’s decision a landmark moment….

‘I humbly thank all my brothers and sisters behind the walls of every institution in the state for your support, words of encouragement, and, most of all, for your prayers,’ Lee said in a statement released by his lawyers. ‘I commend the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and acknowledge the countless individuals and organizations who have put a hand to the plow in a conglomerative effort to push this case to victory.’

His attorney, Bret Grote, the legal director for the Abolitionist Law Center, argued that the penalty is unconstitutional in a case where a defendant never intended to kill the victim.

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