The Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder are unconstitutional — a significant decision that is likely to reshape a portion of state law that many criminal justice advocates and some public officials have long targeted for reform.

In an opinion released Thursday morning, Chief Justice Debra Todd said the law mandating a life sentence for anyone convicted of so-called felony murder violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s protections against cruel punishments.

Under the law, anyone convicted of participating in a felony that results in death — such as a robbery — receives an automatic life sentence, even if the person didn’t commit the killing or intend for anyone to die. More than 1,100 people are serving that penalty in Pennsylvania, which is one of only two states in the nation to mandate incarceration for life for such a crime.

Todd, writing for the majority, said the law ‘fails to assess individual culpability regarding the intent to kill, and mandates the same punishment regardless of that culpability.’…

One of the lead lawyers in the case, Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center, said the decision ‘will have profound ramifications’ for the state’s criminal justice system, and that it ‘represents the culmination of decades of movement-building by incarcerated people and their families and communities.'”

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