Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Life Sentences for Felony Murder
March 31, 2026
The Appeal: “Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state’s mandatory punishment of life without parole for felony murder, ruling that it violates the state’s constitutional prohibition against “cruel punishment.”
Under the felony murder doctrine, all participants in a felony can be charged for murder if a death occurs during the commission of the crime—even if the participant was not present and had no knowledge that a death would occur.
More than 1,000 people are serving what is now an ‘illegal sentence,’ Bret Grote, Legal Director of the Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), told The Appeal. More than two-thirds are Black.
ALC, along with Amistad Law Project and the Center for Constitutional Rights, brought the case on behalf of Derek Lee. In 2014, Lee’s accomplice shot and killed a person during a robbery. Lee was upstairs during the incident; his accomplice and the victim were in the basement. He was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) as required by state law.”