I overcame a life without parole sentence. Now, more than 1,100 more are poised to join me in Pa.
April 27, 2026
Commentary by Robert Saleem Holbrook
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: “Last month, in a unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences imposed after a conviction for second-degree (felony murder) were unconstitutional.
Immediately over 1,000 people in prisons across the state learned that the sentences they are serving violates their rights under the Pennsylvania Constitution. Some have already served over 40 years in prison.
In the decision, the state’s highest court directed the Pennsylvania legislature to fashion a remedy within 120 days. The case was brought by the Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, and Center for Constitutional Rights.
I know firsthand the experience of serving an unconstitutional sentence.
For 27 years, I served a mandatory life without parole sentence for my conviction as an accomplice to first-degree murder. I was a juvenile at the time of the offense, conviction and sentencing. The judge in my case was not able to take into consideration my diminished culpability in the offense or capacity for change.
My sentence was only invalidated after the United States Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life without parole sentences were unconstitutional for people under 18. I was re-sentenced in 2017 and subsequently released in 2018.
Proportionality and culpability are the foundation of any modern justice system. The consideration of those qualities are being denied to thousands of prisoners in Pennsylvania due to its mandatory life without parole sentencing schemes. ”