Pa. politicians can’t agree on rewriting felony murder statute as deadline looms
July 16, 2026
TribLive: “Nearly four months ago, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling holding that mandatory life in prison without parole for those convicted of second-degree murder is unconstitutional.
The court found that, because the felony murder statute does not distinguish between the lookout and the triggerman, and because it does not distinguish between levels of culpability, a flat mandatory sentence violates the right to be free from cruel punishment.
While the decision specifically demands that Derek Lee, who was convicted in Allegheny County in 2016, be resentenced, the court stayed its decision for 120 days. The hope was that the state legislature would take up the issue and create a new sentencing scheme for second-degree murder moving forward.
Although the state Senate passed a bill late last month doing just that, the House has not taken any action and will likely not do so before the July 24 deadline….
After describing second-degree murder, the [Senate Republicans’] site says: ‘These are serious, often horrific crimes – and we cannot risk the perpetrators being released from prison by lenient judges.’
But Bret Grote, the legal director of the Abolitionist Law Center, which represents Lee, said that’s not going to happen.
‘That’s just deception and fearmongering,’ he said.”