Petitioners ask Pa. Supreme Court to make felony murder ruling retroactive
September 10, 2026
TribLive: “Four people who have already served decades of their mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to make retroactive its March decision that declared the mandatory penalty unconstitutional.
In four separate petitions — all seeking what is known as a King’s Bench review by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — the defendants argue they are currently serving an illegal sentence.
The petitioners say the court’s ruling on second-degree murder, which stemmed from a case in Allegheny County involving a defendant named Derek Lee, must be applied to all people in the commonwealth who are serving life for second-degree, or felony, murder.
There are roughly 1,100 people in prison for felony murder in Pennsylvania….
The state Senate proposed a bill to set a minimum sentence of 35 years to life for a person convicted of second-degree murder. A bill proposed in the state House would make a defendant eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
Neither piece of legislation has advanced. That stagnation has triggered groups such as the Abolitionist Law Center, the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and Philadelphia law firm Phillips Black to file the King’s Bench requests.”