WENY News: “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to give clarity on if a previous ruling about sentencing for 2nd degree murder convictions applies retroactively.

In Commonwealth v Lee in March, the court ruled an automatic sentence of life-without-parole was unconstitutional for those with 2nd degree murder convictions.

The ruling left unknowns for how future cases should be sentenced, but also raised questions for existing inmates– could they have their cases re-examined?

Because there is a range of “culpability” in who can be convicted of the crime, the court ruled not all deserve the same severity of punishment– which made the automatic life sentence unconstitutionally ‘cruel’.

‘Essentially you had people being sentenced to life without parole en mass in Pennsylvania upon conviction of felony murder,’ said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center. ‘And they didn’t have the ability for a judge to individually assess their cases, didn’t have a chance to individually assess their prospects for rehabilitation.’

If the court decides that existing inmates can appeal their sentences, then the county court where that inmate was convicted will have to organize a re-sentencing hearing.”

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