Watch the video of the October 8, 2024, oral arguments at the PA Supreme Court.

Read the FAQ about the implications of this ruling for those currently serving death by incarceration for second-degree murder in PA.

The petitioner in this case, Derek Lee, challenged the mandatory imposition of a life sentence with no possibility of parole following his conviction for felony murder, as unconstitutional. In Commonwealth v. Lee, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held for the very first time that “a mandatory life without parole sentence for all felony murder convictions, absent an assessment of culpability, is inconsistent with” Article I, Section 13’s prohibition on “cruel punishments” interpreting the protections of the state constitution as more extensive than its federal counterpart. The court recognized that mandatory death by incarceration is a cruel sentence for those convicted of second-degree murder.

Despite never taking or intending to take a life, Lee was condemned to die in prison. Lee is one of over 1,000 people mandatorily sentenced to life-without-parole for a felony murder conviction in Pennsylvania. Both the number of people serving this punishment and the manner in which it is imposed make Pennsylvania an extreme outlier in the United States and globally.

Pennsylvania is one of only two U.S. states that mandate life-without-parole (aka Death by Incarceration) sentences for people convicted of felony murder irrespective of whether they killed or intended to kill, and notwithstanding their level of involvement in the felony. It is a punishment which does not match the culpability attendant to the offense, and is excessive in relation to every legitimate penological purpose. It does not promote public safety and disproportionately impacts Black Pennsylvanians.

As jurisprudential and practical standards governing the imposition of life-without-parole punishments have evolved, Pennsylvania’s imposition of this punishment has not. In keeping with the Commonwealth’s and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s tradition of assessing proportionate punishments and evaluating the protections afforded by Pennsylvania’s Constitution, Lee’s Petition to the PA Supreme Court presented an opportunity to remedy the injustice wrought by his permanent exclusion from society.

Initial amicus briefs were filed in the case by former Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretaries John Wetzel and George Little, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the MacArthur Justice Center, Eighth Amendment Law Scholars, and The Sentencing Project, Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, Fair and Just Prosecution, and FAMM.

On February 16, 2024, the Supreme Court of PA issued an Order Granting Petition for Allowance of Appeal, meaning the Court agreed to hear the appeal in this landmark case. (Read the full press release about this historic ruling.) The questions the Pennsylvania Supreme Court addressed are:

(1) Is [Petitioner’s] mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole unconstitutional under Article I, § 13 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania where he was convicted of second-degree murder in which he did not kill or intend to kill and therefore had categorically-diminished culpability, and where Article I, § 13 should provide better protections in those circumstances than the Eighth Amendment to the U .S. Constitution?

(2) Is [Petitioner’s] mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution where he was convicted of second-degree murder in which he did not kill or intend to kill and therefore had categorically- diminished culpability under the Eighth Amendment?

On April 26, 2024, co-counsels submitted their Appellant’s Brief to the Supreme Court. Seventeen amici curiae (friend of the court briefs) were also submitted in support of Lee’s case, representing dozens of individuals and organizations (see Case Timeline and documents below). A brief from Governor Shapiro acknowledged that Derek Lee’s sentence is unconstitutional and urged the legislature to create a remedy for people currently serving this sentence. Former prosecutors and judges of Pennsylvania submitted a brief that concludes, “Life sentences are not required to prevent recidivism.”

Former lifers, Eighth Amendment scholars, family members of victims, UN experts, legal organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the ACLU of PA, and other justice organizations, also weighed in with opinions traversing the legal, moral, and racial justice issues raised in the case.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in this case on October 8, 2024.

On March 26, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the defendant, finding that because Derek Lee’s sentence did not consider his individual culpability, a mandatory life without parole sentence is disproportionate and cruel under Pennsylvania’s constitution. (Read the press release about the ruling, and read the ruling itself here.)

This ruling marks a historic first time since the state constitution’s original enactment in 1790 that its prohibition on “cruel punishments” has been given independent – and broader – meaning than the federal Constitution’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishments.”

The justices also issued a 120-day stay on the ruling to give the Pennsylvania legislature an opportunity to remedy the unconstitutional sentencing scheme through legislation.

The Court did not address whether its ruling applies retroactively to the more than 1,000 people currently serving mandatory life-without-parole sentences for second-degree murder. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is poised to resolve that question in Commonwealth v. Coffey, where a decision on retroactivity is anticipated.