Bipartisan push renewed to end ‘death by incarceration’ sentences

(The Center Square) – In Pennsylvania, it’s possible to be convicted of murder and receive a life sentence without parole without ever having harmed another person.

This is how the state’s felony murder charge, also known as murder two or second-degree murder, works. And some lawmakers think it should change.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Tim Briggs, D-King of Prussia, is re-introducing a bill that would allowing the possibility for parole after 25 years of the sentence has been served.

“While other states have recognized the injustice of such rigid felony murder laws, Pennsylvania remains one of only two states to mandate life without parole for individuals convicted of felony murder,” said Briggs.

The change is widely viewed as commonsense reform and has been supported by members of both parties in both chambers.

Murder two can be levied against anyone involved in committing a felony during which another person died. While there are innumerable circumstances that could lead to this charge, it allows for the possibility that someone without knowledge of a murder can be charged with it due to their presence at the scene.

Because of the way the laws are written, it’s even possible for the person who committed the murder to be convicted on a lesser charge, like murder three, which allows for the potential of parole.

In those circumstances, the killer can reenter society while their accomplice stays behind bars with no hope for freedom.

Currently, the state prison system houses over 1,100 inmates convicted of second-degree murder. Nearly 80% of them are Black. According to a 2021 legal review, Black and Latino defendants are twelve times more likely to receive this conviction than their white counterparts.

“The Department of Corrections is called corrections for a reason. It shouldn’t be the department of retribution and punishment and warehousing” said Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington.

Christina Reyes described her experiences of losing family members to both gun violence and death by incarceration. A teen was sentenced to life without parole after being an accomplice to her stepfather’s murder, while her cousin and four others were incarcerated for life. Both were released when Alabama state courts ruled it was unconstitutional to serve minors the sentence.

“Go inside of these prisons and talk to these individuals and see them in a human way because sometimes we’re talking about prison in a way that dehumanizes individuals so we just see them for an incident that took place opposed to who they are, and we don’t also look at them as being victimized themselves,” said Reyes.

“Prison does not rehabilitate individuals. They rehabilitate themselves,” was a refrain echoed by several speakers at a press conference to promote the bill.

Former inmate John Thompson spoke of his experience of serving 37 years after being convicted of a murder charge as a teen. He says that the people he served with are the very people who helped him change his life.

Of the 1,100 currently serving time, 700 have served over 20 years, and 300 are over 60.

“The result of this is that we have an accelerating aging population in prison of people who have aged out of crime who do not need to be there,” said Roxanne Horrell of Straight Ahead, an organization dedicated to ending death by incarceration.

“This inadequacy is not only irresponsible, it is wildly expensive,” said Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, He noted that $40.5 million of the state’s $426 million spent on medical care in prisons was for people over the age of 60.

Prisoners are allowed to petition for compassionate release, but across the state it has only been granted 54 times in the past 15 years. Advocates note that the state’s struggles with the issues presented by increasing dementia rates, overstretched medical staff, and age-related illness are just as relevant within the carceral system.

“When our corrections system is spending tens of millions of dollars to incarcerate people who are slowly dying, we must ask ourselves, ‘Who is this benefitting?’ It’s not benefitting public safety. It’s not benefitting justice,” said Krajewski.