{"id":3025,"date":"2026-07-23T22:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:41:57","slug":"pa-lawmakers-cant-agree-on-how-to-sentence-second-degree-murder-cases-the-state-supreme-court-may-extend-their-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3025","title":{"rendered":"Pa lawmakers can\u2019t agree on how to sentence second-degree murder cases. The state Supreme Court may extend their deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HARRISBURG \u2014 As state legislators failed to reach an agreement on a new sentencing structure for second-degree murder convictions on the eve of a deadline imposed by Pennsylvania\u2019s highest court, the Allegheny County District Attorney has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to extend its deadline for 120 more days. <\/p>\n

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Unless the court agrees, the state\u2019s divided legislature is all but guaranteed to not reach a deal by the Friday evening deadline set by the court, which ruled in March that mandatory life sentences for crimes of that category were ruled unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

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That means that judges would begin to sentence individuals across the state without legislative guidance \u2014 and likely tees up about 1,100 individuals already serving life sentences for lengthy litigation over what comes next. <\/p>\n

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In a filing with the court Thursday afternoon, Stephen Zappala, the Allegheny County district attorney, requested that the judges give the General Assembly the ability to continue debating new sentencing guidelines when they return in September from summer recess. <\/p>\n

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Lawmakers were not due back to Harrisburg until the fall, but Senate and House Republicans lambasted House Democrats for failing to pass any legislation on second-degree murder. The House returned to the Capitol for a special session Thursday to vote on a Democrat-backed plan for second-degree murder sentencing. <\/p>\n

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The passage of that bill, however, did not bring lawmakers closer to a deal. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe still want to have a legislative solution, we believe it is going to be the most equitable way statewide to address the issue of people who are currently serving unconstitutional sentences,\u201d said Roxanne Horrell, the legislative director for Straight Ahead, a decarceration advocacy organization. \u201cWe are ready and willing to come to the negotiating table.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The House-advanced plan, which passed 102-100, would allow individuals who have already been convicted of second-degree murder to seek parole after serving 30 years. A decision on new sentencing guidelines would be left to the state\u2019s Sentencing Commission.<\/p>\n

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In a brief statement to reporters, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said that bill \u201cis a real attempt in the House to meet the Senate more than halfway.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In floor arguments that at times grew heated, House Republicans took issue with the outlining no minimum sentence for future cases and instead placing that decision in the hands of the Sentencing Commission. <\/p>\n

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Republicans also criticized Democratic leadership for not taking a vote on the Senate-passed plan. <\/p>\n

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That bill \u2014 which several Senate Democrats voted for \u2014 creates a sentencing minimum of 35 years to life for future cases. Individuals would be eligible for parole after serving 35 years, or after serving 20 years for those older than 70. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is one of those issues that requires a great deal of thought, and it requires bringing in some of the stakeholders that we are hearing from that was opposed to this legislation today,\u201d House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) said. \u201cThose are people who need to be in a room to come up with a solution, and unfortunately, that\u2019s not what happened.<\/p>\n

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He called for party leaders, the state\u2019s Fraternal Order of Police, Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Attorney General Dave Sunday to come together and reach an agreement instead of shuttling bills back-and-forth between both chambers. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have that kind of collaboration to deal with an issue such as this,\u201d Topper said, \u201cnothing will be done\u201d<\/p>\n

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Horrell said the decarceration organization would support those discussions. <\/p>\n

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In a letter on Thursday, the attorney general urged state representatives to vote against the plan backed by House Democrats.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis approach does not foster appropriate and thoughtful re-entry initiatives or put individuals<\/p>\n

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on a path to success,\u201d Sunday, a Republican, wrote. \u201cThoughtful re-entry initiatives are necessary and important, and I support those initiatives. But not this approach, which ultimately fails to hold dangerous offenders accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The plan advanced Thursday is the latest development in months of back and forth between Republicans and Democrats who have advanced differing visions for what the new sentencing parameters should be. <\/p>\n

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Lawmakers were unable to reach a deal as part of budget negotiations that concluded earlier this month. <\/p>\n

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\u201cToday, the House took important action prior to the court-imposed deadline by passing a package to address this issue and it\u2019s time for Senate Republicans to return to Harrisburg and bring this matter to conclusion rather than grandstand,\u201d Shapiro said in a statement. <\/p>\n

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The House-passed bill also expands the state\u2019s compassionate release program. Under existing law, incarcerated individuals can only be candidates for release if doctors determine that they have less than a year to live. <\/p>\n

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The bill would allow for an individual to be released if they have been diagnosed by a doctor with a terminal or life-threatening illness, or if a physician diagnoses them with an illness that could be treated better outside of a correctional facility.<\/p>\n

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Democratic Rep. Rick Krajewski, who represents West Philadelphia, said that the program is designed for incarcerated individuals who are facing serious illnesses \u201cthat require real, complex medical care\u201d that can\u2019t be provided while an individual is serving out their sentence. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI am glad that the House was able to put a vision forward about how to fulfill our constitutional mandate and reform our carceral system generally,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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Several Republicans had supported Krajewski\u2019s initial bill, which passed the house 111-92. The program is estimated to save $15 million a year in healthcare costs for incarcerated individuals, he said.<\/p>\n

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Now that both the House and Senate have passed a bill, either could be amended and voted on by both chambers in a single day. <\/p>\n

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\u201cInstead of allowing a vote on either of the bipartisan bills passed by the Senate, [House Democrats] chose to engage in political theater and failed to produce any feasible product to protect our communities and victims\u2019 families,\u201d Senate Republican leaders wrote in a statement. <\/p>\n

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A spokesperson for Senate Republican leadership did not respond to a request for comment on whether the chamber planned to return for a vote Friday. <\/p>\n

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On Thursday morning, Topper morning said that he hoped the legislature could come to an agreement in the coming weeks if an agreement could not be reached by the deadline. <\/p>\n

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However, speaking to reporters after the House adjourned, Topper said the decision to advance the House bill without a vote on the Senate bill on Thursday \u201csets things back considerably.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ethan Young is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents\u2019 Association. He can be reached at <\/i>ethanmyoung@gmail.com<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

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The Allegheny County District Attorney asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to give lawmakers an additional 120 days to develop new sentencing guidelines on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pennsylvania","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPa lawmakers can\u2019t agree on how to sentence second-degree murder cases. 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