“There are a lot of questions”

The “landmark decision” this March in the case of Commonwealth v. Lee struck down mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole sentences for people convicted of second-degree murder. Following the Lee decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stayed its ruling to give lawmakers 120 days to issue guidelines on sentencing and retroactivity. “That deadline passed without a resolution on July 24,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Together with several Project clients, we now face many difficulties that remain on the long path to freedom, even with new hope for eventual release. The Lee decision could affect over one thousand people incarcerated in Pennsylvania, including several Project clients wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder, and dozens more with cases already in our four-stage review process.