Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee challenges the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s felony murder sentencing scheme, which imposes mandatory life without parole (LWOP) on persons convicted of felony murder even if they did not kill or intend to take life. The MacArthur Justice Center is proud to add our voice to the growing chorus of groups and individuals recognizing that such extreme sentences in these circumstances are not only unjust—they are unconstitutional.
Derek Lee was sentenced to die in prison for a murder that he did not commit or intend—indeed, he was in another room of the house when the victim was shot while struggling with Mr. Lee’s co-defendant over a gun. Yet, under Pennsylvania’s felony murder scheme, a life-without-parole sentence was mandatory for Mr. Lee, just as though he had killed the victim himself. Pennsylvania is one of a dwindling number of states that mandate death-by-incarceration—the second-most severe sentence after capital punishment—in these circumstances. Over 1,000 people are currently serving life-without-parole sentences in Pennsylvania for killings that they did not commit or intend to commit.
In 2023, Mr. Lee petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to take up his case to determine whether mandatory life-without-parole in these circumstances violates either the federal Constitution’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishments” or the Pennsylvania Constitution’s rule against “cruel punishments.” The MacArthur Justice Center, joined by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, filed an amicus brief in support of Mr. Lee’s petition, which highlighted the extreme racial disparities in the imposition of LWOP for felony murder, both nationwide and in Pennsylvania.
On February 16, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania agreed to hear this important issue. The MacArthur Justice Center has again joined an amicus brief in support of Mr. Lee, this time alongside the Pennsylvania Prison Society, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the ACLU National, and Professor Michael Meranze. Our latest brief, filed by our partners at the public interest law firm Phillips Black, uses the text and history of the Pennsylvania Constitution’s “cruel punishments” clause (Article I, Section 13) to show why that provision—which pre-dates the federal constitution—is both independent from and broader than the Eighth Amendment. We explain why, under Section 13, mandatory LWOP for a person who neither kills nor intends to kill is ”cruel” within the meaning of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Our brief is one of 17 amicus briefs filed in support of Mr. Lee at the merits stage. Among those supporting an end to LWOP for felony murder in Pennsylvania are the Pennsylvania Governor; the Philadelphia District Attorney; former prosecutors, judges, corrections officials, and pardons board secretaries; and family members and loved ones of victims.