Replies(145)
The applicants, sentenced to life in prison, will soon be freed to a Community Corrections Center and eventually paroled. (Shutterstock)
HARRISBURG, PA Gov. Tom Wolf has signed 13 commutations, as recommended by the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. The applicants, sentenced to life in prison for murder charges, will soon be freed to a Community Corrections Center and eventually paroled. These 13 individuals have served time for their crimes and deserve now a second chance, Gov. Wolf said in a statement. They now have a chance to begin a life outside of prison that I hope is fulfilling for each of them.
Thirteen clemency applicants sentenced to life in prison will soon be freed to a Community Corrections Center and eventually paroled because Governor Tom Wolf signed their commutations yesterday.
TribLIVE s Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
An attorney for the Pennsylvania Parole Board argued Monday that Commonwealth Court is not the right place to hear a challenge to the state’s mandatory life-without-parole penalty for second-degree murder.
Six people serving that sentence filed a petition against the state Board of Probation and Parole in July, arguing that punishment is unconstitutional and violates the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
In Pennsylvania, about 1,100 people are serving life without parole for second-degree, or felony, murder, which is the death of someone during the commission of a crime. That includes 152 people from Allegheny County and nine from Westmoreland County.