Status: Pre-session | Last updated: October 16, 2026

Summary 

In March 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that mandatory life without parole (LWOP) for second-degree murder is unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania Constitution. The legislature did not adopt a replacement within the Court’s 120-day deadline.  

CJI analysis on this issue 

Key takeaways 

  • Approximately 1,100 people are serving life without parole for second-degree murder in Pennsylvania, as of July 2024. More than 50% are over age 50, and more than 50% have served at least 25 years. 
  • Without legislation, sentencing and resentencing decisions for felony murder convictions would be determined court by court, county by county, which would likely lead to wide variations in sentencing people for similar conduct and characteristics. 
  • Average time served in Pennsylvania increased 38% from 2015 to 2024, from about 3.5 years to 4.8 years.

 

Timeline 

  • September 29, 2026: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition seeking to apply the Lee decision to sentences that have already been imposed. 
  • July 24, 2026: The Court’s 120-day stay ended without a new sentencing law. 
  • July 23, 2026: HB 1042 passed the House. 
  • June 26, 2026: SB 1400 passed the Senate and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. 
  • March 2026: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided Commonwealth v. Lee. 

 

What legislation has Pennsylvania considered? 

Both chambers passed bills in 2026, but as of July 24, 2026—the Court’s deadline— neither had advanced in the other chamber. 

  • SB 1400 (Sen. Lisa Baker) passed the Senate and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on June 26, 2026. It sets a minimum sentence of 35 years and a maximum of life without parole, with some exceptions. People would be eligible for parole after 35 years of incarceration, or 20 years for people age 70 or older. Life without parole would remain available in certain circumstances, such as when the defendant acted as the principal in a rape or the victim was a law enforcement officer or under age 13. 
  • HB 1042 (Rep. Napoleon Nelson) passed the House on July 23, 2026. Sentencing ranges would be determined by the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. People would be eligible for parole after 30 years of incarceration, and the bill does not authorize life without parole. 
  • HB 443 (Rep. Tim Briggs) did not advance out of the House Judiciary Committee. 

HB 1042 and SB 1400 both move away from mandatory life without parole as the default response to felony murder. SB 1400 requires five additional years before parole eligibility, preserves LWOP for certain cases, and lists more categories of people excluded from parole. The two bills also differ on when a defendant’s culpability is considered: SB 1400 at sentencing and at parole review, and HB 1042 at parole review. Both chambers’ bills addressed retroactive as well as prospective application, but they were not reconciled into a single compromise bill. 

Read the full analysis

 

What is at stake? 

Without a new sentencing law, these groups will be impacted: people not yet sentenced for a felony murder conviction, and those currently serving a life without parole sentence for felony murder. 

  • People not yet sentenced. Judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims and survivors of the crime, and the accused have no statutory guidance about the possible sentence, and judges have broad discretion to impose a sentence. 
  • People serving life without parole. They will have to file a motion to resentence, and if the motion is granted, the judge will have broad discretion to impose an alternative sentence that complies with the Constitution. 

Without legislation, sentencing and resentencing decisions for felony murder convictions would be determined court by court, county by county. This would likely lead to wide variations in sentencing people for similar conduct and with similar characteristics. 

 

Who is affected? 

Who is serving life without parole for second-degree murder? 

There are approximately 1,100 people serving life without parole sentences for second-degree murder in Pennsylvania, as of July, 2026. Experts expect that people serving these sentences will be able to file requests to sentencing courts for resentencing. 

  • Age: More than 50% of this population is over age 50. 
  • Time served: More than 50% has served at least 25 years of the sentence.

What is happening to Pennsylvania’s prison population? 

From 2015 to 2024, sentences in Pennsylvania got longer, people stayed in prison longer, and fewer people were released from prison. 

Sentences are getting longer. From 2015 to 2024, the average minimum sentence increased by 35%, and the average maximum sentence increased by 26%. Sentence lengths increased for both violent offenses (average minimum up 40%; average maximum up 31%) and nonviolent offenses (average minimum up 25%; average maximum up 23%). 

People are incarcerated longer. Average time served increased by 38% from 2015 to 2024, from 41.6 to 57.4 months (about 3.5 years to 4.8 years). 

Fewer people are getting out. Releases from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections decreased by 49% from 2015 to 2024, and by 29% from 2020 to 2024. 

Read the full analysis 

 

How have other states approached felony murder sentencing? 

The sentencing ranges and statutory frameworks for felony murder differ around the country, from life without parole as the only option to abolishing felony murder as a criminal offense and handling the individual offenses under applicable sentences.  

As written, SB 1400 has a mandatory minimum of 35 years, and 18 states and the District of Columbia have a lower minimum term. Other states have mechanisms to address the degree of criminal responsibility, including degrees of culpability (18 states), a mens rea requirement (9 states), an actual participant requirement (2 states), and an affirmative defense (9 states). 

Read the full analysis 

 

What should Pennsylvania policymakers consider? 

In Lee, the Court concluded that mandatory life without parole fails to consider the defendant’s culpability in the victim’s death. Unlike first-degree murder, which requires the court to find the defendant intended to kill, felony murder requires only that the defendant intended to commit the underlying felony, yet both offenses carried the same mandatory sentence. 

Under Lee, any new sentencing law for second-degree murder (felony murder) must allow the court to consider the defendant’s culpability in the conduct that led to the death. Other considerations for policymakers include: 

  • How many people would each approach reach? 
  • What would resentencing cost? 
  • How would outcomes vary by county? 
  • How would implementation vary across agencies or jurisdictions? 

Whether the Lee decision applies to sentences already imposed is also unresolved. The Court’s decision did not specify whether retroactive application was required, and on September 29, 2026, the Court agreed to hear a petition on that question. 

 

Frequently asked questions 

What is Pennsylvania’s felony murder statute? 

Sec. 2502(b) reads “a criminal homicide constitutes murder of the second degree when it is committed while defendant was engaged as a principal or an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony.” 

What was the penalty for felony murder before Commonwealth v. Lee? 

Mandatory life without parole. No other sentence was authorized, and the court had no discretion to impose a lesser sentence if it determined the defendant did not commit or intend to commit the murder. 

What did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decide? 

In Commonwealth v. Lee, decided March 2026, the Court found the mandatory life without parole sentence for felony murder unconstitutional under Article I, Section 13 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, concluding that it fails to consider the defendant’s culpability in the victim’s death. 

Did the Court specify a remedy? 

No. The Court directed the legislature to adopt a new sentencing scheme that complies with the decision and stayed its order 120 days to give the legislature time to do so. The stay ended July 24, 2026. 

 

CJI’s role 

CJI provides data and analysis to Pennsylvania policymakers and stakeholders on second-degree murder (felony murder) sentencing and resentencing policy following the Supreme Court’s 2026 decision in Commonwealth v. Lee. See all of CJI’s work in Pennsylvania. 

 

Contact 

Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States Reports (2016-2025); Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Bureau of Planning, Research and Statistics, Annual Statistical Reports (2015-2024); Pennsylvania Department of Corrections administrative population and supervision data; Crime and Justice Institute; How Pennsylvania’s Felony-Murder Proposal Compares Nationally. 

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