Second-Degree Felony Murder – What should the punishment be?
Survey for the 28th Senatorial District
On March 26, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that the state’s sentencing guideline for second-degree murder was unconstitutional. Before the court’s ruling, the sentencing for this act was mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Second-degree murder, sometimes referred to as felony murder, is used when a person is killed during the commission of a felonious act, such as rape, kidnapping, or burglary. Perpetrators may be charged with second-degree murder even if they did not kill the victim, but acted as an accomplice. For example, if two people burglarize a home and one kills a resident, both can be charged with second-degree murder. Out of the more than 1,100 people serving a sentence for second-degree murder in Pennsylvania, those who were charged as accomplices are few and far between.
When the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled these sentencing guidelines unconstitutional, they gave the legislature 120 days to enact new sentencing guidelines. Without legislative guidance, judges are free to sentence those newly convicted defendants or resentence those who have been convicted and petition the court, however they see fit.
On June 12 and June 25, the Senate of Pennsylvania passed measures with bipartisan support to address the Supreme Court’s ruling, with Senate Bill 1400 and House Bill 1042. Both bills were created with input and support from Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police (PA FOP), the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association (PSTA), the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, and victim advocates.
These bipartisan bills were designed with the goal of maintaining public safety and safeguarding the rights of victims and their families with a constitutionally sound sentencing framework. This framework includes a sentencing range of 35 years to life imprisonment and allows courts to still impose life without parole when specific aggravating circumstances are proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The bill also provides sentencing flexibility in cases where a defendant’s culpability is significantly reduced, and it creates a structured parole review process for certain individuals currently serving life-without-parole sentences for second-degree murder. The bills passed the Senate with every Republican and four Democrats voting in support.
On July 23, the day before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s deadline, the House of Representatives reconvened to address the matter. House Democrats amended House Bill 1042 and passed it largely along party lines.
In their amendments, House Democrats removed the 35-year mandatory minimum without supplement, meaning there would no longer be a minimum sentence for second-degree murder and lenient judges would be able to give convicted murderers community service if they see fit.
House Democrats also added broad medical release provisions, with expansive illness categories which have little to do with actual end-of-life conditions which may be diagnosed by non-physicians or physicians who are not even treating the incarcerated individual.
Amendments by House Democrats also restricted the time victims had to respond to petitions for resentencing to only seven days and only allowed victims who are already registered to participate. Please note, many victims have not registered due to their cases predating the registration system or because they reasonably believed the offender would never be released.
This measure passed the House with only one Republican voting in support of it.
Now that the deadline set by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has passed, more than 1,100 inmates serving a life sentence for second-degree murder are eligible to petition the court for resentencing. Without legislative guidance, judges may now release these individuals back into the communities they once terrorized.