Overview
- The court on Friday denied a petition to extend its 120-day stay, letting stand the March decision that found mandatory life without parole for second-degree murder unconstitutional.
- Two justices, Kevin Dougherty and Sallie Updyke Mundy, dissented and argued the court should have given the Legislature more time to write a uniform resentencing law.
- Lawmakers missed the July 24 deadline after the House and Senate produced different bills and spent weeks focused on the state budget, leaving no agreed statutory fix.
- Prosecutors say the ruling creates heavy administrative work and public-safety concerns as district attorneys review roughly 1,063 cases and prepare for case-by-case resentencings.
- The ruling changes decades of Pennsylvania sentencing practice and could reshape how judges set parole eligibility while the General Assembly decides whether to pass new rules.