Three months past the court's deadline, Pennsylvania's murder-sentencing bills are still stuck

Pennsylvania still has no new law on sentencing for second-degree murder, the charge often called felony murder, three months after a state Supreme Court deadline passed. Spotlight PA listed it this week among the major issues the legislature is leaving unresolved as its session winds down (Spotlight PA).

The question affects about 1,100 people serving life sentences for second-degree murder, according to Berks County District Attorney John Adams, City & State Pennsylvania reported. It also affects every future case, because judges no longer have a mandatory sentence to apply.

How it got here

On March 26, the Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that mandatory life without parole for every second-degree murder conviction violates the state constitution's ban on cruel punishment. The court stayed its order for 120 days so lawmakers could write a new law, according to City & State. That window closed July 24. On July 31, the court turned down Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.'s request for 120 more days, City & State reported.

Adams told City & State that without a uniform law, outcomes could vary by county, which he called "justice by geography." The court has since agreed to decide whether the Lee ruling applies to people already sentenced, Law360 reported in late September.

What the records add

The two chambers passed different bills, and neither has taken up the other's.

Senate Bill 1400, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Baker, a Republican from the 20th District, with 14 Republican co-sponsors, would set a 35-year minimum sentence. It would also make people eligible for parole after 35 years, or at age 70 after at least 20 years, City & State reported. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 9-5 on June 23. On June 25, the full Senate passed it 31-19, reconsidered the vote, and passed it again 30-20:

• Republicans: 26 yes, 1 no (Sen. Jarrett Coleman)
• Democrats: 4 yes (Sens. Lisa Boscola, Marty Flynn, James Malone and Nick Miller), 19 no

SB 1400 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on June 26. The bill page shows no action there in the 119 days since.

House Bill 1042, sponsored by Rep. Napoleon Nelson, a Montgomery County Democrat, with 12 Democratic co-sponsors, takes a different approach. The House version would let people already convicted seek parole after 30 years, leave new sentencing guidelines to the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, and expand medical release for ill prisoners, according to City & State. The bill's path, from its record:

• The House first passed it 149-50 on March 23, 2026, before the ruling.
• The Senate amended it and passed it 30-20 on July 12: Republicans 26-1, with Coleman again voting no, and Democrats 4-19, with Boscola, Flynn, Miller and Sen. Judith Schwank voting yes.
• The House rewrote the Senate's version. A motion to suspend the rules tied 101-101, and the House then agreed to its new version 102-100 on July 23. Democrats voted 101-1, with Rep. Frank Burns voting no. Republicans voted 1-99, with Rep. Thomas Mehaffie voting yes.
• The bill went back to the Senate and was referred to the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee on Sept. 28. It has had no action since.

City & State reported that the Senate said it would not consider the House version.

What happens next

The legislature has four voting days left: Nov. 9 and 10 in the House, and Nov. 17 and 18 in the Senate. If neither bill passes both chambers by the end of the session, both die, and the issue goes to the next legislature in January. In the meantime, sentencing in these cases falls to county judges, and the Supreme Court's retroactivity case is pending.