A major legal challenge in Pennsylvania could reshape how felony murder is punished nationwide.

In Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee, the state's highest court is weighing whether mandatory life-without-parole, or LWOP, sentences for felony murder violate constitutional protections against cruel punishment when a defendant neither killed nor intended to kill.

Lee was sentenced to life in prison for a shooting carried out by another person during a struggle over a gun, even though he was in a different room at the time. Under Pennsylvania law, however, felony murder carries an automatic LWOP sentence — the same punishment imposed on the person who committed the killing.

Advocates say the case underscores the doctrine's sweeping reach. More than 1,000 people in Pennsylvania are serving LWOP sentences for felony murder, including many who did not personally kill anyone.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed in 2024 to hear the case, which argues that mandatory LWOP in such circumstances violates both the Eighth Amendment and the Pennsylvania Constitution's prohibition on cruel punishments. The challenge has drawn extensive attention, with numerous amicus briefs from civil rights groups, prosecutors, corrections officials and victims' families.

In a June 2024 amicus brief supporting the state, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association urged the court to uphold the sentencing scheme as constitutional. The prosecutors' group criticized defense amici for focusing on policy concerns — including racial disparities, incarceration costs, sentencing discretion, clemency reform and rehabilitation — rather than the constitutional question before the court.

"The question of what sentence should apply to felony murder in this commonwealth calls for a systemic approach, which means a solution through legislation," the organization said in the brief.

A ruling is expected soon.

Derek Lee is represented by Quinn Alexander Cozzens, Bret Douglas Grote, Nia Olivia Naheelah Holston and Rupalee Rashatwar of the Abolitionist Law Center, Deneekie Kaleel Grant and Kris August Pretlow Henderson of the Amistad Law Project and Pardiss Kebriaei, Astha Sharma Pokharel and Samah Sisay of the Center for Constitutional Rights

Pennsylvania is represented by Ronald Michael Wabby Jr. and Kevin Francis McCarthy of the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

The case is Pennsylvania v. Lee, case number 3 WAP 2024, in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.

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