Opinion
No. 180 WAL 2023
02-16-2024
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Respondent v. Derek LEE, Petitioner
Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 16th day of February, 2024, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED, LIMITED TO the issues set forth below. Allocatur is DENIED as to all remaining issues. The issues, as stated by Petitioner, are:
(1) Is [Petitioner’s] mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole unconstitutional under Article I, § 13 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania where he was convicted of second-degree murder in which he did not kill or intend to kill and therefore had categorically-diminished culpability, and where Article I, § 13 should provide better protections in those circumstances than the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
(2) Is [Petitioner’s] mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution where he was convicted of second-degree murder in which he did not kill or intend to kill and therefore had categorically-diminished culpability under the Eighth Amendment?
The Applications for Leave to File Amicus Briefs in support of Petition for Allowance of Appeal filed by Scholars of Eighth Amendment Law; The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, Fair and Just Prosecution, and FAMM; Former Department of Corrections Secretaries John Wetzel and George Little; and Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center and American Civil Liberties Union are GRANTED.