Flip-Flops on Release of Second-Degree Murderers from PA’s Prisons
Washington, D.C. – John Fetterman’s position on crime has been to defend the criminals, not the victims of their crimes. But he is taking heat for his positions from Pennsylvanians because their communities are less safe. So, Fetterman’s campaign is scrambling.
As reported by FOX News:
Fetterman, the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who chairs the state’s Board of Pardons (BOP), commissioned two reports last year released by Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) that recommended the BOP consider merit-based clemency for currently incarcerated second-degree murderers, as well as for the state legislature to reform the law that mandates life sentences without parole for second-degree murder convictions.
Fetterman said at the time that he commissioned the reports in a call for “mercy for the deserving and rehabilitated.”
During a PLSE press conference on March 1, 2021, Fetterman said the reports documented “the lives that are destroyed” and “the resources that are wasted” due to Pennsylvania’s statute, and that he hoped the reports’ findings would “lead to a conversation” that would free close to 1,200 people.
“I hope that it could lead to a conversation that would free close to 1,200 people of a legacy that never made sense, that encompasses victims’ input, encompasses their conduct and behavior in prison, it takes a look at the resources that are wasted that…,” he said.
At the time, PLSE reported that there were 1,166 people incarcerated in the state serving life sentences without parole for second-degree murder.
NOW…
The campaign said Fetterman does not support releasing all prisoners serving life without parole for second-degree murder and that he believes there are individuals convicted of life without parole who deserve to remain in prison.
In response to a follow-up inquiry, the Fetterman campaign said his 2021 remarks at the PLSE conference “are being taken out of context,” and that it is not clear, based on Fetterman’s phrasing at the time, that he was talking about freeing people from prison.
But it is clear what he said.
Statement from NRSC Spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow: “John Fetterman and his team are scrambling. He’s realizing his stances on crime are too soft for Pennsylvanians. They are making PA communities less safe, so he is slowly trying to walk them back. But does he think no one will notice? Pennsylvanians can see right through his lies.”
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