The Antiracism and Community Lawyering Practicum at Boston University School of Law et al., Amicus Brief, Commonwealth v. Lee
The Antiracism and Community Lawyering Practicum at Boston University School of Law, Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund submitted a brief in support of the appellant, Derek Lee, in a case before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania regarding the use of mandatory life without parole sentences in felony murder cases.
The brief raises several racial justice arguments by highlighting significant racial disparities that have resulted in the application of felony murder in Pennsylvania.
From the brief: “Pennsylvania’s felony murder law is among the most draconian of all felony murder laws in the United States. This law imposes a mandatory sentence of life without parole (“LWOP”) for so-called “strict-liability” felony murder, which requires no mens rea and no actus reus related to the death. The result is that a person like Derek Lee will be automatically condemned to die in prison even though he did not kill or intend to kill anyone. . . . In conducting this constitutional inquiry, amici urge the Court to also consider strong evidence of racial bias in the application of Pennsylvania’s felony murder law. Although racial bias infects Pennsylvania’s entire criminal legal system, resulting in severe racial disproportionality in the Commonwealth’s overall incarcerated population as well as among those sentenced to be executed, the disparities are even starker with respect to people convicted of felony murder. While Black people constitute 12% of the state’s population, 47% of the state’s prison population, and 48% of those on the state’s death row, they constitute 70% of those serving mandatory LWOP for felony murder. According to a recent state-backed audit, Black people in Pennsylvania have been convicted of felony murder at a rate that is more than 21 times higher than for white people in the state.”
On March 26, 2026, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of Derek Lee, ending mandatory life without parole for felony murder cases.
