Pennsylvania Capitol (Peter Hall/Capital-Star)
Two bills to abolish the death penalty in Pennsylvania are headed to the House of Representatives, where supporters believe the measures would gain bipartisan support if brought to a vote.
Lead sponsors Rep. Chris Rabb (Philadelphia) and Rep. Russell Diamond (Lebanon) offered different justifications for ending the death penalty in the commonwealth, but both agreed it was morally fraught.
“The death penalty is not justice,” Rabb said at a press conference after the Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 99, introduced by Rabb, and House Bill 888, introduced by Diamond, both by a 14-12 vote. All Republicans on the committee opposed the bills.
“This is a failure of policy. It is a costly and ineffective system, and most importantly, irreversible, in a system as imperfect as ours, and that should give us all food for thought. We know that wrongful convictions happen,” said Rabb, who noted that this is his fifth year sponsoring the legislation.
Don’t count on social media algorithms to assist you find a trusted news source. Sign up for our free morning newsletter.
Diamond, speaking during Monday’s committee meeting, said he approached the issue from a conservative point of view. HB 888 has the support of three Republican lawmakers: Reps. Marla Brown of Lawrence County, Joseph D’Orsie of York County and Valerie Gaydos of Allegheny County.
“I believe in the sanctity of all life… from conception to natural death. I believe in the promise of Christian redemption for all souls, even those permanently behind bars,” Diamond said. “I also believe that our criminal justice system is a self-defense mechanism for a civilized society, but executing a person already in custody has no element of self-defense.”
Diamond added that of the hundreds of people sentenced to death in Pennsylvania in recent decades, 13 have been exonerated. Recently, Daniel Gwynn, convicted of arson and murder in 1995, was exonerated after nearly 30 years on death row.
“Law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and juries sometimes make mistakes, but they can be appealed and reversed,” Diamond said. “Faulty execution cannot.”
Democrats control the House by a slim 102-101 majority. While House Democrats could pass either bill without Republican approval, bipartisan support could assist pass the measures if they advance to the Senate, where Republicans maintain a 28-22 advantage.
Pennsylvania is among 27 states that still have the death penalty. Although 103 people are on death row, the Commonwealth has not executed anyone since 1999 due to factors including the long appeal process and the high number of acquittals and convictions. The state has had a moratorium on executions for more than a decade, introduced by Gov. Tom Wolf and extended by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Supporters of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Amnesty International and the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation joined Rabb and other lawmakers to urge their colleagues to vote to abolish the death penalty.
Jimmy Dennis spent 25 years on death row for the 1992 murder of a 17-year-old girl, which he did not commit. After Gov. Tom Corbett signed the death warrant in 2011, a federal judge stayed the execution. His case went before Judge Anita B. Brody, who found that Philadelphia police ignored, lost or covered up evidence exonerating Dennis.
“I could be your brother, your sister, your mother, your best friend, whatever,” Dennis said. “What happened to me can happen to anyone. We cannot allow Pennsylvania to continue to carry out the death penalty because we know mistakes can be made.”
Veronica Miller, deputy legislative director of the ACLU-PA, noted that the death penalty is deeply unjust based on race and economics.
“This is not just a punishment, it is a legacy of racial violence that continues to shape who lives and who dies in this country. It is a punishment so irreversible, meted out so unevenly, that it cannot be reconciled in a system based on equal justice under the law,” Miller said.
She added that the very existence of the death penalty perpetuates inequality in the justice system. Enforcement of the judgment is at the prosecutor’s discretion, which means its application varies from county to county. And when public defenders are called upon to represent an indigent death row defendant, it places a disproportionate burden on an already underfunded system, Miller said.
“Abolition of the death penalty does not just mean ending one form of punishment,” Miller said. “It is about tackling the inequalities that define it and taking a necessary step towards a more fair, accountable and effective criminal justice system.”
Support independent reporting on Pennsylvania government that impacts communities across the state.
In a speech during the committee hearing, Republican Tim Bonner (R-Mercer) said he opposed Rabb’s bill as a former prosecutor who handled death penalty cases.
He noted that although the death penalty once had a “disgusting reputation,” the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 found it unconstitutional, requiring juries to find aggravating circumstances before issuing a death sentence.
Bonner said it would be a mistake to completely abolish the death penalty and suggested it should be reserved only for the most heinous crimes, such as terrorism and school shootings.
“Don’t we want the death penalty to at least be potentially considered because the U.S. Supreme Court says it is appropriate for aggravating murders like this?” he asked.
Francis Harvey, interim executive director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, told reporters at Rabb’s news conference that the reality is that death penalty reform efforts over the last 50 years have only shown that it is as error-prone as it is inhumane.
“Death sentences in the commonwealth are reserved not for the worst of the worst of the worst, but for the poorest of the poor, for people with serious mental illness and intellectual disabilities, and in cases where the life of the victim is valued more than any other life, which is in cases of white victims,” Harvey said.
She added that Pennsylvanians are increasingly unwilling to look the other way.
A poll conducted last year by Susquehanna Polling and Research found that 58% of likely Pennsylvania voters preferred some version of a life sentence for someone convicted of murder, and more than 29% favored the death penalty. That’s down from a decade earlier, when 42% of likely voters said they preferred the death penalty.
