Justices with Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will hear a case that challenges the state’s life-without-parole mandate for second-degree murder. Lawyers for Derek Lee, who was convicted for his part in a homicide ten years ago, say Pennsylvania’s automatic life sentence violates the state’s and U.S. Constitution statutes against cruel punishment. Officials say a favorable outcome for Lee could affect over five-thousand others currently serving life-without-parole sentences in the state.
