Professor John Pfaff was quoted for an article published by The Appeal about Pennsylvania’s inconsistent history with granting commutations on life sentences.
In 1974, there were fewer than 500 people serving life without parole in Pennsylvania. There are now more than 5,400 people doing life in Pennsylvania, one of the highest rates of life without parole sentences in the country. Most of Pennsylvania’s lifers will die behind bars if the Board of Pardons does not recommend a commutation to the governor. And a single vote against commutation is sufficient to prevent a recommendation to the governor.
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Since 2003, fewer than 40 people have received hearings in front of the board for commutations of life sentences, and only 16 received commutations from the governor. Governor Wolf granted 11 of those commutations.Pennsylvania is not the only state that offers little hope for people serving life in prison. Since 2016, more than 6,400 applications for reduced sentences were submitted to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. But as of early August, Cuomo approved only 18.
“People grow and change, and the evidence is clear that older people are wiser, calmer and less likely to break the law,” John Pfaff, a professor at Fordham University Law School, said. “Our harsh punishments—even when imposed on those who have committed serious violence— ignore all of this and simply throw lives away. Vengeance and justice are not the same thing, however much our policies often seem to suggest they are.”