Now, three decades later, Inge’s plea for clemency is
finally before the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons again, this time in the hands
of another reform-minded lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, who is set on
restoring second chances, particularly for those sentenced to life in prison
who did not actually take a life themselves, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“We need to reevaluate and ask ourselves as a community, how
much is enough?" Fetterman said in an interview. "Is that 25 years?
Thirty years? Thirty-five? Forty? We have inmates in our system who have done
40 years and never taken a life directly. I think it’s critical that we examine
that and, when it merits it, make sure we give them another chance to rebuild
their lives and contribute to society.”
That commitment is evident in public hearings set to begin
Wednesday for the largest number of lifers up for commutation that anyone can
recall: 21 men and women, all of whom have served decades in prison and are
recommended by the state Department of Corrections for release.
As well, Fetterman is backing a constitutional amendment to
roll back the requirement that commutations be recommended unanimously by the
five-member Board of Pardons — a rule put in place as officials were reckoning
with the deadly error of releasing McFadden. State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, a
Republican from southwestern Pennsylvania, and Sen. Larry Farnese, a
Philadelphia Democrat, are poised to introduce legislation to ease it back to a
four-to-one vote, which would still be a higher bar than the three-to-two
majority required in the pre-McFadden era. (To take effect, the measure would
have to pass in two successive legislative sessions and then be approved by
voters.)
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To Bartolotta, the decision to require a unanimous vote was
“an emotional reaction” — with enormous ripple effects, creating a backlog as
long as three years in commutation applications as lifers are denied clemency
over and over again. There are now more than 5,000 lifers in Pennsylvania.
“It’s not increasing public safety. It’s not streamlining the process. It has
basically just slammed the door shut on cases that should otherwise be
considered,” she said.
Farnese said he saw the importance of the reform in the case
of William Smith, who was denied commutation twice by a four-to-one vote
before he was finally released earlier this year at age 77.
Attorney General Joshua Shapiro, the only elected official besides the
lieutenant governor on the Board of Pardons, had initially opposed Smith’s
release, but relented after learning the District Attorney and victim’s family
did not object.
Farnese said he believes the proposed reform will take the
“political considerations out of it.”
“The folks up for commutation generally they’ve served 30
years in state prison. They’ve worked extremely hard to improve themselves.
They take responsibility for their crimes. They become mentors and teachers
that help other individuals rehabilitate,” he said. "When these mentors
and teachers go up for commutation and they’re not getting it, it hurts the
overall morale. We need to give people hope. That’s what this process is all
about."
For now, the 21 applicants up for review will still need
unanimous support to be considered by the governor for clemency.
They include both individuals convicted of first-degree
murder, which is intentional killing, and those found guilty of second-degree
or “felony” murder, a charge applied to any individual who participates in a
felony that results in death. Among those second-degree cases are Michael
Helwig, a Pottstown man who was involved in a 1982 attempted robbery in which a
codefendant shot and killed a man outside a pancake house; Thomas Schilk, who
tied up a man in his apartment and took the man’s wallet, but was not present
when the man fell from a third-floor window and died in 1984; and David
Sheppard, who was convicted in a 1992 robbery of an Overbrook pharmacy in which
a codefendant shot and killed the pharmacist.
In the 1960s, when there were fewer than 500 lifers
incarcerated and commutation was more routine, it was not unusual for a dozen
or more to be considered at once. In recent years, however, the Board of
Pardons has allowed only a handful of cases to advance to public hearings.
While Fetterman’s predecessor as lieutenant governor, Mike
Stack, also advocated for second chances in his role as chairman of the Board
of Pardons, he made little progress. By the time he left office at the end of
2018, voted out after a series of scandals, he declared the commutation system “broken.”
But Gov. Tom Wolf has now commuted a total of 11 life
sentences — the highest total since Gov. Bob Casey Sr. in the ’90s. And
Fetterman is taking a different course from Stack, who at times battled with
Attorney General Joshua Shapiro over board decisions, most publicly in the case
of William Smith. Fetterman’s plan is to build consensus: Rather than forcing
the issue of any given vote, he intends to hold under advisement any applicants
who don’t yet have unanimous support so he can fulfill any missing requirements
or satisfy any lingering concerns.
In response to an interview request, Shapiro’s office
provided a statement emphasizing his commitment to second chances: "I give
careful consideration to each case that comes before us and make decisions on a
case-by-case basis.”
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