Does John Fetterman want to release those convicted of felony murder? Here are the facts.

• Robby Brod
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  Robby Brod was the Democracy Beat reporter for WITF.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to our News & Brews event in Chambersburg on Wednesday. It was great to meet y’all and hear the most pressing questions you want answered heading into the Nov. 8 election.

Some people there mentioned they wanted us to fact check political ads. So, this FCF will do just that.

Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, released an ad paid for by the Senate Leadership Fund that made two claims about his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman:

Fetterman wants to release people convicted of felony murder.
Fetterman wants to end life sentences for all felony murder convictions.

Both of these claims are false.

The ad plays an out-of-context soundbite of Fetterman, implying he wants to release all those convicted of felony murder in Pa.

Narrator: “John Fetterman on releasing felony murderers…”

Fetterman soundbite: “I have made getting them out of prison, like the most, you know, critical thing I’ll ever do. There isn’t anything that I won’t do within the limits of the law and my office, to make sure that they are free.”

Fetterman was actually talking to a criminal justice advocacy group in 2020 about two specific inmates. Here’s the full quote:

“The Horton brothers were called the two finest inmates in our state prison system, the two you know? I have made getting them out of prison, like the most, you know, critical thing I’ll ever do. There isn’t anything that I won’t do within the limits of the law and my office, to make sure that they are free.”

The Horton brothers were convicted of felony murder in 1993, after picking up a friend in their car who they were unaware had just committed a murder. The police arrested all three men and charged the brothers with 2nd degree felony murder, a mandatory life sentence in Pa. Fetterman advocated for their release after they served 27 years in prison, which they were granted last year.

Oz took Fetterman’s words out of context to misrepresent his views. Fetterman has never advocated for freeing everybody convicted of felony murder.

This brings us to the ad’s second point.

Oz also falsely claims Fetterman wants to end all life sentences for second degree murder convitcions, also known as ‘felony murder,’ which Fetterman has never supported.

Fetterman has said he wants to end mandatory life-without-parole sentences for felony murder convictions for defendants who are accessories in a killing, like the Horton brothers accidentally were. He’d like to give judges discretion in sentencing.

Pennsylvanians can be charged with felony murder when police believe someone committed a felony that led to death, even if they didn’t commit the murder themselves. Pennsylvania is one of nine states in which felony murder convictions carry mandatory life-without-parole sentences.

Oz’s claim omitted critical facts and context that could mislead viewers into believing Fetterman wants to end all life sentences for all those convicted of felony murder.