Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said his goal is for the state Board of Pardons to use the online system to turn around an application for a pardon or commutation in a year or less.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced Friday he has commuted the life sentences of 13 Pennsylvania inmates, clearing the way for their release to halfway houses.
Gov. Tom Wolf commuted David Sheppard’s sentence on Dec. 4. Even before the order was signed, Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland signaled her intention to keep him locked up.
State corrections data show that Pennsylvania prisons house more than 5,100 people sentenced to life without parole. About 500 of them did not directly cause the death of a victim, according to a review the state’s Department of Corrections conducted last summer.
The lieutenant governor said he’d like to return to pre-1980s levels, when an average of 20 to 30 sentences a year were commuted.
