Pennsylvania violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it began applying a 1997 amendment to the state constitution that requires a unanimous vote by the state Board of Pardons whenever it recommends that the governor grant commutation of a convicted murderer’s sentence, a federal judge in Harrisburg has ruled.
In Pennsylvania Prison Society v. Rendell, PICS Case No. 06-0386 (M.D. Pa. March 2006) Caputo, J. (21 pages), U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo held that inmates convicted before the referendum was passed cannot be subjected to the new, stricter conditions for clemency.
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