One in 10 people serving life without the possibility of parole in the U.S. is in Pennsylvania. The state is second only to Florida in the number serving that sentence. They will die while incarcerated if relief does not come in the form of a new law to provide parole eligibility or changes to the commutations process. Other states have taken steps to reduce death by incarceration. Massachusetts lawmakes are considering a bill that would end life without parole and allow people convicted of murder to be eligible for parole after 25 years. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections permitted The Appeal to take photographs in SCI Laurel Highlands, a prison that houses a large population of people who require long-term and personal care. The prison provides skilled nursing, hospice and palliative care for some of the oldest men in the state prison system.
The Appeal agreed not to photograph the men’s faces or publish their names. In 1976, fewer than 700 people in Pennsylvania prisons were sentenced to life without parole. By last year, more than 5,400 people in prison were sentenced to life, a number nearly equal to the total population incarcerated in Pennsylvania prisons in the 1960s and 1970s. Although there has been a renewed effort by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the chairperson of the Board of Pardons, to provide more commutations from life sentences, the process stagnated for several decades. During Gov. Milton Shapp’s administration from 1971 to 1978, 251 people received commutations of life sentences. Only 51 people have had their sentences commuted since Shapp left office. In September, the Board of Pardons recommended commutations for nine people, the most recommended at once in decades.