Why Are People in Mass. Being Sent to Prison for Murders They Didn’t Commit?
Document Type
Opinion
Publication Date
5-11-2026
Publisher
Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC
Language
en-US
Abstract
This spring, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for people convicted of felony murder constitute cruel punishment and therefore violate the state constitution. This groundbreaking opinion signals state courts’ willingness to grapple with longstanding yet long-critiqued doctrines that extend the legal system’s harshest punishments to broad swaths of people without any inquiry into their individual actions and intentions.
Recommended Citation
Caitlin M. Glass,
Why Are People in Mass. Being Sent to Prison for Murders They Didn’t Commit?
,
Boston Globe
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/shorter_works/292
Publisher URL
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/11/opinion/massachusetts-murder-convictions-laws/
