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Gov. Tom Wolf vetoes bill that could have kept prisoners behind bars longer
(link) https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/10/03/pa-gov-tom-wolf-vetoes-bill-prisoners-parole-markies-law-mason/stories/202209300123
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday vetoed legislation that would have kept violent prisoners behind bars longer but that the governor argued was essentially the same as imposing mandatory minimum sentences.
House Bill 146, or “Markie’s Law,” was named after Markie Mason, an 8-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by a man who had been paroled at the end of his minimum sentence for homicide, even after committing two separate assaults of other inmates while in prison. The boy was killed in a house in Union, Lawrence County, in July 2019 after the paroled man, Keith Burley Jr., had fought with the boy’s mother. Burley was charged with murder. The bill would have postponed consideration of a violent inmate’s parole an additional 24 months following the inmate’s minimum release date for each conviction of a violent offense while incarcerated.
In his veto message, Mr. Wolf called the legislation “misguided.”
“The bill was prompted by the tragic death of an 8-year-old boy, and I sympathize with the family for their loss and for the desire of legislators to make Pennsylvania a safer place,” Mr. Wolf said. “However, this legislation does not promote public safety, but instead proposes a mechanical and ineffective structure of mandatory parole denial, which is in effect, a mandatory minimum by another name.”
The legislation had passed the Senate by a 41-9 vote, and then the House voted 133-69 to concur with changes made by the Senate to the original bill.
House Bill 146, or “Markie’s Law,” was named after Markie Mason, an 8-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by a man who had been paroled at the end of his minimum sentence for homicide, even after committing two separate assaults of other inmates while in prison. The boy was killed in a house in Union, Lawrence County, in July 2019 after the paroled man, Keith Burley Jr., had fought with the boy’s mother. Burley was charged with murder. The bill would have postponed consideration of a violent inmate’s parole an additional 24 months following the inmate’s minimum release date for each conviction of a violent offense while incarcerated.
In his veto message, Mr. Wolf called the legislation “misguided.”
“The bill was prompted by the tragic death of an 8-year-old boy, and I sympathize with the family for their loss and for the desire of legislators to make Pennsylvania a safer place,” Mr. Wolf said. “However, this legislation does not promote public safety, but instead proposes a mechanical and ineffective structure of mandatory parole denial, which is in effect, a mandatory minimum by another name.”
The legislation had passed the Senate by a 41-9 vote, and then the House voted 133-69 to concur with changes made by the Senate to the original bill.
- more at link -
The truth is that mandatory minimum sentencing bills are usually struck down on appeal because they are rarely fair or impartial.
