Pennsylvania Governor Announces Moratorium on Executions

On February 13, 2015 Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced a mora­to­ri­um on all exe­cu­tions in the state. He said no exe­cu­tions will take place at least until he has ​“received and reviewed the forth­com­ing report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, estab­lished under Senate Resolution 6 of 2011, and there is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to address all con­cerns sat­is­fac­to­ri­ly.” The leg­is­la­ture com­mis­sioned the report in 2011. 

In his state­ment, Governor Wolf said, ​“This mora­to­ri­um is in no way an expres­sion of sym­pa­thy for the guilty on death row, all of whom have been con­vict­ed of com­mit­ting heinous crimes. This deci­sion is based on a flawed sys­tem that has been proven to be an end­less cycle of court pro­ceed­ings as well as inef­fec­tive, unjust, and expen­sive. Since the rein­state­ment of the death penal­ty, 150 peo­ple have been exon­er­at­ed from death row nation­wide, includ­ing six men in Pennsylvania.” 

Terrance Williams, whose exe­cu­tion was sched­uled for March 4, has been grant­ed a reprieve. Governor Wolf joins the gov­er­nors of Oregon, Washington, and Colorado in plac­ing a hold on exe­cu­tions because of con­cerns about the death penal­ty sys­tem. In addi­tion, 18 states have abol­ished the death penalty.