Pennsylvania Has 90% Reversal Rate for Death Penalty Cases Completing Appeals

On September 24, Pennsylvania reached a new mile­stone with the 250^th death-sen­tence rever­sal since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1978. The state has imposed approx­i­mate­ly 412 death sen­tences since rein­state­ment. Only three pris­on­ers were exe­cut­ed, and all three waived at least part of their appeals. There have been no exe­cu­tions in Pennsylvania for 15 years. Over 60% of all death sen­tences imposed in the state have been over­turned by state or fed­er­al courts; 190 pris­on­ers remain on death row, and many of those are like­ly to have their cas­es reversed, too. If the pool of sen­tences is restrict­ed to those that have com­plet­ed all of their ordi­nary appeals, the state rever­sal rate has been over 90%. Michelle Tharp was the lat­est per­son to have her sen­tence over­turned. Pennsylvania has sent sev­en women to death row; all but one have had their cases reversed.

(Source: R. Dunham, Assistant Federal Defender, Harrisburg, PA; death sen­tence num­ber from Bureau of Justice Statistics; post­ed by DPIC, October 6, 2014). See Arbitrariness. Read DPIC’s report, ​“Struck by Lightning” for more infor­ma­tion on arbi­trari­ness in the death penal­ty sys­tem. Also see a report on nation­al rever­sal rates by Prof. James Liebman.