HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association is calling Governor Tom Wolf’s moratorium on the death penalty “A naked attempt to evade long-standing constitutional limitations on his power.” The D.A.’s association released a court brief Tuesday.
Snyder County D.A. Mike Piecuch gave his reaction, “We have truth in sentencing in Pennsylvania, but apparently that is lost on Governor Wolf. There are debates to be had about the death penalty going forward, but this isn’t the way to do it, to act unilaterally to put a hold on it, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the individual cases, but everything to do with political and philosophical stances.”
The brief also said Wolf has misinterpreted the term “reprieve,” saying reprieves can only halt a criminal sentence for a defined period of time and for a reason that relates specifically to a particular convict. Wolf announced the moratorium in February, suspending plans to execute Terrance Williams for a 1984 robbery and deadly beating of a Philadelphia man.
Piecuch said, “A reprieve is a device used to stop an execution when there are concerns about a specific defendant’s case. Governor Wolf freely acknowledges there are no specific concerns about the case of Terrance Williams. This is a broader issue for him about the death penalty generally, which is why he has connected his ‘moratorium’ with a report from a task force that is looking at capital punishment in Pennsylvania.”
The governor argues the current system is error-prone and expensive. Regardless, Piecuch says he still has to follow the law, “The constitution requires him to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth. One of those laws, whether he likes it or not right now, is that capital punishment is an available punishment for appropriate cases.”
The D.A.’s brief states the governor is “plainly failing in his constitutional duty to “take care that the laws must be faithfully executed.” You can read the full brief online at www.pdaa.org. (Ali Stevens)