Just a few minutes ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Terry Williams reprieve challenge filed by the Philly DA’s office. The court left the reprieve in place and ordered additional briefing on the matter. In doing so, the justices have showed that they recognize that there are serious and important issues at hand. Governor Wolf issued the reprieve precisely because of all of the well-documented problems with PA’s death penalty which are under review by the bi-partisan legislative commission. He understands his role and that by signing a death warrant, he is wielding the pen on our behalf. He said, in part, ” There is perhaps no more weighty a responsibility assigned to the Governor than his or her role as the final check in the capital punishment process.” Adding to the problems we already know about is the fact that Seth Williams and the DA’s office have been playing VERY loose with the facts of Terry’s case. Good job by the PA Supremes!
