By Tom Sofield of NewtownPANow.com
Pennsylvania has not executed a prisoner since 1999 and won’t for at least the next four years.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who took office in January, gathered in Philadelphia with lawmakers and community activists Thursday morning to announce he will not sign any death warrants while in office.
The governor, who was the state’s former attorney general, called on lawmakers to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty in the state.
“That’s why today, I’m respectfully calling on the General Assembly to work with me to abolish the death penalty in Pennsylvania–once and for all,” Shapiro said.
Former Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat who left office last month after two terms, did not sign any death warrants. He imposed a moratorium on the death penalty, but legislators never changed the law to align with his views against the government killing inmates as punishment for serious crimes.
In total, 25 states have outlawed the death penalty, including the neighboring states of New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia.
“The commonwealth shouldn’t be in the business of putting people to death. Period,” Shapiro said. “I believe that in my heart. This is a fundamental statement of morality. Of what’s right and wrong.”
Shapiro acknowledged that his stance on the issue has changed over the years, and even since he was elected as attorney general, the state’s top law enforcer.
The governor noted that his position on the issue doesn’t mean those on death row didn’t commit serious offenses and don’t deserve punishment.
Shapiro remarked that while attempting to give his son an explanation of why he supported executions, part of his perspective on the death penalty changed.
His choice to oppose the death penalty was cemented by interactions with families affected by the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue mass murder in Pittsburgh. Several elderly Holocaust survivors were among the victims of the massacre, which received international media attention.
“They told me, that even after all the pain and anguish, they did not want the killer put to death. He should spend the rest of his life in prison they said, but the state should not take his life as punishment for him taking the lives of their loved ones,” said the governor, who is Jewish. “That moved me. And that’s stayed with me.”
Shapiro said his time as attorney general allowed him to see the criminal justice system like he had not before.
“Through that experience, two critical truths became clear to me about the capital sentencing system in our commonwealth: The system is fallible, and the outcome is irreversible,” he said.
During his speech at Mosaic Community Church in Philadelphia, Shapiro said he thought long and hard about the issue.
“And I am here today in this church to tell you I will not issue any execution warrants during my term as governor,” he said.
Shapiro said he recognizes that people have different views on capital punishment, and wants to work with them on the issue.
Data from Gallup, a national polling company, shows support for the death penalty among Americans dropping from a high of 80 percent in the early 1990s to 55 percent in October 2022.
There are approximately 100 inmates currently on Pennsylvania’s death row, including six from the Lehigh Valley:
Lehigh County
Harvey Miguel Robinson, 48, sentenced to death in 1994
George Ivan Lopez, 63, sentenced to death in 1996
Edwin R. Romero, 58, sentenced to death in 1996
Junius Burno, 55, sentenced to death in 2007
Northampton County
Michael Eric Ballard, 49, sentenced to death in 2011
George Hitcho Jr., 57, sentenced to death in 2012
Ballard was sentenced to death for murdering for people in Northampton borough in 2010 and Hitcho received the death sentence for killing Freemansburg police officer Robert Lasso in 2011.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro Thursday announced a continuation of his predecessor’s moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Shapiro, however, went a step further than Gov. Tom Wolf did during his two terms in office by calling on the state legislature to abolish capital punishment. Pennsylvania hasn’t put an inmate to death for nearly a quarter of a century.
