PRINTER'S NO. 817
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
143
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY VEREB, STEPHENS, MARSICO, CUTLER, BAKER, BARRAR,
DELOZIER, DUSH, FEE, GINGRICH, GREINER, GROVE, HARHART,
HARPER, A. HARRIS, HEFFLEY, HICKERNELL, IRVIN, JAMES,
JOZWIAK, M. K. KELLER, KNOWLES, KRIEGER, LAWRENCE, MAJOR,
McGINNIS, MENTZER, METCALFE, MILLARD, B. MILLER, OBERLANDER,
PYLE, QUIGLEY, SACCONE, SANKEY, SAYLOR, SONNEY, STAATS,
TALLMAN, TAYLOR, TOEPEL, WATSON, MILNE AND HACKETT,
MARCH 4, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 4, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Condemning Governor Tom Wolf's unconstitutional action to usurp
the authority of the General Assembly to make the laws and of
the judiciary to administer justice by declaring a moratorium
on capital punishment in Pennsylvania and calling upon
Governor Wolf to reverse this action and to carry out his
constitutional duty.
WHEREAS, On February 13, 2015, approximately two weeks before
the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Terrance Williams,
Governor Tom Wolf announced that he was granting a reprieve of
that execution; and
WHEREAS, Even the Governor has conceded that there is no
doubt as to the guilt of Terrance Williams or as to the
monstrosity of his violent crimes; and
WHEREAS, The Governor has not suggested that there was any
miscarriage of justice in the Williams case; nor that the duly
enacted laws of Pennsylvania relating to Williams' trial,
including the preconviction and postconviction procedure, failed
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Williams in any way; nor that the subsequent Federal court
review of his case was anything less than robust and thorough;
nor that the aggravating circumstances in Williams' case were
insufficient to merit the penalty of death under the duly
enacted laws of Pennsylvania; nor that Williams was in any way
the victim of unfair or prejudicial treatment; nor that Williams
has in any way attempted to redeem himself; and
WHEREAS, Governor Wolf has also declared that he will issue
reprieves in all future capital cases that are presented to him
for warrants, in a concerted effort to impose a blanket
moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, The grounds for a reprieve are, and only ever have
been during the history of Pennsylvania law, a temporary stay of
a criminal judgment for a defined period of time for the purpose
of allowing a defendant to pursue a legal remedy or enabling the
executive branch time to arrange for an execution; and
WHEREAS, The reprieve that Governor Wolf has granted is
actually, by the Governor's admission, a subterfuge by which he
is illegally refusing to impose Terrance Williams' sentence,
which was legally and properly imposed, as leverage in order to
extract from the General Assembly legislation that conforms to
the Governor's personal specifications with regard to the reform
of Pennsylvania's criminal law; and
WHEREAS, This is not only an improper use of a gubernatorial
reprieve, but is also an affront to the coequal branches of
government and to the residents of Pennsylvania who elect
Representatives to create the law, judges to interpret and
uphold the law in order to ensure that justice is served in each
individual case and a Governor to faithfully execute the law;
and
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WHEREAS, The Governor's cavalier action in unilaterally
declaring a moratorium on capital punishment exhibits an
astounding disregard for the additional and unnecessary
heartache he has now caused to the family and loved ones of
Terrance Williams' victims, and for the families and loved ones
of all the victims of all of the inmates currently on death row,
as Governor Wolf has promised each and every one of these
inmates that he will grant them the same reprieve until his
legislative demands are met; and
WHEREAS, The Governor's action in standing side by side with
the inmates on death row, fighting to overturn their sentences
even as he expresses confidence in their guilt, makes a mockery
of his claim that he "stands with victims of violence"; and
WHEREAS, Governor Wolf's assertion that he "stands with all
those who have suffered" even while he chooses to ignore
sentences imposed by juries across this Commonwealth and instead
to extend the lives of those who have willfully and violently
taken the lives of others rings false and is an affront to
victims everywhere; and
WHEREAS, Victims of violent crime deserve to know that a
sentence properly imposed will be faithfully carried out, and
the residents of Pennsylvania deserve to know that their laws,
properly enacted, will be faithfully executed by their Governor;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives condemn Governor
Tom Wolf's unconstitutional action to usurp the authority of the
General Assembly to make the laws and of the judiciary to
administer justice by declaring a moratorium on capital
punishment in Pennsylvania and call upon Governor Wolf to
reverse this action and to carry out his constitutional duty;
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and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Governor's action in granting a reprieve
in the case of Terrance Williams is an illegal act and an
unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That no Governor of this Commonwealth can be
allowed to nullify a duly enacted law, unilaterally reverse a
legally and properly imposed verdict and substitute his own
judgment for decades of exhaustive judicial review based on
nothing more than his own personal disapproval with the
legislative and legal processes that make up the rule of law in
this Commonwealth.
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