Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman said Tuesday he has "always" supported life sentences for first-degree murderers. But as chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, Fetterman voted to release more than a dozen killers serving life sentences on first-degree murder charges, including one man who pleaded guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.
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But a Washington Free Beacon analysis found the Democrat has voted to commute the prison sentences of at least 13 people convicted of first-degree murder, including some who admitted to their crimes. That was the case last year when Fetterman cast the only vote on the Board of Pardons to commute the sentence of Wayne Covington, who was convicted in 1970 for fatally shooting an 18-year-old for money to buy *****. Covington was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder after he admitted to the killing in order to avoid the death penalty, the Free Beacon reported.
Fetterman’s latest defense comes as Republicans hammer him over his progressive positions and his leadership of the Board of Pardons. Fetterman has said he sought the role of lieutenant governor in order to use the Board of Pardons as a "bully pulpit" to enact progressive criminal justice reform. He has bragged that the board under his watch has voted to free more prisoners than all of his predecessors combined. He has also hired left-wing activists to serve on the board, including a former campaign official who has called to "disarm the police" and who says convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal is her "buddy."
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/fet...-than-a-dozen/