Sherman McCoy, a man with a diagnosed intellectual disability, is home from prison after his sentence to life behind bars without parole was vacated on May 9. His former conviction for first-degree murder was based on a confession obtained by Philadelphia Police homicide detective Philip Nordo, who was fired from the force and indicted on charges of misconduct and abuse of witnesses.

In July 2018, we joined pro bono counsel from Blank Rome LLP, to represent the ARC of Pennsylvania, Disability Rights Pennsylvania, and Vision for Equality Inc. in  an amicus brief  filed in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania supporting Mr. McCoy's appeal, arguing that mandatory life sentences without parole for people with intellectual disabilities are a cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

"Both modern science and Supreme Court precedent have established that, as a class, people with intellectual disabilities have characteristics that decrease the reliability and fairness of proceedings against them" said Mimi McKenzie, our Legal Director. "What happened in Mr. McCoy's case demonstrates precisely why, under the Eight Amendment, a court should consider the particular traits of each individual with intellectual disability in formulating a sentence." 

Legislative districts across Pennsylvania get an unfair population boost when our state's 47,000 inmates--most of whom cannot vote while incarcerated--are counted as residents of their cells, rather than their hometowns. This practice, which skews political representation towards districts where prisons are located, is known as prison gerrymandering. A Villanova University study found that, without this prison population boost, four predominantly white and rural state House districts in Pennsylvania would have too few people to form a district. At the same time, if inmates were counted in their hometowns, urban and predominantly minority communities would have a greater voice in the legislature. 

Our staff attorney Ben Geffen was featured in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star discussing this important issue, which we have been researching for several years. He points out that many states across the country have begun to take on prison gerrymandering by counting inmates at their home addresses for state redistricting, including New York and Maryland. Ben argues that Pennsylvania can--and should--join them in making that change. Read more in " Census 2020: Why some Pa. lawmakers say the state's inmates should be counted at home, rather than in prison."

We were sad to learn of the death of a former member of our team. John Peters Stevens III died on Friday, April 26, 2019, at the age of 92, in Gloucester, MA. John served as our Development Director from 1980 to 1991. He was an activist and nonprofit fundraiser throughout his life.

 

Causes he supported, in addition our work at the Law Center, included Interfaith Housing, the Peace Center of Bucks County, and Welcoming the Stranger, a Bucks County group providing free services to immigrants. He was a dedicated activist for broader roles for women in the Episcopal Church. John was also an avid singer, and as a young man toured the Pacific with the International Male Chorus of the Armed Forces at the end of WWII. Read more about John in his obituary in the Gloucester Times. 

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we will look back throughout the year on past cases that help form the foundation of our work today.

In 1971, thousands of students with intellectual disabilities were deemed "uneducable" and turned away from public schools in Pennsylvania. Many were warehoused in institutions that did not provide any education at all. We sought to change this, filing a complaint against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on behalf of the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC). 

In 1972, a federal judge ruled that Pennsylvania was responsible for providing free public education to all children, regardless of disability. Our case, the first of its kind, helped spark a nationwide movement . In 1975, congress passed the Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EHA). This Act, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), establishes that students with disabilities have the right to receive a free, appropriate public education.