Abolitionist Law Center

05/28/2026

2 upcoming back-to-back opportunities to get involved with ending draconian sentencing laws in PA!

PA has one of the harshest sentencing schemes for 2nd-degree or "felony murder" in the country & the world. It allows someone to be charged with murder if they're involved with a felony during which someone dies – even if they didn't directly cause that death, didn't intend for it to happen, or didn't even know it took place.

A conviction requires a sentence of life without the chance of parole.

In March, the PA Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the case of Commonwealth v. Lee that a mandatory sentence of death by incarceration for 2nd-degree murder is unconstitutionally cruel.

Over 1,000 people in PA state prisons are now serving this illegal sentence. The PA Supreme Court gave the Pennsylvania General Assembly until July 24 to create a remedy for this unjust situation.

We must mobilize now to push the legislature to pass meaningful second-degree murder sentencing legislation!

📣June 8: Join us for a day of action on June 8 in Harrisburg – bit.ly/2nd-degree-action-day
💻June 9: Join us for a webinar on what this case means for the people currently serving this sentence – bit.ly/lee-debrief3

05/22/2026

Passionate about human rights? Interested in recruiting people directly impacted by jails to our movement?

Abolitionist Law Center is seeking a Philadelphia-based organizer to lead our Philly jails campaigns & also work with local coalitions on jail issues.

Get the details at alcenter[dot]org/jobs-and-internships

05/21/2026

As members of the Building Community Not Prisons coalition, we are calling on the federal Bureau of Prisons to rescind its $500M to build yet another prison in Letcher County.

The longer this prison's planned construction has gone on, the more the evidence has piled up of what a terrible idea this politician pet project is, on so many levels.

It's long past time for real answers to the problems facing our communities – like actual investment in human beings, our communities, & our environment – not just more incarceration.

You can help stop the Letcher County prison for good.
➡️ Go to bit.ly/rescind-new-prison-fund (link in bio) to tell your federal legislator that Congress's 2027 budget should not include funding for this prison.

05/20/2026

On May 19, 2026, Abolitionist Law Center, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Tech Justice Law notified Google LLC that its involvement in Israel’s genocide exposes the company and its executive leadership to potential legal liability for aiding and abetting atrocity crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian population of Gaza.

Read the full letter at alcenter.org

05/17/2026

For those sentenced to die in a Pennsylvania prison, there is only one path to a possible second chance that doesn’t require an imminently terminal illness. It is long, narrow, & torturous: commutation.

Two ALC clients are on that path—hoping the state will commute their sentence, as Victoria Law reported this week for The Appeal.

What’s clear is that neither Sheena King nor Ralph Malakki Bolden are remotely the same people who both committed murder decades ago. Sheena, 18 at the time, had endured years of physical & sexual abuse and violence, and acted out of a direct threat against her family. Malakki was in his 20s, suffering from misdiagnosed mental illness, likely influenced by underlying multiple sclerosis, which he would be diagnosed with later.

Now, Sheena is a minister who earned college & graduate degrees behind bars. Malakki co-founded a think tank and developed restorative justice programs.

What’s less clear is whether PA’s carceral system will be able to recognize the hard work they’ve both put into healing from the trauma of their environments, and transforming themselves into solid citizens & mentors to other incarcerated people over their decades of incarceration.

Fortunately, Malakki has the support of Dept. of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Laurel Harry. Sheena has the support of SCI Muncy & is seeking the support of the DOC Secretary.

But as Malakki points out, lifers could get their commutation approved by the DOC, from staff & the superintendent all the way up to the DOC Secretary – the department that has housed, supervised, and known the person for so many years – only to have a political appointee on the Board of Pardons or the governor deny it.

Read the article on Sheena & Malakki’s redemption in a system that makes it all too rare for those who never had a first chance to get a second one.

05/15/2026

Yesterday, Tyrone Good was murdered in the Allegheny County Jail by multiple incarcerated people who assaulted him inside his cell.

Tragedies like these are preventable, and a jail stay should not be a death sentence. Allegheny County Jail officials and corrections officers failed to protect Mr. Good.

Incarcerated people have told us that corrections officers routinely encourage conflict between incarcerated people and many refuse to learn or engage in nonviolent de-escalation practices.

We demand that the Allegheny County Jail investigate Mr. Good’s murder and hold every person accountable, including staff who failed to prevent this.

While officers blame understaffing, one thing remains clear: If the jail is incapable of handling the rising jail population, then the only solution is decarceration.

Our carceral systems do not & will never prevent violence.

05/12/2026

If your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't be trying to take it away from us in so many places across our country.

Is the system broken? Are both sides too alike? Absolutely. But not voting only makes that worse – elected officials have power over every aspect of our lives, and they owe nothing to people who never vote.

TODAY is the last day to request your mail ballot or to vote early on demand in Pennsylvania!

Here's the what, when, how & who on voting in the upcoming primary election:

🗓️ May 4 – This was the last day to REGISTER to vote in the primary election but you can still double-check your registration at vote.pa/check

🗓️ May 12 – TODAY is the last day to visit vote.pa/mail to request your mail ballot or visit your county’s early on-demand location before 5 pm: vote.pa/early.

🗓️ May 19 – Election Day. Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Completed mail ballots must be received by 8 p.m.: vote.pa.gov/polls

Get info on WHO is on YOUR ballot at vote411.org/ballot

Reminder: Because Pennsylvania has a closed primary, only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote for their party’s nominees in the primary election. However, all voters can vote on any local ballot questions or special elections that may be on their ballot.

05/12/2026

The action's mainly in Philly this week, but you can join us from across PA on Tues night!

*Commonwealth v. Derek Lee Ruling Debrief – webinar*
Tues. 5/12 | 6–7 PM
ONLINE
Register: bit[dot]ly/lee-debrief2
The PA legislature must end mandatory LWOP/death by incarceration sentences for 2nd-degree murder – a charge that can be brought against someone even if they didn't kill anyone – which the PA Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last month in Commonwealth v. Derek Lee. Join us to learn more about the impact of this ruling & what must come next to make Mr. Lee's court win a path to a possible second chance for all those serving death sentences for 2nd-degree.

*Federal Attacks and How Philly Fights Back! – public meeting*
Wed. 5/13 | 6–8 pm
Mennonite Fellowship: 123 S. 51 St.
PHILLY
Register: bit[dot]ly/A4JP_West
We need our city leadership to step up and protect Philadelphians. Our communities are resilient and, with the right amount of protection & investment, will be healthy & thriving. Join Amistad Law Project, Philadelphia Treatment Not Trauma Coalition, & Alliance for a Just Philadelphia over a meal & build relationships to better fight for ourselves & our neighbors.

*Philadelphia Honors Ben Fletcher*
🗓️ Thur. 5/14 | 8:30 am
📍City Hall, 1400 JFK Blvd, NE corner
PHILLY
On May 14, 1913, Ben Fletcher & 4,000+ Philadelphian shipyard & dock workers shut down one of the busiest ports in the country. During their 2-week strike, they joined the Industrial Workers of the World, forming IWW Local 8, which became one of the most successful & durable examples of multiracial, multiethnic labor organizing in US history. Philly’s City Council is finally putting his name in the record & presenting Philly Black Worker Project with a resolution celebrating Ben Fletcher & the tradition of Philly’s Black-led movements for worker power. Be there!

*Inside/Outside Prison Letter-Writing Night*
🗓️ Thur. 5/14 | 6–8 pm
📍Ross Commons: 229 N. 34 St., 3rd Fl.
PHILLY
Join Writers Room Drexel, Philly Muslim Freedom Fund & Human Rights Coalition PA for an evening of responding to letters from people on the inside who are facing grave human rights abuses & seeking support. Pizza & music. No experience necessary. Solidarity with prisoners now!

05/11/2026

Terri Harper is one of 200 Pennsylvania women who have been sentenced to die in prison.

Most people rarely think about what that actually means, despite the huge cost to taxpayers of warehousing people until their dying breath.

The stress & harmful conditions of prison mean that all those sentenced to death by incarceration (DBI) will rapidly age during their decades inside & will likely endure painful, untimely deaths, as WHYY reported this week as part of their new podcast "Dying on the Inside" w/ Temple's Logan Center on Investigative Reporting.

Terri's middle-age body is battered & broken from her 34 years in prison for 2nd-degree/felony murder. PA is one of the few places in the US – & the world! – where that charge automatically gets you life without parole/DBI.

For decades, that's been the mandatory sentence for anyone convicted by PA's carceral system of a felony that resulted in a death—no matter whether they directly caused, intended, or even knew about that death.

Such was the case with Terri—she did not commit murder. And now she is one of roughly 1000+ people whose LWOP sentences are illegal. In March, the PA Supreme Court unanimously found in ALC client Derek Lee's appeal that this sentencing scheme for 2nd-degree is unconstitutionally cruel.

Join us on Tuesday to understand the impact of this ruling & what must come next to make Mr. Lee's court win a path to a possible second chance for Terri & all those serving death sentences for 2nd-degree.

Commonwealth v. Derek Lee Ruling Debrief – webinar
Tues. 5/12 | 6–7 PM
ONLINE (Zoom)
Register: bit[dot]ly/lee-debrief2

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

It’s exciting to mobilize around movement candidates when they’re making big promises, but we don’t have many examples of elected officials working closely with movements once they’re in office. Councilmember Kendra Brooks is doing it like no one else.

Amistad’s Co-Executive Director, Nikki Grant, recently sat down with Councilmember Kendra Brooks and Pennsylvania Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance Nicole Kligerman for Convergence Magazine's Block and Build podcast to talk about their experience with co-governance over the last six years. They discuss the material victories (and also the challenges they’ve faced) working closely together to build real political power that delivers for working people in Philadelphia.

The episode is packed with wisdom and concrete examples of what Co-Governance looks like in practice. Listen wherever you like to podcast or online here: https://convergencemag.com/podcast/co-governance-in-philly-w-kendra-brooks-nicole-kligerman-and-nikki-grant/