A scheduled vote on legislation to revamp sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder has been postponed as state officials work with local and county leaders to determine how to best respond to a March Supreme Court ruling, Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery, said Thursday.

Briggs, the prime sponsor of House Bill 443, is the majority chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 443, as introduced in February 2025, would cap the sentence for felony murder at 50 years. Felony murder sentences for juveniles would be capped at 40 years for those between the ages of 15-18 and at 30 years for offenders who were under the age of 15 at the time of the crime.

The justices in March ruled that the state’s use of life sentences without the possibility of parole for those convicted of felony murder violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s protections barring the use of cruel and unusual punishment. The justices gave the Legislature 120 days to respond to the ruling and said they will act if lawmakers don’t.

The ruling impacts inmates who were convicted of felony murder, meaning they were convicted of committing a felony crime during which someone was killed.

“I think that we can have a collaborative process to get to a better bill that balances the need to comply with the decision, but also is fair and compassionate, respects victims’ rights, and above all, maintains community safety,” Briggs said. “These people have been serving long, unconstitutional sentences, and I will not put them in a worse position than what I believe the Supreme Court would order for them.”

State officials estimate that there are about 1,100 people behind bars impacted by the ruling, about half of them in Philadelphia.

Briggs said that because so many of those impacted by the ruling are from Philadelphia, state lawmakers want to factor any concerns Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner raises with the legislation.

“We have asked him and others for language and we are awaiting their drafts to consider,” Briggs said.

Roughly 700 of those impacted by the ruling have already served more than 20 years in prison and 300 of them are over the age of 60.

The state’s use of automatic life sentences in felony murder cases has contributed to Pennsylvania having more inmates serving life behind bars than almost any other state.

A report released in January 2025 by The Sentencing Project found that there were 56,245 people nationwide serving life behind bars, a 68% increase since 2003. That report found that only Florida and California have more people serving life sentences without parole than Pennsylvania.