A recently passed bill is waiting for the governor’s signature.
Its Markie’s Law, named after an 8-year-old boy fatally stabbed by a man paroled at the end of his minimum sentence, even after assaulting other prisoners.
Representative Aaron Bernstine sponsored the legislation to, in his words, “keep the most dangerous inmates from a premature release.”
Consideration of a violent inmate’s parole would be delayed by two years for each violent offense in prison.
Bernstine says: “Markie’s Law will hold inmates account table for their actions.”
Inmates like Keith Burley, the convicted murderer who abducted Markie Mason and his 7-year-old brother during a domestic dispute.
Burley was arrested four months later for Markie’s stabbing death.
We call on Governor Tom Wolf to sign this measure into law.