The delay was due to the time needed to finish the Western Penitentiary in Centre County, now the State Correctional Institution – Rockview.
[6] The former governor of Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, signed a bill in 1990 that changed the method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection.
[7] With concerns over the cost of the death penalty growing, governor Tom Wolf requested a cost-benefit analysis.
"[10] In justifying the moratorium, Wolf asserted as concerns that the system claims innocent lives, is not a deterrent to crime, is racially biased, costs a lot of money, and disregards mental illness in the US.
[13] Previously death row inmates were held at SCI Greene, which housed most men in this category.
[17] Some inmates who were facing death row have received re-trials or different sentencing strategies due to the 2015 moratorium.
If one of the ten aggravating circumstances listed in Pennsylvania law and none of the eight mitigating factors are found to be involved in the case, the verdict is death for the defendant.
In the case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial).
[22] State constitutional provisions require a unanimous vote of the Pardons Board to permanently change any life or death sentence before the governor can commute it.