Pa. High Court Takes Up Gov. Wolf's Death Penalty Moratorium

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's highest court will decide whether Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty is legal.

A Supreme Court order issued Tuesday granted the request by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to review the policy announced by the governor last month.

The court says it won't expedite the case. The justices want to hear argument about whether they should have taken up the matter at all, along with argument about how they should rule.

The case centers on a reprieve issued by Wolf to state prison inmate Terrance Williams. He's on death row for the fatal tire-iron beating of a man in Philadelphia in 1984.

Wolf says the state's death penalty system is error-prone and expensive. He plans to issue reprieves while a legislative panel studies the issue.