Marie Scott, who’s spent 51 years in prison for murder, will get a public hearing in her quest for an early release

Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons on Thursday voted unanimously to grant Marie Scott, who has served 51 years behind bars for murder, a public hearing — a critical step in her quest to be considered for an early release from prison.

The vote does not mean that Scott, 71, will be freed, and it does not guarantee that the board will approve her petition for a commutation of the life sentence she has been serving for her role in a robbery that led to the death of a Philadelphia man in 1973. But it is hurdle she has never before surpassed, and that was not guaranteed after her attorneys said the head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections did not back her application.

Scott will now go before the board for a public hearing in May, where her attorneys, along with prison officials and the family of the victim of her crime, will testify for or against her petition for release. To win her freedom, Scott would need a unanimous vote of the five-member board and final approval from Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Scott has been incarcerated since she was 19, after she took part in a deadly robbery at a Germantown gas station in 1973. She and her then-boyfriend, while high on drugs, confronted the store’s cashier, Michael Kerrigan, at knifepoint before rifling through the register and safe. Scott was acting as lookout when — to her surprise, she says — the boyfriend shot and killed Kerrigan, an off-duty firefighter and father of seven.

Scott was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her 16-year-old accomplice, Leroy Saxton, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to the same fate.

But Saxton, who pulled the trigger, was released on time served in 2020 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned mandatory life sentences for juveniles.

Scott, known as “Mechie,” remains behind bars more than half a century later, her health now deteriorating. She relies on a wheelchair and is battling Stage 2 breast cancer. She underwent surgery for a double mastectomy earlier this year.

Two of Kerrigan’s children said that they support Scott’s release and that, while they will never forget her crime or the agony it brought for their family, they forgive her. Other members of the family, however, have said they oppose Scott’s commutation request and will speak against it at the hearing.

A team of advocates and lawyers have been pushing for Scott’s freedom, running a social media, phone, and letter-writing campaign to Shapiro and prison officials to encourage them to support her release. Over the last week, members of Philadelphia City Council, alongside state senators and representatives, released a series of public statements and videos encouraging the board to grant Scott a hearing and send her home. Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill shared a story about her case on Instagram and X, saying she should be freed.

“We are overjoyed and heartened by Mechie crossing this very critical threshold,” said Bret Grote, the legal director of the Abolition Law Center, which has represented Scott for years.

“We will be continuing to advocate so that Mechie can be home with her family,” he said.

Leaders of State Correctional Institution Muncy, where Scott has lived for decades, have said they supported her petition, Grote said, but Laurel Harry, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said she would not — a decision that could be a major obstacle. It is rare for the board to approve a commutation — or even offer a public hearing — without the secretary’s support, Grote said.

In opposing Scott’s bid for release, Grote said, Harry pointed to the three times between 1975 and 1980 that Scott escaped from prison.

But in the more than four decades since those incidents, the lawyer said, Scott has been a model inmate. She has expressed remorse and hopes to apologize to her victim’s family, he said. While at Muncy, she has written books about healing, directed plays, and become a mentor and mother figure to dozens of women inside, teaching them how to control their emotions, plan for the future, and work to redeem themselves.

On Thursday, all five members of the board — including Attorney General Dave Sunday and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis — voted to grant Scott a public hearing in her bid for release.

The board approved public hearings for eight others seeking commutations, including four people from Philadelphia all serving life sentences for murder: Ronald Weaver, 66, who has served 44 years; Michael Washington, 71, who has spent 31 years in prison; Larry Shaw, 65, incarcerated since he was 27; and Dannielle Hadley, 61, who has served 37 years.