Sharon Wiggins

Last updated
Sharon Margaret Wiggins
Bornc. 1950/1951
United States
DiedMarch 24, 2013 (aged 62)
Bethane Unit State Correctional Institution - Muncy, Pennsylvania, US
Conviction(s) Bank robbery
Criminal penaltyDeath penalty (1969), commuted to life tariff without parole (1971)
Details
CountryUnited States
State(s)Pennsylvania

Sharon Margaret Wiggins, nicknamed "Peachie", was an American woman, who was the longest incarcerated female serving juvenile life without parole in the world.

Contents

Bank robbery

At the age of 17, Wiggins, along with her two co-defendants Foster Tarver, age 17, and Samuel Barlow, age 18, planned to rob the Dauphin Deposit Bank in Dauphin, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1968. Barlow was in the stolen get-away car; armed, Wiggins and Foster entered the bank. Wiggins was positioned at the front door hidden behind a tall plant while Tarver went deeper into the bank. George Morelock, a customer, entered the bank unaware that a robbery had commenced. Morelock wrestled with Wiggins to stop the robbery and her gun went off twice. Tarver ran over and shot Morelock again. Wiggins and Tarver fled the bank, got into the car, and were quickly apprehended when Barlow lost control of the car while police fired. [1]

Sentencing and incarceration

In 1969 Wiggins, Tarver, and Barlow were sentenced to death. In 1971 all three had their sentences commuted to life without the possibility of parole.

At that time in 1969, there were no women at SCI Muncy serving a death sentence, and so Wiggins was confined to the restricted housing unit, the Clinton Building, behind the main property. SCI Muncy had no fence or wall securing the facility until 1985; as a result, many women walked away. Muncy had the highest rate of all Pennsylvania state prisons for escapes prior to the wall and fence being erected. Wiggins walked away twice during her first ten years of her life sentence. In 1973 while attending Williamsport Community College, she walked away. While on escape status for about 30 days, she turned herself in to authorities. In 1975 she walked away from the institution and was on escape status for three years.

In 1983, Wiggins filed a class action lawsuit with other female prisoners at Muncy, which led to the opening of a law clinic at the facility as well as other reforms. In addition to the lack of law clinic (a standard resource at men's prisons), the suit also alleged that Muncy's vocational, educational, medical, rehabilitative, and psychological services were inferior, and that the prison was unsafe, due to fire hazards and asbestos. [2] A prison counselor, Nancy Sponeybarger, later described Wiggins's positive contributions to the incarcerated community as a peer counselor, tutor, and mediator. Sponeybarger continued to visit Wiggins even after leaving her job at Muncy. [3]

Wiggins was the first graduate of Penn State University's continuing education program at SCI Muncy. Later she worked for PSU as an administrator and student liaison for the Muncy program. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections allowed this arrangement since Wiggins agreed to pay for her "room and board" expenses from her salary while serving her life sentence. It is believed that she is the only prisoner in the US to be afforded this opportunity under those conditions. [4]

In 2009 the Pennsylvania Prison Society named Wiggins Prisoner of the Year, "in recognition of her constant efforts to improve the world around her, of the hope which she ignites in others and the positive and effective leadership she provides."

Wiggins applied for commutation 13 times; the last application was filed shortly before her death. [5] Her co-defendant Tarver was paroled in June 2018. [6] Barlow was granted clemency in March 2019.

Death and legacy

Wiggins died of heart problems on March 24, 2013, at the age of 62 in her Bethune Unit cell at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy in Pennsylvania. She is buried at Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. A memorial and tribute was held for her in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 2013, hosted by The Pennsylvania Coalition for The Fair Sentencing of Youth and organized by attorney Emily Keller of the Juvenile Law Center and Ellen Melchiondo, an official visitor with the Pennsylvania Prison Society. [7]

After Wiggins' death, Melchiondo donated a collection of biographical material, correspondence, interviews, and writings from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women about Wiggins. [8] In 2015, The Sharon Peachie Wiggins Biographical Materials archive was established at Penn State University, in University Park, Pennsylvania. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Atkins</span> Convicted murderer and member of the "Manson family" (1948–2009)

Susan Denise Atkins was an American convicted murderer who was a member of Charles Manson's "Family". Manson's followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969. Known within the Manson family as Sadie Mae Glutz or Sexy Sadie, Atkins was convicted for her participation in eight of these killings, including the most notorious, the Tate murders in 1969. She was sentenced to death, which was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment when the California Supreme Court invalidated all death sentences issued prior to 1972. Atkins was incarcerated until her death in 2009. At the time of her death, she was California's longest-serving female inmate, long since surpassed by fellow Manson family members Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel.

In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for early release after a minimum term set by the judge. In exceptional cases a judge may impose a "whole life order", meaning that the offender is never considered for parole, although they may still be released on compassionate grounds at the discretion of the Home Secretary. Whole life orders are usually imposed for aggravated murder, and can only be imposed where the offender was at least 21 years old at the time of the offence being committed.

HM Prison Low Newton is a closed prison for female adults and young offenders in Brasside, County Durham, England. The prison, which is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, is next to HMP Frankland, a Category A men's prison. Notable inmates at the prison include formerly Rosemary West, as well as spree killer Joanna Dennehy.

The 1982 Wilkes-Barre shootings was a spree shooting which occurred in the United States on September 25, 1982, carried out by George Emil Banks, a former Camp Hill prison guard. Banks fatally shot 13 people in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Jenkins Township. The victims included seven children – five being his own – their mothers, some of their relatives, and one bystander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Women's Prison</span> Prison in Indiana

The Indiana Women's Prison was established in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the country. The original location of the prison was one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Indianapolis. It has since moved to 2596 Girls School Road, former location of the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility. As of 2005, it had an average daily population of 420 inmates, most of whom are members of special-needs populations, such as geriatric, mentally ill, pregnant, and juveniles sentenced as adults. By the end of 2015, the population increased to 599 inmates. Security levels range from medium to maximum. The prison holds Indiana's only death row for women; however, it currently has no death row inmates. The one woman under an Indiana death sentence, Debra Denise Brown, had her sentence commuted to 140 years imprisonment in 2018 and is being held in Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Honeck</span> American murderer

Richard Honeck was an American murderer who served one of the longest custodial sentences ever to terminate in a prisoner's release in American criminal history. Jailed in November 1899 for the murder of a former school friend, Honeck was paroled from Southern Illinois Penitentiary in Chester, Illinois on 20 December 1963, having completed 64 years and one month of his life sentence, and served a total of 23,418 days in jail.

In the United States, life imprisonment is amongst the most severe punishments provided by law, depending on the state, and second only to the death penalty. According to a 2013 study, 1 of every 20,000 inhabitants of the U.S. were imprisoned for life as of 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections</span> State law enforcement agency of Louisiana

The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) is a state law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates and management of facilities at state prisons within the state of Louisiana. The agency is headquartered in Baton Rouge. The agency comprises two major areas: Public Safety Services and Corrections Services. The secretary, who is appointed by the governor of Louisiana, serves as the department's chief executive officer. The Corrections Services deputy secretary, undersecretary, and assistant secretaries for the Office of Adult Services and the Office of Youth Development report directly to the secretary. Headquarters administration consists of centralized divisions that support the management and operations of the adult and juvenile institutions, adult and juvenile probation and parole district offices, and all other services provided by the department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Department of Corrections</span> State agency in Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care, and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The agency is headquartered in Hampden Township, Cumberland County in Greater Harrisburg, near Mechanicsburg.

Marsy's Law, the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election, is an amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process, including the right to legal standing, protection from the defendant, notification of all court proceedings, and restitution, as well as granting parole boards far greater powers to deny inmates parole. Critics allege that the law unconstitutionally restricts defendant's rights by allowing prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence under certain circumstances, and harms victims by restricting their rights to discovery, depositions, and interviews. Passage of this law in California led to the passage of similar laws in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio and Wisconsin, and efforts to pass similar laws in Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. In November 2017, Marsy's Law was found to be unconstitutional and void in its entirety by the Supreme Court of Montana for violating that state's procedure for amending the Montana Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as Montana under its own state constitution in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Correctional Institution – Muncy</span>

State Correctional Institution – Muncy is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison for women in Clinton Township, Lycoming County, near Muncy. SCI Muncy, a close security prison, has Pennsylvania's "Death Row" for women.

Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. During the United States' War on Drugs, the states were left responsible for solving the prison overcrowding issue with a limited amount of money. Moreover, federal prison populations may increase if states adhere to federal policies, such as mandatory minimum sentences. On the other hand, the Justice Department provides billions of dollars a year for state and local law enforcement to ensure they follow the policies set forth by the federal government concerning U.S. prisons. Prison overcrowding has affected some states more than others, but overall, the risks of overcrowding are substantial and there are solutions to this problem.

Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. The ruling applied even to those persons who had committed murder as a juvenile, extending beyond Graham v. Florida (2010), which had ruled juvenile life without parole sentences unconstitutional for crimes excluding murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal justice reform in the United States</span> Reforms seeking to address structural issues in criminal justice systems of the United States

Criminal justice reform seeks to address structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Reforms can take place at any point where the criminal justice system intervenes in citizens’ lives, including lawmaking, policing, sentencing and incarceration. Criminal justice reform can also address the collateral consequences of conviction, including disenfranchisement or lack of access to housing or employment, that may restrict the rights of individuals with criminal records.

Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U.S. 190 (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that its previous ruling in Miller v. Alabama (2012), that a mandatory life sentence without parole should not apply to persons convicted of murder committed as juveniles, should be applied retroactively. This decision potentially affects up to 2,300 cases nationwide.

Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Pennsylvania. Despite remaining a legal penalty, there have been no executions in Pennsylvania since 1999, and only three since 1976. In February 2015, Governor Tom Wolf announced a formal moratorium on executions that is still in effect as of 2023, with incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro continuing Wolf's moratorium. However, capital crimes are still prosecuted and death warrants are still issued.

Joseph Ligon is an American convicted murderer and former prisoner. He was America's longest-serving prisoner who was convicted to a life sentence as a minor. At 15, he was found guilty of murder by association and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After the US Supreme Court had ruled in 2016 that all juvenile life sentences without parole were retroactively unconstitutional, he was released in 2021, having spent 68 years in jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Correctional Institution – Phoenix</span> U.S. state prison

The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix is a state prison in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a Collegeville postal address, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Operated by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, it was named after the phoenix bird.

The Louisiana Parole Project, also known as The Parole Project, is a non-profit organization dedicated to parole, probation, and sentencing reform in the United States. The project advocates through parole and clemency petitions and assists formerly incarcerated people as they reenter society.

References

  1. ↑ Nancy, Eshelman (March 14, 2012). "3 Black Teens Sentenced to Death in Harrisburg PA". Harrisburg Patriot News.
  2. ↑ Duncombe, Ted (November 13, 1988). "Women in Prison: Sisterhood Sometimes Penetrates the Bars: At Muncy, Pa., Site Prisoners Go to Court to Widen Their Rights". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press.
  3. ↑ Segura, Liliana (August 7, 2012). "The Uncertain Fate of Pennsylvania's Juvenile Lifers". The Nation. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Borzillerj, Meri-Jo. "Sharon Wiggins 1951-2013: Prisoner and Advocate". The Penn Stater. No. September/October 2013.
  5. ↑ Reed Ward, Paula (April 7, 2013). "Juvenile lifer Sharon Wiggins followed court cases in hopes of freedom". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. ↑ Miller, Matt (June 15, 2018). "Dauphin County's oldest juvenile lifer is free after being jailed since 1968". Penn Live. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Collection on Sharon 'Peachie' Wiggins donated to University Libraries". Penn State News. April 27, 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Prisoner for life rose above the prison environment: Ellen Melchiondo donates records to Penn State". Bucks County Herald. Penn State News. August 4, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Collection on Sharon 'Peachie' Wiggins donated to University Libraries". Penn State News. April 27, 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.