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Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

61 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4303 (2026)

 Terms of confinement.

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§ 4303.  Terms of confinement.

Upon receipt of the warrant, the secretary shall, until infliction of the death penalty or until lawful discharge from custody, keep the inmate in solitary confinement. During the confinement, no person shall be allowed to have access to the inmate without an order of the sentencing court, except the following:

(1)  The staff of the department.

(2)  The inmate's counsel of record or other attorney requested by the inmate.

(3)  A spiritual adviser selected by the inmate or the members of the immediate family of the inmate.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2012–2024 · leading case: Ernest Porter v. Pennsylvania Dep't of Cor, 974 F.3d 431 (3d Cir. 2020).
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Ernest Porter v. Pennsylvania Dep't of Cor, 974 F.3d 431 (3d Cir. 2020). · cites it 6× “Under § 4303, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections must keep an inmate sentenced to 25 Defendants have acknowledged the risks of prolonged solitary confinement.”
Williams v. Sec'y Pennsylvania Dep't of Corr., 848 F.3d 549 (3d Cir. 2017). · cites it 3× “Confinement on Death Row Plaintiffs were placed on death row after receiving their death sentences pursuant to 61 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4303 , which provides: [T]he secretary [of corrections] shall, until infliction of the death penalty .”
Lopez v. Pa. Dep't of Corr., 119 A.3d 1081 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2015). · cites it 4× “During the confinement, no person shall be allowed to have access to the inmate without an order of the sentencing court, except the following: (1) The staff of the department.”
Roy Lee Williams v. Sec'y Pennsylvania Dep't of Corr., 117 F.4th 503 (3d Cir. 2024). “29 61 Pa.C.S. § 4303 (2009). 30 Porter v. Pa.”
Commonwealth v. Michael, 56 A.3d 899 (Pa. 2012). “1 In the Commonwealth Court, the litigants agreed that the authority to grant access to Applicant rested in the common pleas court, per Section 4303 of the Prisons and Parole Code, see 61 Pa.C.S. § 4303 (prescribing that access to a prisoner subject to a pending warrant of…”
Jones v. Sec'y Pennsylvania Dep't of Corr., 549 F. App'x 108 (3d Cir. 2013). “He does not dispute that state law requires death-sentenced inmates to be housed in solitary confinement, see 61 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 4303, or that he was a death-sentenced inmate until August, 2007.”
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