Dear John, The Sentencing Project and Fair and Just Prosecution today released an extensive analysis of the United States’ fundamentally flawed felony murder laws – a legal landscape that is at odds with the rest of the world. "Felony murder" occurs when a person participates in a felony, such as a robbery, that results in someone’s death. Felony murder laws compel harsh decades-long – or even life – sentences even when the individual charged did not directly cause or intend the loss of life. Felony Murder: An On-Ramp for Extreme Sentencing, co-authored by Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst at The Sentencing Project, explains that thousands of Americans will remain behind bars their entire lives, even when they do not not pose a public safety risk, based on these extreme sentencing provisions. These laws have particularly adverse impacts on young people of color and women. |
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The report recounts the personal stories of people serving life sentences for felony murder. Emmanuel Mendoza, for example, was 19 when he took part in a robbery that ended in his accomplice fatally shooting the victim. Although Mendoza did not have a weapon and the killing had not been planned, he was convicted of felony murder with special circumstances and automatically sentenced to life without parole. The Sentencing Project and Fair and Just Prosecution recommend that all U.S. jurisdictions repeal felony murder statutes. The model policy memo included in the report sets forth recommended changes prosecutors can put in place to lead reform efforts. Click here to read the full report. |
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