Dear John,
Can you imagine receiving a life without parole (LWOP) sentence for something that happened when you weren’t even there?! Ceona can.
“I wasn’t present at the scene. I was actually with my sister and my friend grocery shopping when the crime took place. I was convicted under the felony murder rule, and was then sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.” - Ceona Harvey, served 15 years of a LWOP sentence, CA (quoted from video, linked below)
That is the reality for hundreds of people including Ceona, who suffered the consequences of an unjust felony murder law.
In order to help right this wrong, one of our partners, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, requested a Racial Justice Fund grant to produce a video that would educate the public about California’s racist felony murder law and the Drop LWOP coalition's work to change it.
Let me be clear. Felony murder laws are not just a criminal legal matter. This is a matter of racial injustice that is destroying lives, families, and communities across our country.
In California, prosecutors are more likely to bring certain felony murder charges which carry a mandatory life without parole sentence against people of color or in cases involving white victims.
You can change this.
