This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Joanne Scheer, whose son’s incarceration on felony murder, special circumstances led her to create the Felony Murder Elimination Project.
Under the felony murder law, if someone committed a felony and a person died during the commission of that crime, all individuals are held accountable for that death and are legally guilty of murder—even if they were minor participants and the death occurred at the hand of another and was not foreseeable.
Under reforms like SB 1437, that has changed and, going forward, people who were not major participants and not the actual killer are only guilty of the underlying crime and those who previously were convicted, can petition the court for resentencing.
But that doesn’t impact Joanne Scheer’s son. There have been attempts to change the law, such as by Dave Cortese, who was previously a guest on Everyday Injustice, who have attempted to reach the high bar and pass SB 300 which would have allowed for people sentenced to LWOP who were not the actual killers to have a chance at parole.
Listen to the efforts of Scheer and the Felony Murder Elimination Process to bring fairness and justice for many who languish in prison despite minimal involvement in the underlying crimes.
