With Senate Bill 1437, California narrowed its felony murder rule: a legal doctrine, originating from English common law, which holds defendants criminally liable for a murder—even if they did not kill nor intend to kill—if they participated in the underlying felony. Compared to other nations that practice common law, the United States is the only modern country that uses the felony murder rule. Yet this rule seemingly violates the 8th amendment of the US Constitution, especially when used to sentence the death penalty.
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The U.S. Department of Justice’s failure to indict the police officer who killed Eric Garner has revived public calls to overhaul our criminal justice system. While these calls target racial profiling and brutality, the recently decided case of Flowers v. Mississippi spotlights a more obscure, but critical issue: how we define “a jury of one’s peers.”
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