Change the Felony Murder Rule in Florida

[Note: the following comments are from George Brown, Founder of the North Carolina Citizens for Felony Murder Rule Change]

One of the most important principles of American jurisprudence is that the punishment should fit the crime.

As law abiding citizens, we rightly should expect that the murdering monsters of little or no conscience among us will be taken out of society permanently. The Felony Murder Rule accomplishes this end very efficiently.

The problem comes when someone dies (for whatever reason, even a heart attack) and there has been no conspiracy, premeditation, or intention to commit murder. If the death occurs with a direct connection to an underlying felony, such as robbery, the FMR treats anyone involved in the crime as a first-degree murderer, even if the defendant had no weapon and no intention of harming anyone.

Sadly, this is the situation in which many of our young people find themselves and if convicted, they will serve life in prison with no possibility of parole. It doesn’t matter if the defendant had no prior criminal record, is talented with a promising future, or had no expectation that the activity would result in someone dying or even getting hurt. The result, if convicted, is the same: life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

There are few checks and balances on the power of a prosecutor. Some use their power wisely and charge defendants with whatever their actual role in the crime was. Some use the FMR to bludgeon defendants into pleading guilty — either to escape the death penalty or to plead to a lesser crime. Others will push the FMR to the limit and not allow pleas to any other lesser charge.

The fight for FMR change will be neither easy nor quick. Thomas Jefferson fought for ten years to win the point of separation of church and state. It took decades before the North Carolina legislature could be convinced to make legal either a state lottery or liquor by the drink. To win our quest for FMR change, we must be prepared for the long haul.

It will take an informed public consistently seeing, calling, and writing to their legislators, for however long it takes, to effect any meaningful change in Florida’s Felony Murder Rule. This little known, barely understood law must be exposed for what it is: unwise, unjust, and unfair.

We wish you well, and most of all, we wish you patience and perseverance!

George Brown, Founder
North Carolina Citizens for Felony Murder Rule Change