Eliminating the Felony Murder Rule
for Children

The application of the felony-murder rule to children runs counter to human rights standards to not “sentence children by the same guidelines that apply to adults,” as well as to child brain and behavioral development science.

It is a well-documented fact that children are more impetuous, prone to irrational decision-making, and often lack the ability to foresee the unintended consequences of their actions. Therefore, we advocate for states to eliminate the application of the felony-murder rule to children in order to create more fair and age-appropriate sentences.