Until 2019, countless of inmates in California had been serving unjustly long sentences for murder convictions, even though they never killed, attempted to kill, or intended for a person to die. Fortunately, as part of the ongoing criminal justice reform in California, in 2017, the state legislature acknowledged the need…
FELONY MURDER RULE RELIEF (SB 1437) On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1437. SB 1437 became known as the Felony Murder Rule effectively changing the rules for how California charges felony murders. Prior to SB 1437, California law allowed a defendant to be convicted…
Senate Bill 1437 took effect in January of this year, yet many still challenge whether the new state law regarding felony murder is constitutional. The old felony murder doctrine left countless people locked up in prison, some for decades, for murders they didn’t commit. Essentially, anyone who was an accomplice…
SB 1437 is a senate bill that has been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, a law that goes into effect on the first day of the new year. What does this mean for convicted felons who are behind bars for a murder that occurred during a burglary, robbery,…