I found this fascinating, about how a law which can sound reasonable, can end up very mis-applied. by a professor who studies the criminal justice system. It's one hapless guy's scary story, along with discussing the laws themselves.
Sentenced to Life for an Accident Miles Away
A draconian legal doctrine called felony murder has put thousands of Americans—disproportionately young and Black—in prison.
In Tulsa, two men attempted to steal some copper wire from a radio tower and accidentally electrocuted themselves. One of them died and the other was charged with first-degree murder while recovering from his burns in the hospital; the girlfriend of the deceased was also charged with murder, for having driven them to the tower. In Topeka, a twenty-two-year-old made the mistake of hiding his gun atop his girlfriend’s refrigerator; he was charged with first-degree murder several days later, when a child inadvertently fired it at a thirteen-year-old girl. In Minneapolis, a sixteen-year-old girl who sat in the car while two older men killed someone in a robbery was charged with felony murder. Deemed too young to enter the adult prison population after her conviction, she was placed in solitary confinement for months, purportedly for her own safety. In Somerville, Tennessee, last May, three teen-age girls overdosed on fentanyl in their high school’s parking lot before a graduation ceremony. Two of them died, and the surviving girl was charged with murder.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...ny-murder-laws
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