Overview
- The segment defines felony murder as treating a felony plus a death as murder even when the defendant was not the killer or nearby, citing a man serving life after lending his car used in a fatal robbery.
- Oliver says prosecutors favor the charge because it is easier to win than a standard first-degree murder case, pressuring defendants into severe sentences and plea deals.
- He reports that 11 people have been executed under felony-murder rules since 1985 despite not personally committing a killing.
- The show underscores stark racial disparities, with New York data indicating Hispanic people are about 12 times as likely as white people to be convicted and Black people more than 34 times as likely.
- Citing research that finds no deterrent effect, Oliver urges abolishing the charge, noting some states are narrowing its use and some convictions have been overturned mostly for white defendants.