In Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that children’s brains are still developing and equated that with lessened culpability. Felony murder, which punishes anyone involved in the underlying felony in which someone died, even if unintentional, still punishes children for the very cognitive deficiencies that the Supreme Court identified. The research in Pennsylvania, as outlined in a report by Andrea Lindsay, MSW at the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) (“Life Without Parole for Second Degree Murder in Pennsylvania”) demonstrates that those with underdeveloped reasoning abilities, i.e., children and young adults, are disproportionately impacted by this law: 51% of people convicted of felony murder are under the age of 25.

As everyone who has parented a teenager knows, “Yes, Your Teen is Crazy!” (a book by Michael J. Bradley). Teens are impulsive, peer driven, deeply sensitive to social media, risk takers and unable to appreciate long-term consequences. Among the important skills that are underdeveloped in teenagers are concentration, planning, decision making, insight, judgment, organization, thinking long-term and weighing consequences.