Felony Murder Elimination Project was founded in 2010 by Joanne Scheer when her only child, Anthony, was convicted of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole under the felony murder special circumstances law. Even though Anthony did not harm, or intend to harm, anyone, he was sentenced to die in prison. Catalyzed by this horrific experience, she determined to stop this from happening to another child.

Joanne's journey to repeal the law that so easily convicted Anthony, and thousands of others, of a murder he did not commit began with a meeting with her district legislators.  In 2016, Felony Murder Elimination Project sponsored AB 2195, authored by Assembly member Susan Bonilla, Joanne’s district legislator.  It was the first legislation to address the felony murder rule since 1999, Senator Tom Hayden’s SB 878. One year later in 2017, Felony Murder Elimination Project co-sponsored SCR 48 by Senator Nancy Skinner, and again SB 1437 in 2018, co-authored by Senators Nancy Skinner and Joel Anderson.  

Through dedicated outreach and organization, we strive to inform the public about the real and devastating consequences of these complex and little-known laws. Felony Murder Elimination Project recognizes that individuals directly impacted by an excessive and inequitable justice system have the power to change it. By bringing together family members and loved ones of incarcerated people, working directly with individuals who have been sentenced under felony murder, aligning with healing and restorative justice advocates, and collecting never-before-seen data on the horrifying disparities that result from these statutes, we are committed to ending this draconian law in all its forms.

In 2021, Felony Murder Elimination Project’s proposed legislation became Senate Bill 300, authored by Senator Dave Cortese, which will reform California’s felony murder special circumstance law to ensure that the death penalty and life without the possibility of parole cannot be imposed on people who did not intend or cause a death during the commission of a felony.  SB 300 restores discretion to judges to impose a sentence of 25 years-to-life if they determine that an opportunity to earn parole would best serve the interest of justice in a case where a special circumstance has been charged.

In 2007, Anthony Vigeant was 20 years old and serving as a clerk in the United States Marine Corps. One Sunday afternoon, during a day of drinking and watching football with fellow Marines, Anthony made the fateful decision to go with two of them to retrieve a personal laptop computer which had been sold but not paid for. One of the Marines, who had sustained a severe brain injury during his second tour in Iraq, suffered an episode of PTSD during which he thought the individual with the laptop “was not following a direct order,” pulled a gun, and shot and killed him.

All three young Marines were convicted of first-degree murder under California’s felony murder rule. The three were then sentenced to death in prison, otherwise known as life without the possibility of parole, under the felony murder special circumstance law. 

Support Anthony’s request for commutation by signing his petition!