Op-Ed special to the San Jose Spotlight:

"Have you ever wondered why two people who get charged with exactly the same crime get sentenced to completely different prison terms?

The answer is something called “judicial discretion.” It means that, in the absence of a fixed rule, and with regard to what is fair and equitable under the circumstances and the law, a judge is allowed to consider individual circumstances when deciding a sentence.

This immense responsibility falls with a judge. Should a convicted murderer be sentenced to 25 years-to-life? Or life in prison without the possibility of parole? For a judge, this decision depends on the underlying facts and evidence revealed during a trial.

That is except in one very misguided California murder sentencing statute: felony murder special circumstances law.

In this case, if an accessory to a murder is convicted—even an unwitting accessory or someone who only committed a lesser offense, with no actual intent to be involved in a murder—that person under “felony murder special circumstances” sentencing either receives the death penalty or goes to prison for life without any possibility of parole. There is absolutely no discretion afforded to the sentencing judge as to what might be the fair and equitable sentence under those circumstances.

Therefore, a driver in a vehicle fleeing a robbery with no intent to kill can receive the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, while a co-defendant who pulled the trigger gets 25 years-to-life in prison."

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California State Senator Dave Cortese (D-15) is the sponsor of Senate Bill 300. He is a valued ally and supporter of our efforts to 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.

You can read the full Op-Ed by Senator Cortese in the San Jose Spotlight HERE.