Israel hanged Adolf Eichmann for his complicity in the murder of 6 million Jews even though he didn’t personally kill anyone.
His role in the Holocaust was “collecting information on the Jews in each area, organizing the seizure of their property, and arranging for and scheduling trains” to extermination camps, according to Wikipedia (see article here).
That was culpability enough for the Israelis, and it’s a concept known to American law as the “felony murder” rule (explained here). In short, Eichmann was held responsible for deaths committed by others because he participated in and helped organize the criminal enterprise.
Kid robber
Now let’s consider how that concept works in a more mundane, everyday crime. Seattle police just arrested three persons, ages 21, 19, and 11, for a string of armed robberies at gas stations and convenience stores (read story here).
No one was shot during these robberies, but let’s hypothesize someone was by a gun-wielding 11-year-old, while adult accomplices waited outside in a getaway car.
The 11-year-old at most might be confined to a juvenile facility until age 21. But under Washington’s felony murder law (read it here), the adults could be tried for murder and given adult sentences as though they had killed the attendant themselves. And why shouldn’t they be?
Should they get off easier because they put a kid up to committing the crime? Heck no. That’s one of the reasons why society needs a felony murder rule.
