Every year, people are sentenced to decades — sometimes life — in prison under felony murder laws, even when they did not kill, intend to kill, or foresee that a death would occur. These laws impose automatic, extreme punishment without regard for individual culpability, rehabilitation, or proportional justice.

This petition calls for urgent felony murder reform in New York — and for clemency relief for Jacob Rouse, a man whose case exemplifies the profound injustice these laws continue to cause.

Jacob Rouse was 19 years old when he was incarcerated. He is 39 years old today. More than half of his life has been spent behind bars — not because he killed someone, intended harm, or directly committed a violent act, but because New York’s felony murder law punished association instead of individual culpability.

On the night that changed Jacob’s life forever, he made a serious and reckless decision: he drove three acquaintances, knowing that one of them had brought weapons and that they intended to commit a robbery. That decision warrants accountability. Jacob has never denied that.

What the law failed to distinguish is what Jacob did next — and what he did not do.

When the others exited the car to follow a single man walking down the road, Jacob stayed behind. He did not follow them. He did not carry a weapon. He did not confront anyone. He remained alone in his vehicle. The attempted robbery was aborted. The intended target escaped. No property was taken. Critically, no underlying felony was ever charged against any defendant in this case — a foundational requirement felony murder laws are meant to rely upon.

As the three associates walked back toward the car, a separate and volatile encounter occurred. A vehicle nearly struck them while backing out of a driveway. What followed was not part of any agreed plan and was not foreseeable. One individual, acting alone, chose to escalate the situation.

Angered by the near collision, that individual approached the vehicle. He displayed the gun. He opened fire. He alone initiated the violence that resulted in the death of Herschel Scriven. That individual was never charged with murder.

Jacob witnessed the shooting from his car, unarmed and powerless to intervene. He did not encourage the violence. He did not assist in it. He did not anticipate it. In fear and shock, he fled — a panicked reaction to sudden, senseless violence.

Jacob accepts responsibility for his poor judgment that night. But responsibility is not the same as murder. He did not kill anyone. He did not intend for anyone to be killed. And no court ever established the underlying felony that felony murder convictions are supposed to rest upon.

The loss of Herschel Scriven, a youth minister in Rochester, is real and deeply mourned. Acknowledging that loss does not require abandoning proportional justice. Justice should never depend on legal shortcuts that erase individual responsibility.

Yet the law treated Jacob as if intent, action, and proximity were interchangeable. A young man who never killed, never intended to kill, and was not present when a death occurred was sentenced to 22 years to life for murder.

For these leaders who hold the power to shape justice, we respectfully urge fair felony murder reform that holds individuals accountable without punishing those not directly responsible. In particular, we ask that clemency be granted to Jacob Rouse, whose case highlights the urgent need for justice guided by fairness and proportionality.