Brother in law's nephew.

Right, sorry.

He contributed to a situation that resulted in someone being killed. Felony murder requires more participation than just being a bystander. He clearly knew what was going to go down, or at least what could go down.

May as well ask about the rehabilitative effect of a life sentence for actual murder. I'm not saying they're morally equivalent, but at the same time I don't see him as particularly innocent from a legal standpoint.

I question the underlying assumptions about it being a thing that "few people understand." At the very least, I think "helping someone threaten someone else with a knife" is obvious enough as no-no from a moral standpoint that you don't have to know the ins and outs of criminal law to realize it's a bad idea.

I mean, if his friend had ended up stabbing the dealer to death, your brother-in-law's nephew could easily have been charged as an accessory, which with murder can often carry the same sentence (depending on state law).

I know this is someone you know, and it can feel kind of personal. I also know, as I said, that the criminal system doesn't necessarily treat black people the same or fairly. But in general terms, I don't think this is a situation where the law is unreasonable.