Prosecutors say Michigan Supreme Court rulings will require them to reexamine sentences for hundreds of people sentenced to life without parole, and that's likely to overwhelm already under-resourced offices.
Last month, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for people who committed first-degree murder at ages 19 or 20 are unconstitutional because their brains aren't fully developed, and they should be resentenced.
That decision followed the court’s 2022 ruling where it found that mandatory life without parole sentences for 18-year-olds violate Michigan’s ban on cruel or unusual punishment — extending protections the U.S. Supreme Court had already given to those under 18.
Now, not only do prosecutors have the 18-year-olds to review, but the 19- and 20-year-olds convicted of first-degree murder also and sentenced automatically to life without parole, who could now be eligible for resentencing.
Marilena David is the director at the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO). She said this is not new to her team.
"Michigan has been doing these type of juvenile lifer resentencings since 2016 when resentencings began for those 17 and under," she says. "Out of the 363 people in that class, the vast majority of them ended up with a term of years sentence, not a life without parole sentence."
She described the workload her organization expects to receive.
"We estimate SADO could represent approximately 300 people if we are properly funded to add additional staff to our Juvenile Lifer Unit (JLU)," she explains. "In instances where prosecutors are seeking life without parole again, these resentencing hearings will be very costly, and resource intensive, and will result in an appeal if life without parole is re-imposed."
Prosecutors, especially in Wayne and Genesee Counties, have said the ruling will make doing other work more complicated.
David Leyton is the Genesee County prosecutor. He said offices like his need more help to handle the workload.
"It's a daunting task. We're just recovering from the COVID backlog, and now we've had all these extra cases thrust at us without any resources to hire people to do the huge amount of work that's required," he said.
Leyton said he's been asking for more support. "When I went to my board of commissioners recently, I told them, look, I need help. I need more staff, I need more lawyers, I need more paralegals, I need more victim advocates, I need more support staff."
Prosecutors have until January 5, 2026, to review cases and decide whether to seek a new sentence or try for life without parole again.
