Michigan's Juvenile Lifers: Who gets a second chance?

Michigan's Juvenile Lifers: Who gets a second chance?

With two landmark rulings, the United States Supreme Court has made it clear: Mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional.

This has meant that the more than 360 so-called juvenile lifers in Michigan -- the second-highest total in the nation -- are eligible for re-sentencing, and possibly a second chance.

It’s also meant time-consuming case reviews and court hearings, and, for victims’ families, often a painful reopening of the worst moments in their lives.

The week of December 12th, 2016, Michigan Radio took a close look at how Michigan is following up on these landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Are juvenile lifers in Michigan getting a second chance?

It's a difficult discussion that has life and death stakes, murders and victims, issues of justice and fairness, and a lot of legal maneuvering. It's also a conversation about how we, as a society, should treat the most troubled children among us.

There are few easy answers.

See our entire series below.

Community

Juvenile lifer walks free at age 67, after five decades in prison

Stateside Staff

It happened in a Detroit alley in 1967.Detroiter John Hall and an accomplice beat a man who later died of his injuries.John Hall was convicted of…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

A roundup of our juvenile lifers in Michigan series

Michael Schramm

In the 1990s, Michigan took a tough stand against teens under 18 convicted of violent crimes. Prosecutors in Michigan started locking more of them up for…
Politics & Government

INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHIC: How many of Michigan's "juvenile lifers" have been resentenced?

Mark Brush

With one landmark ruling in 2012, the United States Supreme Court made it clear: mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole for…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

It’s 'basic decency' to give juvenile lifers a shot at parole

Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court handed down a directive saying that all prisoners sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

Philadelphia takes a different approach to their juvenile lifers than Michigan

Steve Carmody

Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to sentence people younger than 18 to mandatory life without parole. And just about…
Community

After 41 years in prison, Detroit man is first, and so far only, juvenile lifer to get second chance

Wayne County has more than 150 juvenile lifers, by far the most in the state. As of today, only one of them – and, in fact, the only person among the more…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

In Wayne County juvenile lifer cases, questions about who gets a second chance, and why?

Sarah Cwiek

Wayne County has more than 150 juveniles serving mandatory life-without-parole prison sentences.That’s by far the most in the state. And because of recent…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

Judge or jury: Who should resentence juvenile lifers?

The 2012 Supreme Court decision in Miller v. Alabama held that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles were unconstitutional. The court’s…
Community

Michigan prosecutors balance new rights of juvenile lifers against promises made to victims

Cheyna Roth

In his office in downtown Grand Rapids, Kent County prosecutor Bill Forsyth has stacks of boxes up against a long wall. They’re labeled and stuffed with…
Criminal Justice & Legal System

With all due respect to the U.S. Supreme Court, "you can’t factor out the victims"

Elizabeth Dickey

Michigan prosecutors have come under national scrutiny for what critics have argued is an effort to ignore, or at least slowly comply with, the recent…