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July 15, 2011
DETROIT – In a decision issued today, a federal judge
has allowed a lawsuit challenging Michigan’s juvenile
life without parole sentences to proceed. Today’s ruling
allows the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of
Michigan to prove that Michigan’s sentencing scheme that
denies children a meaningful opportunity for parole
constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates
their constitutional rights.
In his 13-page decision, Judge John Corbett O’Meara
allowed one of the plaintiffs, Keith Maxey, to continue
with the case. Citing the three-year statute of
limitations, he ruled that the other 12 clients waited
too long to challenge their sentences. Maxey was 16 in
2007 when he was sentenced to life without the
possibility of parole for his part in a robbery.
Michigan law requires that children as young as 14 who
are charged with certain felonies be tried as adults
and, if convicted of a homicide offense, sentenced
without judicial discretion to life without parole.
The following can be attributed to Deborah Labelle,
attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s Juvenile Life
Without Parole Initiative:
“Today’s ruling allows us to prove what many already
know – sentencing children to die in prison without
giving them an opportunity for parole is inhumane,
unfair and unconstitutional. By ignoring a child’s
potential for rehabilitation and denying judges and
juries any discretion, the state doles out unforgiving
sentences that violate basic fairness and human rights
principles. This decision is the first step toward
correcting this fundamental injustice.”
In addition, the following can be attributed to Ezekiel
Edwards, staff attorney with the ACLU Criminal Law
Reform Project:
“It is unquestionably unconstitutional to deny children
any possibility of parole. The United States needs to
join the rest of the world and stop the cruel and
unusual practice of sentencing kids to spend the rest of
their lives in prison.”
To read the decision, go to:
http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/JLWOPdecision.pdf
To read the ACLU’s complaint, go to:
http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/JLWOPComplaint.pdf
To
read more about this case, go to:
http://www.aclumich.org/issues/prisoner-rights/2010-11/1478 |
