Michigan's juvenile lifers: Getting the short end of the stick?

Offending teenagers ain’t gonna get off easy in Michigan! No siree!

Over the past 15 years or so, progressive-minded people in our nation’s judicial system have been taking a second look at severe sentencing practices involving kids. Getting tough on crime meant getting tough on youthful offenders back in the 80s and 90s, but finally that concept is getting some reassessment. Even so, as the Detroit Free Press points out, it’s slow going in Pure Michigan.

Already in 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that we can’t execute kids anymore, but that didn’t affect Michigan because we don’t have the death penalty.

Then, in 2012, the high court ruled that life without parole for juveniles amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. It was no longer allowed. Michigan, which has the second highest number of juvenile lifers in the country, pushed back, saying this ruling should not be retroactive. The court disagreed, and in 2016 made it official.

BUT, they left the decisions on how to get the job done up to each state. And predictably, Michigan is dragging its feet. Says the Freep: Three and a half years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juvenile lifers should have the opportunity to be re-sentenced and come home, more than half in Michigan are still waiting to go before a judge to learn their fate.

That means nearly 200 inmates are still waiting for a judicial review! 

Since I started working on judicial issues back in the mid-90s, I have some personal feelings about almost all persons I have met who are prosecutors, or were prosecutors, or who want to be a prosecutor. They seem to possess something I call the “prosecutor mindset.” I can’t quite put it into words, but be assured that it sides heavily with victims of crime, leans heavily on punishment, and gives little consideration to such matters as development differences in the teenage brain and rehabilitation.

That’s why I have little hope for immediate improvement in the juvenile lifers situation in Michigan.

Michigan prosecutors are quoted as defending this slow pace, saying they are “thoughtfully weighing each case.” Riiiiiight.

Says Eli Savit, an Ann Arbor-based lawyer: "I think we’re on the far end of the spectrum in terms of not being very forgiving."

Oh, really?

According to Savit, who hopes to be a prosecutor someday, the job of prosecutor is first about keeping the community safe — but in that equation comes the responsibility to assess what is best for the community. 

Let’s hope that a new crop of prosecutors and judges taking office in years to come will take a fresh look at this important topic. It’s dragging on far too long.

Let’s support those agencies clamoring for a speed-up.

Let’s seek out future candidates for office who don’t seem to identify with the “prosecutor mindset” of the old guard.

Our juvenile lifers deserve better.