Michigan court bans mandatory life sentences for 19 and 20-year-olds in
murder cases
[April 11, 2025]
By ED WHITE
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court made an extraordinary change
to the state's sentencing law Thursday, striking down automatic,
no-parole prison terms for 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds convicted of
murder.
As a result, hundreds of people will be eligible to return to local
courts to ask for a shorter sentence and an opportunity for freedom. At
the same time, anguished friends and relatives of murder victims will
have to revisit the cases, too.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-2 opinion, said mandatory life sentences for
people who were 19 and 20 at the time of the crime violate a ban against
“cruel or unusual punishment” in the Michigan Constitution. The court
made a similar decision for 18-year-olds in 2022.
A mandatory life sentence “that does not allow for consideration of the
mitigating factors of youth or the potential for rehabilitation is a
grossly disproportionate punishment,” Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote.
Michigan was among only 16 U.S. states that impose mandatory life terms
on anyone convicted of first-degree murder who was over 18, according to
the MacArthur Justice Center.
A life sentence in Michigan still can be possible for someone 19 or 20,
though it will be rare. The burden will be on prosecutors to show that
someone convicted of murder should never get a chance at parole. Judges
will hear evidence about family life, mental health, education and other
factors, the same process followed for people 18 or under.
Welch said the court's decision was rooted in scientific research about
brain development and a young person's ability to fully grasp the
consequences of their actions.
“As late adolescents mature into fully developed adults, they become
less prone to reckless decision-making, more likely to consider and
appreciate consequences, and less susceptible to peer pressure,” Welch
said.
[to top of second column]
|
The Michigan Hall of Justice, home to the Michigan Supreme Court is
photographed, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Lansing, Mich. (AP
Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
In a dissent, Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement said lawmakers, not
the court, should decide whether to change the law.
“Courts should not reshape the law with every shift in scientific
consensus, especially when it is the Michigan Constitution that is
the subject of reshaping,” said Clement, who was joined by Justice
Brian Zahra.
During arguments in January, Flint-area assistant prosecutor Katie
Jory urged the court to think about the impact on victims' families
if nearly 600 sentences are reopened.
They will be “forced to reopen these old wounds, stop where they are
in their grieving process, go in front of a court again and bare
publicly their soul regarding the hurt that they have experienced
based on the murder of their loved one,” Jory said.
The Supreme Court heard appeals on behalf of Montario Taylor, who
was 20 when he repeatedly shot a man in the victim's home in 2016,
and Andrew Czarnecki, who was 19 when he was involved in the fatal
beating of a man with a Christmas tree stand in 2013.
Since 2021, courts or lawmakers in Washington state, Illinois and
Massachusetts have prohibited life sentences for people under 21 or
made parole opportunities available.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
