Michigan supreme court rules against life without parole for some offenders

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Michigan Supreme Court has handed down a landmark ruling regarding murderers under the age of 21, stating that they can no longer be sentenced to mandatory life without parole. 

They called it unconstitutionally cruel punishment.

This ruling applies retroactively to nearly 600 people. Assistant defender Maya Menlo said everyone who is sitting in prison now for 10, 20, 30, 40 years will have a re-sentencing hearing.

What they're saying:

Menlo is an attorney with the State Appellate Defender Office who argued on behalf of two men who were convicted of first-degree murder when they were 19 and 20 years old and sentenced to mandatory life without parole. This was the ruling they were hoping for.

"A re-sentencing will allow the court to consider youth in a way that was not required or was not done previously," she said.

Menlo explains that science shows the brains of young people are not fully developed. Not only can they not fully understand the consequences of their actions, but they can also change.

Dig deeper:

Wendi Johnson is an associate professor and director of the Criminal Justice Program at Oakland University. She has done extensive work interviewing people sentenced to life in prison when they were very young.

"Michigan has actually holds the distinction of sentencing more juveniles to life without parole than any other state in the union," she said.

The United States Supreme Court previously ruled that juveniles could not be sentenced to mandatory life behind bars, and that applied retroactively. Here in Michigan, it applies to 19 and 20-year-olds as well.

"It doesn't mean that somebody's going to automatically get out; it just simply means they have a chance to be heard," she said.

What's next:

It will take years for the cases to go back before the courts for re-sentencing, and the parole board still has a say as well.