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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:15 pm
Time: 11:15 pm
Results for juvenile offenders (michigan)
3 results foundAuthor: LaBelle, Deborah Title: Second Chances: Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole in Michigan Summary: Each year in the United States, children as young as thirteen are sentenced to die in prison. It’s called life without parole. It is estimated that thousands of children have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for crimes committed at an age when they are not considered responsible enough to live away from their parents, drive, make decisions related to their education or medical treatment, vote, leave school, or sign a contract. Children under the age of eighteen cannot legally use alcohol, serve on juries, or be drafted, because they are presumed not to have the capacity to handle adult responsibilities. These differences between childhood and adulthood are recognized throughout the world, and incorporated in international human rights documents. Despite a global consensus that children cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults, in the last twenty years the trend in the United States has been to punish children the same as adults. Children are increasingly excluded from the protection of juvenile courts based on the nature of the offense, without any consideration of their maturity, culpability, or current or future danger to society. In particular, Michigan allows a child of any age to be tried as an adult, and excludes seventeen-yearolds from juvenile treatment altogether. These children are then subject to adult punishment, incarcerated in adult prisons, and may be sentenced to life without parole. Despite their young age, these juveniles are expected to negotiate the legal system and understand the consequences of decisions that could result in a life without parole sentence, even though research suggests they are not capable of understanding what “forever” means. Since the 1980s, the number of children given life sentences without hope of release has increased dramatically and the cost of warehousing them for life is staggering to our communities and to our humanity. In Michigan alone, there are now more than three hundred individuals serving life without parole for offenses committed prior to their eighteenth birthday. Under current laws, none will be given a second chance. Until now, little attention has been given to who these children are and how they have been treated by the criminal justice system. This report examines juvenile life without parole sentences imposed in Michigan for offenses committed by individuals under eighteen, as they compare to the nation and the world. The report outlines the nature and extent of these sentences, their inequities and their toll on society, and presents recommendations for a rational and humane response to juvenile crime. Details: Detroit: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, 2004. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 21, 2011 at: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/Publications/Juv%20Lifers%20V8.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/Publications/Juv%20Lifers%20V8.pdf Shelf Number: 121471 Keywords: Juvenile DetentionJuvenile Offenders (Michigan)Life SentenceLife Without ParoleSentencing |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan Title: Juvenile Life Without Parole Project: Using International Law and Advocacy to Give Children a Second Chance Summary: This project delves into an under-recognized human rights problem in the United States - the imposition of life sentences without possibility of parole on children (JLWOP). JLWOP requires that a child remain in prison without release until death. Irrespective of whether the child poses a threat to society or has, or can be, rehabilitated, there is no opportunity for parole. Each year in the United States, children as young as thirteen are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison without opportunity for parole. Despite a global consensus that children cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults, the United States allows children to be treated and punished the same as adults. Children are increasingly excluded from the protection of juvenile courts based on the nature of the offense, without any consideration of age, maturity or culpability of the child, and without taking steps to ensure their understanding of the legal system under which they are prosecuted. Life sentences without possibility of parole have been renounced internationally as a violation of human rights in The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which specifically forbids sentences of life imprisonment for children under the age of eighteen. The United States stands alone in rejecting this article of the Convention and in the implementation of this sentence on adolescents convicted of crimes in the United States. Three years ago the ACLU of Michigan began advocacy efforts after learning that over 300 Michigan children are currently serving these unforgiving sentences. This packet includes background information, research, a list of endorsing individuals and organizations of our efforts to eliminate this practice in the State of Michigan, and recommendations about what others can do to help this effort. Details: Detroit: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, 2007. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 21, 2011 at: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/pdf/JWLOPpacket.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/pdf/JWLOPpacket.pdf Shelf Number: 121472 Keywords: Human RightsJuvenile DetentionJuvenile Offenders (Michigan)Life SentenceLife Without ParoleSentencing |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan Title: Basic Decency: Protecting t5he Human Rights of Children Summary: Six years ago, through polling and focus groups, citizens of Michigan were asked this question: “How should we treat Michigan youth involved in homicide crimes?” People weighed the importance of just punishment, the need for public safety, and also considered their social responsibility to the troubled youth involved in the crime. Results revealed that these Michigan residents were deeply concerned that the most severe sentence our state laws can impose on an adult who commits murder is likewise imposed on a child who did not. They were also uncomfortable to learn that Michigan’s current laws do not allow a jury or a judge to consider a juvenile’s age, abusive upbringing, troubled environment, lack of maturity, or their potential for rehabilitation before imposing adult punishment. Most of those polled were unaware that hundreds of adolescents in our state, some as young as 14, have been sentenced to die in prison without an opportunity to demonstrate their remorse, show their potential for rehabilitation, or prove that they pose no risk to society. The 2006 polling revealed strong public opposition to our current laws, which require sentencing all young people between the ages of 14 and 17, who are convicted of an offense involving a first-degree homicide, to spend the rest of their lives in adult prison without any opportunity for parole. When faced with the issue, people in Michigan strongly supported eliminating the life without parole sentence for juveniles.1 They recognized the distinct differences between adults and developing adolescents, and supported sentencing practices that would protect youthful offenders from the adult consequences of their decisions.2 In 2008 a bipartisan majority of the Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation that would end Michigan’s practice of sentencing young people under the age of 18 to life without parole. The Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee refused to release these bills for a vote and the laws mandating this punishment remain in place. Introduction To date, 376 young people have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in Michigan. Only one other state has more. In recent years, editorials in major media outlets have called for, at minimum, judicial discretion in sentencing. Some legislators who initially favored this punishment for youth have since called for reform. Former Representative Burton Leland, a Democrat from Detroit, repudiating his initial support of the 1995 Juvenile Justice Reform Act explained, “We wanted to let thugs know that they can’t hide behind their mother’s apron. Now, 25 years later, I think locking youthful offenders up for life is ridiculous.” 3 Prosecutors, who are central opponents of juvenile life without parole reform, often make the argument of “adult time for adult crime.” However, most adults do not spend the rest of their lives in prison for comparable homicide crimes because prosecutors have full discretion to offer plea bargains of a lesser sentence to those adults charged with homicide crimes. Even where children are offered plea bargains, they are at a significant disadvantage in negotiating these same pleas. In fact, young people in Michigan are more likely to receive longer sentences than adults for comparable offenses. This report examines the arguments for and against reforming Michigan’s laws that mandate a life without parole sentence for youth involved in certain homicide crimes. It addresses the disadvantages children face in the adult criminal justice system and analyzes the data resulting from the implementation of this sentence. This report also explores the fiscal and human costs of sentencing a young person to life without parole (LWOP) in Michigan. Details: Detroit, MI: ACLU of Michigan, 2012. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2012 at: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/BasicDecencyReport2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/file/BasicDecencyReport2012.pdf Shelf Number: 125310 Keywords: HomicideJuvenile Offenders (Michigan)Life ImprisonmentLife SentenceLife Without Parole, JuvenilesSentencing, Juveniles |