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Coverage from across Michigan and the state Capitol with the Michigan Public Radio Network and Interlochen Public Radio.

On Hold: Parole Hearings For Juvenile Lifers

Prison fence.
WFIU Public Radio/Flickr

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has put the brakes to an order that the state hold hearings for more than 350 prisoners sentenced as juveniles to life with no chance for parole. The stay means Michigan does not have to meet an end-of-the-year deadline to submit its plan for holding the hearings. That deadline comes from federal judge who ruled last month that Michigan is taking too long to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said automatic life without parole for juveniles is “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Deborah LaBelle, the attorney representing a group of juvenile lifers who sued the state, says the Sixth Circuit decision is a disappointment.

“Anyone who’s concerned about the Constitution and some basic moral rights is concerned that the court has allowed some ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ to continue while they review the matter.”

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette asked for the stay. He wants the Supreme Court decision narrowly applied only to current and future cases, but not retroactively.

“We talk to the families of crime victims, including many of the families of the people who were murdered by these teenagers 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and many of these families have been traumatized by the fact that there was a district court ruling that the perpetrators who killed their loved ones should be eligible for parole,” says the attorney general’s spokeswoman Joy Yearout.  

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.