The Michigan Court of Appeals has handed down their much anticipated ruling on who will be deciding the fates of juvenile lifers. The answer is that our judges, not juries will determine that.
According to the ruling, the appeals court convened “a special conflict panel to resolve the conflict between the previous opinion issued in this case,” as this subject has been the source of much debate. The conflict panel, a rare occurrence for the Michigan Court of Appeals, was tasked with deciding between two prior conflicting opinions decided by different panels in the same court. However, in this instance, the seven judges on the panel unanimously agreed that this life-changing decision must be made by another judge, not a group of civilians.
Hyatt’s conviction started the ball rolling
The special panel of appellate judges did not agree on everything. Of the seven judges, three disagreed with one aspect of the opinion – namely the part that dealt with Kenya Ali Hyatt’s conviction. But it was Hyatt’s conviction that started the ball rolling to begin with, which is what makes this dissent particularly interesting.
At the age of 17, Hyatt was found guilty of first degree murder, along with a number of other felonies, in connection with the August 2010 killing of John “Andy” Mick. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by a Genesee County jury sitting in Flint, Michigan. While Hyatt has recently appealed his conviction, the Michigan Court of Appeals has gone back and forth over the years on the issue of how to handle it’s underaged defendants facing serious felony charges. This ruling, we hope, will finally set the record straight.
Adding fuel to this particular fire, is the recent United States Supreme Court ruling about juvenile lifers. In January of 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles was a form of “cruel and unusual punishment.” Cruel and unusual punishment violates the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This means that every case, in every state where a juvenile was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole must be unearthed and looked at again because of this Constitutional violation.
Currently in Michigan there are 367 juveniles in prison who were sentenced to life behind bars by a jury. This gives Michigan the dubious rank of being second in the nation for most juveniles lifers behind bars. This all points to a very busy season for the state’s county prosecutors as they scramble to reassess hundreds of cases, some of which date back to the early 1960s.
Because of differing crime rates and population distribution, this means more work for some county prosecutors than others. Wayne County, for example, has the largest number of of juvenile lifer cases to research, with a total of 145. Midland County on the other hand, has two.
For juveniles accused in the future of serious crimes carrying possible life sentences, there is a measure of relief to be had, knowing that they cannot simply be thrown away for the rest of their lives. For those that were convicted as juveniles who have grown up and grown old behind bars for heinous crimes they committed in the heat of their youth, there is a possibility of freedom in their future. Whether or not you think that life without parole is appropriate for juvenile felons, the prohibition against mandatory life sentences is now the law of our land.