Randall Levine, managing partner at Levine & Levine Attorneys at Law, sees the Michigan Supreme Court ruling to end mandatory life sentences without parole for 19- and 20- year-olds convicted of first-degree murder as a major shift in Michigan's jurisprudence.
Michigan Supreme Court’s 5-2 ruling on April 10 is based on findings that the brains of individuals aged 18 to 21 behave more similarly to those of 13- to 17-year-olds than to those aged 22 to 25. The court cited Michigan's constitutional ban on "cruel or unusual punishment" and "evolving standards of decency" in its decision, and allows judges to use discretion in such cases.
In an interview with WWMT News Channel 3, Levine expressed support of the court's consideration of youth impulsivity in regard to premeditated murder based in “empirical evidence that the adolescent brain is immature.”
“And they ought to be sentenced with regard to a consideration of that factor and not simply let's throw them in prison for the rest of their lives,” Levine told WWMT.
Levine said this decision supports Michigan’s standard of indeterminate sentencing, which aims to provide convicted offenders a chance for rehabilitation, based on the proportionality between the offense and the offender. He noted that judges must weigh four key factors in sentencing: punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, and proportionality.
“It allows judges to do their job, and that is to take everything into consideration before they sentence someone and to make sure that the goals of sentencing are reached,” Levine said.
Levine stated that he believes this ruling will not extend beyond 19- and 20-year-olds, and that in his personal opinion, this is where Michigan's Supreme Court will draw the line.
Prosecuting attorneys throughout Michigan now carry the burden to present evidence in resentencing trials in front of the circuit court if they want offenders who are already facing life in prison to stay there.
Watch the entire interview, here.