Logan Roeder
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Kimberly Thomas
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Law / Law
Program:
Authors:
Session: Session 3: 11:00 am – 11: 50 am
Poster: 60
Abstract
Prior to the Miller v. Alabama U.S. Supreme Court case ruling in 2012, juveniles in the state of Michigan and across the country were able to be mandatorily sentenced to life in prison without the opportunity for parole. Following that decision, multiple other cases have rolled out in the past few years that challenge harsh sentencing for youth and demand justice in the juvenile legal system. The People v Parks and People v Poole decisions have expanded upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent, ruling that, in Michigan, 18-year olds are included within those protections (Parks) and that previously “closed” cases, in which the offenders are currently serving a term of life from a mandatory sentencing scheme, have the opportunity for resentencing (Poole). The Life without Parole Legal Project believes that extreme sentencing for youth is unjust, and that such punishments are disparately experienced by Black men. In the Juvenile Justice Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, the project works with old homicide cases from the 1960s and 1970s in Michigan, in which individuals were sentenced to life without parole at 18 years old. As a clinic, the law students, professors, and alike represent clients that have spent 40 to 50 years incarcerated and strive to obtain resentencing that accounts for their youth at the time of their crimes. Through developing arguments to prosecutors about the true character of the clients, the clinic hopes to demonstrate that its clients are remorseful and have improved their lives for the better. These individuals will be productive members of society if freed and deserve a second chance at life. The valuable efforts of the project strive to redefine the institutional line between child and adult with the considerations of developmental and situational factors. In doing so, the LWOP Legal Project works to battle and even transform the historically harsh and discriminatory legal system regarding youth incarceration in the state of Michigan.
