Amicus Brief Challenging LWOP for 19-Year-Olds in Michigan
In November 2024, The Sentencing Project joined ACLU-MI and the Juvenile Law Center to file an amicus brief in People v. Czarnecki before the Michigan Supreme Court, arguing that 19-year-olds should receive the same individualized sentencing consideration afforded to 18-year-olds.
Related to: Sentencing Reform, State Advocacy
In 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court held that mandatory life without parole sentences for 18-year-olds violate the Michigan Constitution’s prohibition on cruel or unusual punishments, just as such sentences for those under the age of 18 violate the Eighth Amendment by the US Supreme Court. The Sentencing Project joined the Juvenile Law Center and Michigan ACLU in an amicus brief urging the Michigan Supreme Court to extend that ruling to 19-year olds.
Read the brief in People v. Czarnecki here.
