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MI: ACLU Sues Michigan on behalf of 9 people setnenced to LWOP as juveniles

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

ACLU fights law sentencing kids to life in prison BY DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER The ACLU sued the State of Michigan today on behalf of nine people who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole for crimes they committed as juveniles. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, says Michigan?s sentencing laws constitute cruel and unusual punishment and violate the constitutional rights of the inmates. All nine were sentenced for first-degree murder or felony murder. ?These life without parole sentences ignore the very real differences between children and adults, abandoning the concepts of redemption and second chances,? Deborah Labelle, lawyer for the ACLU of Michigan?s Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative, said in a statement accompanying the suit...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on November 18, 2010 (boomark / email).