DETROIT (AP) — A newspaper reports more than half of Michigan inmates who are eligible for resentencing following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on so-called juvenile lifers still are waiting to learn their fate.
The Detroit Free Press reports Thursday its analysis found nearly 200 inmates, or about 55% of those eligible, haven’t gotten new sentencing hearings.
As of early July, the newspaper says 86 of the state’s 354 juvenile lifers have been released.
Tina Olson, an attorney with the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, says: “We are not resolving cases at the rate that you would hope, given that the United States Supreme Court said these sentences should be rare.” Her office is representing roughly two-thirds of the state’s cases.
Prosecutors defend the process and say they’re thoughtfully weighing each case.
