People v. Eads
The Michigan Supreme Court will consider an appeal of an intermediate decision that held a 50-year minimum sentence for a defendant convicted of second-degree murder as a juvenile is “cruel or unusual” punishment. The Court of Appeals found that sentence constitutionally equivalent to the parolable life sentence the Michigan Supreme Court found “cruel or unusual” in People v. Stovall. The intermediate court also held that the defendant’s sentence was disproportionate given the sentencing court’s failure to consider his youth and its attendant characteristics as mitigating factors.
Related Commentary
Substantive Rights That Limit Prison Terms
Transcript of panel from Symposium: State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in April
Issues on the dockets include ranked-choice voting, de facto life sentences, so-called “shadow” foster care, and defamation against a drag performer.
Michigan’s High Court Is Charting a Course Against Punitive Excess
The court has perhaps never been friendlier to criminal justice reform.