Former Michigan Governor William Milliken says more than 350 prison inmates sentenced to life without parole as juveniles deserve a chance at freedom.
Milliken – along with more than 100 law school deans and retired judges and prosecutors -- filed a brief Thursday with the state Supreme Court.
We have more from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta.
The Michigan Supreme Court holds oral arguments in the case next month. The court will decide whether a US Supreme Court decision that struck down automatic life without parole for juveniles applies retroactively – or only to current and future cases. The Milliken brief says justice demands that the decision should apply regardless of when a juvenile was sentenced. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says families of murder victims deserve to know the rules will not be changed in their cases.
Michigan’s adult-time-for-adult-crimes law was signed 18 years ago by Governor John Engler. William Milliken served as governor from 1969 to 1983.