PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
End Life Without Parole Sentences for Youth in Michigan
  1. Signatures
    66 out of 1,000,000
    Petitioning
    1. The MI State House (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The MI State House
      • Rep. Mark Meadows
      • TIME Committee
  2. Created By
    Velia Koppenhoefer
    St. Joseph, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter

This petition has been designed for residents of the State of Michigan. For the petition to be effective we are urging only Michigan residents to sign the petition at this time.

Please take the time to ask members of the Michigan House of Representatives to support common sense in the sentencing of youth by asking them to pass the entire pack of bills that would end life without parole sentences for youth in Michigan (i.e., House Bills 4518 and 4594-4596).

Remember:

* Life sentences ignore that young people have a unique ability to change.
* Life sentences for youth do not reduce crime and are used unfairly.
*Of the youth who receive life without parole sentences in Michigan 72% of them are children of color.
* Life sentences for youth leave no real chance for rehabilitation.
* According to a Wayne State University School of Social Work study 95% of Michigan citizens feel that youth should not spend the rest of their lives in prison.

When legislators passed legislation years ago allowing youth to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole we did not know then what we know now about adolescent development.  Brain maturation is a process that continues through adolescence and into early adulthood.  Impulse control, planning, and thinking ahead skills are still in development well beyond age 18.  Young people are different from adults; youth have a greater capacity for rehabilitation.

A similar package of bills passed in the Michigan House last year.  Your willingness to "take action" played a critical role in helping make that a reality.  Now we have to utilize those same efforts to get the Michigan House Judiciary Committee to pass the bills out of committee so that the full Michigan House can vote on the bills and pass them on to the Michigan Senate.

Each letter is automatically routed to your respective State Representative which is determined by the zip code you enter.  A copy of each letter is also being sent to Rep. Mark Meadows (D-Lansing), Chair, House Judiciary Committee, and to The Injustice Must End (TIME) Committee. You can modify the letter to include your personal thoughts or substitute the entire letter with one of your own.

You are encouraged to visit the Abolish Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences in the USA blog to learn more about these sentences, and to review very important articles, reports, and other related information that can be utilized to educate the public about the facts.  You can also contribute to our efforts by joining the Abolish Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences in the USA group on Facebook which currently has over 2,400 members.

Please join the many people who are asking that youth within our justice system be given an opportunity for hope and redemption.

Recent Signatures

Support House Bills 4518 and 4594-4596

Dear Representative

I urge you to support the passage of House Bills 4518 and 4594-4596 which seek to amend the laws governing the mandatory sentencing of young people who are convicted of certain crimes. It is essential that we address this unforgiving sentence of juveniles in our criminal justice system. Key provisions of this legislation will include:

• Prohibit the sentencing of children who are 17 and under to a sentence of life without parole in adult prisons;
• Allow courts discretion to impose any sentence upon a juvenile that is consistent with public safety and proportionate punishment;
• Allow an individual who was 17 or under when he or she committed a crime to be eligible for parole consideration after having served a minimum of 10 years.

There has been discussion about amending the package of bills to to exclude 17-year-olds. I am asking you to support that 17-year-olds be included in the bills and not excluded, and that you also support a provision giving the package of bills retroactive application.

No prisoners will be released as a consequence of the passage of these bills. Prisoners who have received sentences of parolable life or life without the possibility of parole would simply become eligible to be reviewed by the Michigan Parole Board.

The imposition of life without parole on minor children is a particularly cruel and disproportionate punishment that is explicitly prohibited by the International Convention On the Rights of the Child, and is widely considered a violation of international law and fundamental human rights. Despite this, Michigan is one of thirteen states that have no lower age limit for life sentences without possibility of parole and has made this punishment mandatory.

Please sign on as a co-sponsor and supporter of House Bills 4518 and 4594-4596, and urge members of the House Judiciary Committee and House of Representatives to vote in favor of the package of bills.

Very truly,

[Your name]

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