By Ben Solis
Gongwer News Service
Two priority Democratic legislative packages – one aimed at overhauling life without parole for offenders under 19 years old and another for resentencing – were moved to the House floor on Tuesday after sitting in the House Criminal Justice Committee for the better part of the year.
The committee reported the life without parole legislation (HB 4160, HB 4161, HB 4162, HB 4163, HB 4164) and the resentencing package (HB 4556, HB 4557, HB 4558, HB 4559 and HB 4560) along party lines.
The first package is aimed at ending juvenile life without parole sentences in Michigan. It would require an individual who was sentenced for a crime committed when the individual was younger than 19 to be eligible for parole consideration after serving 20 years of a sentence for life without parole or, for certain crimes, life for any term of years.
The latter legislation would allow those incarcerated for more than 20 years to get another look at their prison sentences.
“Michigan has more inmates sentenced to life as juveniles than any other state in the nation. These bills are moving our state in a more just direction,” said Rep. Kara Hope (D-Holt), the committee chair, in a statement.
No further testimony was taken on either package Tuesday, but Hope said the sponsors made two major changes to the bills before reporting them.
For the life without parole package, the legislation now states that 20 years must pass before a juvenile offender sentenced to a life term could be considered eligible for parole. It was initially 10 years when introduced. The substitute adds criminal sexual conduct to the list of offenses and other factors when considering parole.
In the resentencing package, the same change was made: an inmate would be able to petition for resentencing after 20 years as opposed to 10 years, as introduced. A judge would retain discretion but would be excluded from considering resentencing on terrorism, sex offenses and domestic violence offenses.
Rep. Graham Filler (R-Duplain Township) led his Republican colleagues in voting against the bills. He said his colleagues were against the legislation in general, but they also only received information on the substitutes just before the committee’s Tuesday meeting, which led them to also oppose the process by which the bills were reported to the floor.
“These bills open the door for violent criminals, including rapists and murderers, to walk free after serving only a fraction of their sentences,” Filler said. “This isn’t criminal justice reform – it’s insanity. And how did the Democrats push this through? By hiding it. These bills weren’t on the agenda, and sweeping changes were made at the eleventh hour, in the dark, without public input. This secretive process robbed the public of their right to weigh in on legislation that directly affects their safety.”
Gongwer News Service
Two priority Democratic legislative packages – one aimed at overhauling life without parole for offenders under 19 years old and another for resentencing – were moved to the House floor on Tuesday after sitting in the House Criminal Justice Committee for the better part of the year.
The committee reported the life without parole legislation (HB 4160, HB 4161, HB 4162, HB 4163, HB 4164) and the resentencing package (HB 4556, HB 4557, HB 4558, HB 4559 and HB 4560) along party lines.
The first package is aimed at ending juvenile life without parole sentences in Michigan. It would require an individual who was sentenced for a crime committed when the individual was younger than 19 to be eligible for parole consideration after serving 20 years of a sentence for life without parole or, for certain crimes, life for any term of years.
The latter legislation would allow those incarcerated for more than 20 years to get another look at their prison sentences.
“Michigan has more inmates sentenced to life as juveniles than any other state in the nation. These bills are moving our state in a more just direction,” said Rep. Kara Hope (D-Holt), the committee chair, in a statement.
No further testimony was taken on either package Tuesday, but Hope said the sponsors made two major changes to the bills before reporting them.
For the life without parole package, the legislation now states that 20 years must pass before a juvenile offender sentenced to a life term could be considered eligible for parole. It was initially 10 years when introduced. The substitute adds criminal sexual conduct to the list of offenses and other factors when considering parole.
In the resentencing package, the same change was made: an inmate would be able to petition for resentencing after 20 years as opposed to 10 years, as introduced. A judge would retain discretion but would be excluded from considering resentencing on terrorism, sex offenses and domestic violence offenses.
Rep. Graham Filler (R-Duplain Township) led his Republican colleagues in voting against the bills. He said his colleagues were against the legislation in general, but they also only received information on the substitutes just before the committee’s Tuesday meeting, which led them to also oppose the process by which the bills were reported to the floor.
“These bills open the door for violent criminals, including rapists and murderers, to walk free after serving only a fraction of their sentences,” Filler said. “This isn’t criminal justice reform – it’s insanity. And how did the Democrats push this through? By hiding it. These bills weren’t on the agenda, and sweeping changes were made at the eleventh hour, in the dark, without public input. This secretive process robbed the public of their right to weigh in on legislation that directly affects their safety.”
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