By Paul Janczewski
Legal News
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles, which set the legal ball rolling in many states for mitigation hearings, or potential re-sentencings for those juveniles.
Nationwide, nearly 2,500 people who were convicted as juveniles await their fate after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled those sentences as unconstitutional. In Michigan alone, nearly 360 people are in prison, convicted while they were juveniles.
Two Michigan attorneys offering their legal skills and expertise are Cary McGehee and Michael Pitt, co-foundeders of the Royal Oak firm of Pitt McGehee Palmer Rivers & Golden in 1992.
And by looking at the background of these two prominent legal minds, it's not hard to see why they are fighting for the underdog. It's in their DNA.
McGehee, 50, was born in Virginia, but moved to Birmingham after her father was named bishop of an Episcopalian church in 1971. At an early age, McGehee began playing basketball, first at a local youth league, and then for junior high school, high school and college, at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She was a walk-on at BGSU, but eventually earned a scholarship, and graduated in 1984 with a degree in communications.
In 1986 she began at the Detroit College of Law with an eye on representing individuals rather than defending corporations. After graduating, she took a job at a firm working with employment cases. It was there she met Pitt, a senior partner. After working there for about three years, the two left to start their own firm.
Pitt, 63, graduated from Wayne State Law School in 1974 and worked at a firm where he learned from legal pioneers in civil rights. He rattles off names of his teachers there and called them "legends in the community."
Armed with a greater social conscious for change, Pitt and McGehee were naturals for forming a firm that centered on those issues.
As for the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, getting involved in the cause to aid convicts who were sentenced as juveniles seemed like a no-brainer for Pitt and McGehee.
McGehee said the ruling is trying to take into account factors that were not looked at years ago in sentencing these juveniles, such as their tender age, immaturity, acting on impulse, peer pressure, family life, and other aspects.
In many of these cases, the juveniles did not have intent to kill someone, did not anticipate a murder would occur, and in some cases did not even participate in the killing, but were caught up in the act under the aiding and abetting theory, acting as lookouts. And often, their sentence was more severe than the person who actually committed the killing, she said.
Pitt said the ruling affects all states, but Michigan ranks among those with the most juveniles incarcerated to life without parole. He said much of the reason the highest court ruled those sentences unconstitutional has to do with the science that juveniles are "much different" behaviorally than adults.
"Until recently, they were deemed to be miniature adults, but the science has developed to the point where scientists are able to demonstrate the juvenile brain is not developed, and parts of the brain deal with judgment and making choices is grossly under-developed," Pitt said. "And to apply adult standards is cruel and unusual punishment."
Pitt said the quest for re-sentencing those juveniles convicted as adults is now in limbo because of several cases in the state Court of Appeals. Simply put, legal arguments center on whether the U.S. Supreme Court ruling meant their ruling would be retroactive, affecting those already in prison who may have exhausted all their appeals, or only for future cases going forward.
Pitt and others believe when the dust settles, cases will be applied retroactively. But many factors remain, such as the make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court after the election, roadblocks by prosecutors, judges and even families of those victims.
McGehee said one thing attorneys will do is reach out to those victims to see how they are doing and if their stance has changed since the trauma of the case. She also wants judges and prosecutors to give them adequate time to present the facts of each case.
"It could be quite a bit of time before those issue are resolved, but it's going to get resolved, and I think sooner or later there's going to be re-sentencings on these cases," Pitt said.
For now, the work continues. McGehee and Pitt said a number of prominent attorneys and law firms in Michigan and around the country are taking on individual cases in a collaborative effort in anticipation of applying the new rules and getting their clients back in court for re-sentencing.
In most instances, those lawyers hope to convince judges to re-sentence their clients to time served. But that also depends on how the individual has spent their time in prison. A juvenile who has collected a number of infractions while incarcerated would stand a poor chance of getting out, while one who has taken advantage of rehabilitation choices might curry more favor.
Each case represents its own set of factors. Pitt's case involves a kid who had the mental capacity of a 9-year-old when he was convicted.
"In many cases, it's scandalous the way the legal system has totally ignored the reality of what it's doing," he said. "What I've learned throughout the years is that the legal system sometimes pays no attention to reality, none whatsoever, and it just goes on it's merry way without thinking what it's actually doing to people."
McGehee said the effort, dubbed the Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative, to obtain justice for these cases rests in the hands of the Michigan ACLU, the University of Michigan Law School Criminal Defense Council, the state Appellate Defender's Office (SADO), law firms and individual attorneys.
McGehee and Pitt said they are merely worker bees in the effort, but are proud to be part of the pro bono effort.
Published: Thu, Nov 15, 2012
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