Michigan's Juvenile Lifers Series

Michigan has more so-called “juvenile lifers” than almost any other state in the country. More than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled automatic life without parole sentences for juveniles violated the Constitution, the vast majority of those people have received a new, lighter sentence.

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed with an Appeals Court ruling that denied a retrial in a first-degree murder conviction of an 18 year-old…

Michigan prisoners serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed as juveniles will receive resentencing hearings “as…

He was born April 29th, 1976. His parents named him James Dean Fuson.James’ mom died when he was seven, and his dad left the picture after that. His…

(Editor’s note: we recommend you listen to the story.)In March 2001, Fred Williams left his friend Tanya Davis’ house to get groceries. He was 17 and…

Some 11,500 new students just began classes this fall at Arizona State University.For one of those students, it's something he once never dreamed would…

(Editor’s note: we recommend you listen to this story.) Jose Burgos was 16 years old when he shot and killed Omar Kaji. It happened during a bogus drug…

91 of Michigan’s 363 juvenile lifers have been re-sentenced, one year after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered states to do so.In 2012, the Supreme Court…

When it comes to re-sentencing inmates who were sentenced to life without parole as juveniles, Michigan is lagging behind just about every other…

Michigan Radio has been selected as a winner of a 2017 Wade H. McCree Award for the Advancement of Justice by the Michigan Press Association Foundation.…