Should Juveniles Convicted of First Degree Murder Spend the Rest of Their Lives in Prison?

  The state’s top cop is filing an appeal that could keep hundreds of juvenile offenders in Michigan behind bars for life.  Federal Judge John Corbett O’Meara issued a mandate last week that the state should make every reasonable effort to consider parole for those convicted of crimes as juveniles.  He cites the Supreme Court ruling back in 2012 that said sentencing guidelines for juveniles convicted of first degree murder were a violation of the Constitution as cruel and unusual punishment because they fail to take into consideration the potential for rehabilitation.  Attorney General Bill Schuette his allegiance, though, falls on the side of the victim who has been sentenced to death and questions why perpetrators should be granted leniency.