Hundreds of Michigan prisoners sentenced to life with the possibility
of parole in the 1970s and 1980s have been wrongly denied any real
consideration of early release, a class-action lawsuit charges.
About 800 Michigan prisoners are serving life sentences and believed
there was a possibility of parole -- most of whom were convicted of
second-degree murder.
Until 1992, a life sentence -- for any serious crime except
first-degree murder -- meant inmates would typically serve 10 to 25
years and be released if they behaved well in prison.
Since the law changed, the parole board has repeatedly refused to
consider release for nearly all offenders serving life offenses.
Some Michigan judges say they never intended to sentence criminals to
life in prison. They said they gave them a life sentence to ensure that
they would have to reform in prison to be released, rather than give
them a fixed sentence.
What makes the situation more unfair, they say, is today people
convicted of second-degree murder rarely draw a life sentence because
the state uses sentencing guidelines.
University of Michigan students and professors who have spent a
decade researching the issue filed a class-action lawsuit last week on
behalf of seven inmates who have been repeatedly denied parole in U.S.
District Court in Detroit.
Housing those prisoners -- some of whom are in their 70s -- is
costing the state $25 million a year.
"It's terribly unfair to keep people in prison for far longer than
the judges who sentenced them intended," said David Moran, a Wayne State
University law professor.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan says the board's actions
are wrong. Sullivan, a former prosecutor, has presided over more than
500 criminal trials, including more than 100 murder trials in the past
seven years on the bench.
"What the parole board has done is unilaterally convert a parolable
sentence into an unparolable one," he said. "That is an extreme position
that can deprive people of hope. That doesn't mean they should get
parole -- but they should have the chance."
Today, almost no one convicted of second-degree murder draws a life
sentence, he said.
The parole board is "very selective" in who it is willing to release,
said Leo LaLonde, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections,
which is also named in the suit.
"They look at the sentence and it was life. Life means life. The
judges could have given him or her a sentence of 15 or 30 years,"
LaLonde said. The change in the parole laws can be traced back to the
case of paroled sex offender Leslie Allen Williams, who admitted to
killing four teenage girls in Oakland and Genesee counties after his
release from prison in 1990.
Then-Gov. John Engler and the state Legislature replaced the civil
service board with a 10-member board made up of political appointees who
have been far more reluctant to grant parole. Inmates now receive only a
review every five years, aren't guaranteed an in-person hearing and
often get a form stamped "No Interest," which doesn't include any
written opinion explaining the denial.
The U-M suit highlights a number of cases in which judges or wardens
have sought the release of model prisoners who have served lengthy
sentences.
In some cases, defense lawyers recommended their clients plead guilty
and accept a life sentence, rather than a 20- to 40-year sentence.
John Alexander, a plaintiff in the class-action suit, was convicted
of second-degree murder in 1981 and Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael
Sapala sentenced him to life with a chance of parole.
"If you show some kind of progress some years down the line that
indicates you should be released, they will release you," he said.
In 2002, Sapala resentenced Alexander, saying the parole board had
ignored the law in not releasing him. In an interview, Sapala said the
parole board's actions aren't rational. "This is a tragedy, a complete
waste to keep these people locked up," he said.
William Sleeper pled guilty to second-degree murder charges in 1966
in Oakland County when he was 17. The Farmington ninth-grade dropout
admitted to stabbing an 80-year-old widow 58 times and stealing $65 from
her purse.
Today, Sleeper, 57, has completed prison educational and
rehabilitation programs.
In 1988, the full parole board voted unanimously that he should have
a public hearing. For unexplained reasons -- later described as a
clerical error -- the board didn't vote to process his case until July
1992. Then the new parole board vetoed his parole.
In 1998, the board expressed "no interest" in his request and again
in 2003.
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