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Full-Text Articles in Law
Juvenile Lifers And Juveniles In Michigan Prisons: A Population Of Special Concern, Kimberly A. Thomas
Juvenile Lifers And Juveniles In Michigan Prisons: A Population Of Special Concern, Kimberly A. Thomas
Articles
Prisoners serving life without parole for offenses they committed when they were juveniles have received much attention after the United States Supreme Court found in Miller v Alabama that mandatory life without parole for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment and found that its Miller decision applied retroactively. Courts have begun the process of sentencing and resentencing these individuals, some of whom are still teens and some of whom have served 40 years or more in the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). All told, not including new cases that come before the court, approximately 370 prisoners will receive individualized sentences under …
Miller V. Alabama: Something Unconsitutional Now Was Equally Unconstitutional Then, W. Patrick Conlon
Miller V. Alabama: Something Unconsitutional Now Was Equally Unconstitutional Then, W. Patrick Conlon
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
In June 2012, the United States Supreme Court found mandatory life-without-parole sentences against juvenile offenders unconstitutional in Miller v. Alabama. The Court determined that because children possess “immaturity, impetuosity, and [fail] to appreciate risks and consequences,” they are fundamentally different than adults. Although Miller invalidated every juvenile mandatory life-without-parole (JMLWOP) statute across the United States, there is no clear indication regarding whether Miller retroactively applies to juveniles sentenced to mandatory life-without-parole before the Court’s ruling. As a result, states are split on whether to apply Miller retroactively. Fifteen states have yet to decide whether Miller applies retroactively, while several other …
Sexting Prosecutions: Minors As A Protected Class From Child Pornography Charges, Sarah Thompson
Sexting Prosecutions: Minors As A Protected Class From Child Pornography Charges, Sarah Thompson
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat
"Firt love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity." -- George Bernard Shaw Teenagers will explore their sexuality; this is no new phenomenon. However, the ways that teens are exploring their curiosity is changing with technology. This trend has serious repercussions for teens, society, and the law. ‘Sexting’—defined as the act of sending sexually explicit photographs or messages via cell phone—is one recently-developed means of sexual exploration. The practice overlaps with the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography that is banned by both state and federal law. Due to the overlap, minors have been prosecuted under …
A Joyful Heart Is Good Medicine: Sexuality Conversion Bans In The Courts, Wyatt Fore
A Joyful Heart Is Good Medicine: Sexuality Conversion Bans In The Courts, Wyatt Fore
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law
Led by California and New Jersey, states have begun to ban Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) for minors. States have targeted SOCE, also called ‘gay conversion therapy,’ by regulating state licensure requirements for mental health professionals. Conservative legal groups have challenged these bans in federal court, alleging a variety of constitutional violations sounding in the First and Fourteenth Amendments. More specifically, these legal groups propose theories claiming that the bans infringe upon individuals’ freedom of speech, free exercise, and parental rights. In this Note, I survey the history of these bans, as well as court decisions that have rejected constitutional …
A Victimless Sex Crime: The Case For Decriminalizing Consensual Teen Sexting, Joanna R. Lampe
A Victimless Sex Crime: The Case For Decriminalizing Consensual Teen Sexting, Joanna R. Lampe
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
As teenagers' access to cellular phones and the internet has increased over the past two decades, so has their ability to harm themselves and others through misuse of new technology. One risky behavior that has become common among teenagers is "sexting"--the digital sharing of sexually suggestive images. To combat the dangers of teen sexting, many states have criminalized the act. Criminalization does not resolve the issue of teen sexting, however, and in many cases it may cause additional harm. This Note reviews existing state laws related to teen sexting, and critiques these laws on constitutional and policy grounds. It then …
A Mere Youthful Indiscretion? Reexamining The Policy Of Expunging Juvenile Delinquency Records, T. Markus Funk
A Mere Youthful Indiscretion? Reexamining The Policy Of Expunging Juvenile Delinquency Records, T. Markus Funk
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Recent studies by the U.S. Department of Justice have found that, while adult violent crime rates continue to drop, today's juvenile offenders are the fastest growing segment among violent criminals. The unprecedented increase in juvenile criminality is expected to result in a dramatic increase in the overall rate of violent crime as these juveniles approach majority. Funk argues that most states have not adapted to the troubling reality that the juvenile offenders of today are not the hubcap-stealing youths of days gone by, and that chronic adult criminality is predicated on violent and repeated acts of juvenile delinquency. These jurisdictions …
Judging Girls: Decision Making In Parental Consent To Abortion Cases, Suellyn Scarnecchia, Julie Kunce Field
Judging Girls: Decision Making In Parental Consent To Abortion Cases, Suellyn Scarnecchia, Julie Kunce Field
Articles
Judges make determinations on a daily basis that profoundly affect people's lives. On March 28, 1991, the Michigan legislature enacted a statute entitled The Parental Rights Restoration Act (hereinafter "the Michigan Act" or "the Act"). This statute delegated to probate court judges the extraordinary task of deciding whether a minor girl may have an abortion without the consent of a parent. Nothing in law school and little in an average judge's experience provide a meaningful framework for making such a decision. Although many commentators, including the authors, argue that decisions about abortion should be left to the woman regardless of …
Minor Changes: Emancipating Children In Modem Times, Carol Sanger, Eleanor Willemsen
Minor Changes: Emancipating Children In Modem Times, Carol Sanger, Eleanor Willemsen
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Article reports on the use of still another mechanism for removing children in conflict with their parents: statutory emancipation, the process by which minors attain legal adulthood before reaching the age of majority. Statutorily emancipated minors can sign binding contracts, own property, keep their earnings, and disobey their parents. Although under eighteen, they are "considered as being over the age of majority" in most of their dealings with parents and third parties. Thus, while emancipated minors can sign contracts and stay out late, their adult status also means that their parents are no longer responsible for the minors' support. …
Juvenile Curfew Ordinances And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review
Juvenile Curfew Ordinances And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Recognizing that a legislature must decide whether to enact a juvenile curfew without the benefit of conclusive data on the effectiveness of such laws, the remainder of this Note will focus primarily upon the constitutional issues raised by such ordinances. The freedom of movement that is limited by a curfew is, it will be argued, an unenumerated right protected by the ninth and fourteenth amendments. The constitutional rights of juveniles, however, -are not necessarily coextensive with those of adults. Certain characteristics of juveniles-in particular, their lesser capacity for reason and self-control-imply that the strength of their right to freedom of …
The Legacy Of The Stubborn And Rebellious Son, Irene Merker Rosenberg, Yale L. Rosenberg
The Legacy Of The Stubborn And Rebellious Son, Irene Merker Rosenberg, Yale L. Rosenberg
Michigan Law Review
In twentieth century America, as in Biblical ,times, parents unable to subdue their disobedient children are authorized to invoke the coercive power of the state. As recently as 1971, for example, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts rejected constitutional challenges to the state's "stubborn child" law, which at the time of its original enactment in 1646 was patterned after the above-quoted verse from Deuteronomy. The court upheld an adjudication that an adolescent girl who refused to submit to a medical examination, used vulgar language, slammed doors, and stayed outside the home "probably talking with the boys," was a "stubborn child" …
The Juvenile Court And Emotional Neglect Of Children, James B. Stoetzer
The Juvenile Court And Emotional Neglect Of Children, James B. Stoetzer
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
A primary function of the Juvenile Court is to assist in the protection of children from abuse and neglect. Juvenile court acts, child abuse reporting statutes, and child protective services legislation have incorporated provisions dealing with physical abuse and physical neglect of children. Such legislation enables state intervention into family life for the protection of children exposed to harmful environments. Statutory definitions of abuse and neglect provide a basis on which the community, frequently through the juvenile court, may pass judgment on the existence of child neglect and offer services or coerce family members to accept them. A few states, …
Restrictions On Student Voting: An Unconstitutional Anachronism?, W. Perry Bullard, James A. Rice
Restrictions On Student Voting: An Unconstitutional Anachronism?, W. Perry Bullard, James A. Rice
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Using Michigan as a vehicle for analysis because it has a student voting process representative of many states, this note seeks to accomplish four purposes: (1) an examination of the case law often underlying the presumption against student registrability; (2) an analysis of recent constitutional developments in the due process and equal protection areas as they relate to the particular problems posed by the student voter; (3) a survey of the competing local and student interests in the student vote issue; and (4) a conclusion regarding the likelihood that thwarted student voters can follow the paths of other disfranchised groups …