MI- MSU surveys: Juvenile offenders deserve second chance

6-13-2008 Michigan:

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michiganians do not support the state law requiring juveniles convicted of homicide and other serious crimes in adult courts to be sentenced to life without parole, according to two consecutive years of surveys by a Michigan State University researcher.

Furthermore, residents overwhelmingly oppose sending young offenders to adult prisons while they are still children, the surveys show. Michigan is one of 19 states that allow children of any age to be tried and punished as adults.

Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak’s research appears in the current edition of Crime & Delinquency at http://cad.sagepub.com/pap.dtl. Kubiak, MSU associate professor of social work, also presented the findings recently to the state House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee.

Despite “all the talk of being tough on crime,” Kubiak said her research – done in collaboration with Wayne State University – shows most Michigan residents support giving juvenile offenders a second chance.

“On the whole, they don’t believe in throwing away the key after someone 17 or younger has committed a crime,” she said. “They believe young people can be rehabilitated.”

An increase in youth violence in the 1980s led to harsher sentencing policies for juveniles. With more than 300 people sentenced as youth to life without parole, Michigan has the second-highest rate in the nation, Kubiak said.

According to the statewide surveys of a combined 1,390 people, taken randomly in 2005 and 2006, 47 percent of the respondents said they disagree with the law mandating life without parole for adolescents. Slightly less than 43 percent said they agree with the policy and about 10 percent were neutral or did not answer.

But when given the ability to choose between several options – rather than agree/disagree – only 5 percent said they believe juveniles should be sentenced to life without parole in adult prison.

“One of the most important findings of the study was that it really matters how we pose the question when trying to determine how people feel,” Kubiak said. “These are complex issues and people respond differently when they have an actual choice of responses rather than just a yes/no.”

The results break down like this:

Intermediate sentence: 66.5 percent. Of these respondents, 41.1 percent – the largest group – believe youth should be sent to a juvenile facility until age 18 and then serve a life sentence in adult prison with the possibility of parole. Another 25.4 percent believe they should be sent to a juvenile facility until they’re 18 and then serve 20 or fewer years in adult prison.

Severe: 15.3 percent. Of these, 10.5 percent believe the youth should be sent to a juvenile facility until they’re 18 and then serve life without parole in adult prison. Another 4.8 percent believe they should be sentenced to adult prison for 20 years and then have the possibility of parole.

Least severe: 13.2 percent. These respondents believe the offenders should be sent to a juvenile facility until they’re 21 and then released.

Most severe (current policy) 5.0 percent. These respondents believe youth should be sent to an adult facility and remain in custody for natural life.

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Contact: Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak, Social Work: (517) 432-7110, spk@msu.edu; or Andy Henion, University Relations: (517) 355-3294, cell (517) 281-6949, henion@msu.edu