People of Michigan v. Kemo Knicombi Parks

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court held that automatically sentencing an 18-year-old convicted of first-degree murder to life without parole violates the Michigan Constitution's prohibition on cruel or unusual punishment because it fails to account for the mitigating characteristics of late-adolescent development. The court extended the individualized sentencing protections available under MCL 769.25 to 18-year-old offenders, while concluding that the federal Constitution does not require that extension. The court vacated Parks's mandatory sentence and remanded for resentencing. No separate opinions are included in the response because none were provided as separate opinions on record.