Latest news with #MichiganSupremeCourt
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Michigan Supreme Court won't hear out Oxford High School mass shooting civil cases
Michigan Supreme Court / Hall of Justice | Photo by Jon King The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday filed on behalf of the parents of the victims of the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting to hear out legal arguments that the school and its employees failed to protect their kids. The denial marks a monumental blow to civil case efforts against Oxford Community Schools by the families of students who were killed, injured or now live with the impact of the killings. In their order, the justices said that the court was not persuaded that the issues being raised by the families and their attorneys should be reviewed by the state Supreme Court. Attorneys representing the families argued in lower courts that Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act has been unconstitutionally protecting Oxford Public Schools and its employees from civil liability for their 'grossly negligent' actions prior to the November 2021 shooting. In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Oxford Schools in maintaining its immunity and the attorneys representing the students' families sought to have the state's highest court hear their arguments. Without their day in court, Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre who was killed in the shooting at age 16, said during a news conference Wednesday the state of Michigan is telling families that it's okay if tragedies like what happened at Oxford High School happen again and again. 'It's our government saying nothing's going to change. We don't have to change, and we're willing to sacrifice kids as a gun statistic to keep doing what we're doing,' Myre said. 'I would never want anybody to walk in these shoes that we're walking in. That's why we want there to be change.' The government should not be immune from accountability, Myre said, and every effort should be made to analyze what the school did wrong and how the lives of his son, Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, could have been saved. Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented? Soon after the tragedy at Oxford High School, the public became aware that on the day of the shooting, where the shooter, then a 15-year-old student at the school, drew pictures of the gun he had brought to school on an assignment, along with a bloodied figure and the words 'Blood everywhere,', 'The world is dead.' and 'Help me.' The shooter had several interactions in recent months with school employees about concerning behaviors like an apparent drop in mood and searching online for firearm ammunition during class. After a teacher saw what the shooter drew on his assignment, his parents were called to the school for a meeting with school staff who didn't make the parents take their son home for the day, nor did anyone at the school check his school bag for the gun. The shooter was sentenced to Michigan's highest criminal penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, in December of 2023. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the killings in April 2024. Judges throw out Oxford school shooting families' case against school officials The reality is there have been more school shootings since Oxford and there are things the world could've learned from this tragedy if the courts would allow light to shine on that day back in 2021, Meghan Gregory, mother of Keegan Gregory who survived the Oxford High School shooting said during the Wednesday news conference. Those kids' lives matter, Gregory said, and so while Oxford Schools can hide behind immunity, the families whose lives are forever changed by the shooting will work to find a way for accountability to happen and the truth to be revealed. 'I think we're all still kind of just trying to process that they won't even listen to our case,' Gregory said. 'This was a mass casualty, this was a huge deal and the fact they don't seem to care is just, it's really disheartening.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Michigan Supreme Court won't hear out Oxford High School mass shooting civil cases
Michigan Supreme Court / Hall of Justice | Photo by Jon King The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday filed on behalf of the parents of the victims of the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting to hear out legal arguments that the school and its employees failed to protect their kids. The denial marks a monumental blow to civil case efforts against Oxford Community Schools by the families of students who were killed, injured or now live with the impact of the killings. In their order, the justices said that the court was not persuaded that the issues being raised by the families and their attorneys should be reviewed by the state Supreme Court. Attorneys representing the families argued in lower courts that Michigan's Governmental Tort Liability Act has been unconstitutionally protecting Oxford Public Schools and its employees from civil liability for their 'grossly negligent' actions prior to the November 2021 shooting. In September, the Michigan Court of Appeals sided with Oxford Schools in maintaining its immunity and the attorneys representing the students' families sought to have the state's highest court hear their arguments. Without their day in court, Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre who was killed in the shooting at age 16, said during a news conference Wednesday the state of Michigan is telling families that it's okay if tragedies like what happened at Oxford High School happen again and again. 'It's our government saying nothing's going to change. We don't have to change, and we're willing to sacrifice kids as a gun statistic to keep doing what we're doing,' Myre said. 'I would never want anybody to walk in these shoes that we're walking in. That's why we want there to be change.' The government should not be immune from accountability, Myre said, and every effort should be made to analyze what the school did wrong and how the lives of his son, Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, could have been saved. Could a Michigan school shooting have been prevented? Soon after the tragedy at Oxford High School, the public became aware that on the day of the shooting, where the shooter, then a 15-year-old student at the school, drew pictures of the gun he had brought to school on an assignment, along with a bloodied figure and the words 'Blood everywhere,', 'The world is dead.' and 'Help me.' The shooter had several interactions in recent months with school employees about concerning behaviors like an apparent drop in mood and searching online for firearm ammunition during class. After a teacher saw what the shooter drew on his assignment, his parents were called to the school for a meeting with school staff who didn't make the parents take their son home for the day, nor did anyone at the school check his school bag for the gun. The shooter was sentenced to Michigan's highest criminal penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole, in December of 2023. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the killings in April 2024. Judges throw out Oxford school shooting families' case against school officials The reality is there have been more school shootings since Oxford and there are things the world could've learned from this tragedy if the courts would allow light to shine on that day back in 2021, Meghan Gregory, mother of Keegan Gregory who survived the Oxford High School shooting said during the Wednesday news conference. Those kids' lives matter, Gregory said, and so while Oxford Schools can hide behind immunity, the families whose lives are forever changed by the shooting will work to find a way for accountability to happen and the truth to be revealed. 'I think we're all still kind of just trying to process that they won't even listen to our case,' Gregory said. 'This was a mass casualty, this was a huge deal and the fact they don't seem to care is just, it's really disheartening.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Michigan court ends effort to sue Oxford school staff over 2021 mass shooting
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed appeals by families of students killed or wounded at Oxford High School in 2021, ending efforts to hold employees partly responsible for the mass shooting. Under Michigan law, immunity is a high hurdle to overcome in lawsuits against a government body, including public school staff. Lawyers typically have to show that gross negligence occurred. The court, in a two-sentence order, said it would not step into the litigation. The decision means a 3-0 Court of Appeals decision in favor of school employees will stand. A lawyer for the families said he would speak at an afternoon news conference. The appeals court in September said there was no evidence that Oxford staff were the 'proximate cause' of the tragedy, noting it was 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley who 'made the definite and premeditated decision' to take a gun to school, kill four students and wound seven other people. Before the shooting, he sketched images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math paper, accompanied by despondent phrases. His parents were quickly called to a meeting at school but declined to take him home. No one — parents or staff — checked the boy's backpack for a gun, though an administrator joked that it was heavy. Crumbley, now 19, is serving a life prison sentence. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are each serving 10-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said they had ignored his mental health needs, bought him a gun as a gift and then failed to safely secure it. ___ Follow Ed White at
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
One-man grand jury process could be banned under Michigan House bill
State Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville) on the House floor, Dec. 10, 2024. Meerman is the sponsor of legislation to get rid of Michigan's one-man grand jury process. | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols A Republican lawmaker is trying to strike the state's one-man grand jury process from law, a move that would prevent local prosecutors and the Department of Attorney General from bringing criminal charges against defendants with just one judge as the sole juror. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville), would repeal several sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing just one judge to review evidence and greenlight charges as a grand juror. The process was ruled unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court during the failed Flint water criminal prosecution against former Governor Rick Snyder and several other members of his administration. The court specifically called out the prosecutorial team – led by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and former Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud – for engaging in a type of 'Star Chamber,' a reference to the corrupt backroom English courts of the late 15th Century. That doomed the prosecution and the court eventually dismissed the charges. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Meerman's bill was up for testimony on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee. He said the grand jury was a hallmark of the judicial process, one that helps decide probable cause of a crime, but the difference with a one-man grand jury is that it is not composed of several citizens or local officials, but rather one judge. 'A one-man grand jury violates due process, as evidence in these proceedings is not made available to the defense,' Meerman said, who also claimed that Michigan was one of the only states that maintains a one-man grand jury process under law. 'The use of this legal maneuver erodes public trust and confidence in the impartiality of the justice system.' Touching on the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling, Meerman said the main takeaway was that a single judge cannot currently issue an indictment authorizing charges against a defendant. His bill would remove the portion of the criminal code that allows for a one-man grand jury, preventing it from being reactivated if the high court somehow overturns its precedent founded in the Flint water cases. Laws that remain on the books even though there is a court precedent deeming them unconstitutional or void are sometimes referred to as zombie laws. Rep. Brian BeGole (R-Perry) and Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) both asked how often this process was used and in what kinds of cases, and how widely it was utilized by prosecutors across the state. Meerman indicated that it happens infrequently. Although prosecutors did not give testimony before the committee on Wednesday, Meerman said it was his understanding through conversations with prosecutors that they would still like to keep it in their tool box, even though those prosecutors couldn't use it anyway, given the Supreme Court's ruling in 2022. Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said it was her understanding that the process was mostly used in sensitive felony cases. Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan said it supported the bill but did not wish to speak during committee. A spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan told Michigan Advance that it does not have a stance on the bill, and that the only county that had been using the law in any capacity was Wayne County. As it stands, it does not appear that the bill is a priority for PAAM to weigh in on, support or oppose. A spokesperson with Worthy's office deferred comment on the bill to PAAM. The office did not respond to additional questions posed by Michigan Advance regarding how often the county used the process prior to the Supreme Court's ruling or how difficult it is for the county to navigate complex cases without the use of a one-man grand jury.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- CBS News
Nearly 600 people sentenced to life in Michigan could be up for resentencing
After a landmark ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court, nearly 600 people convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole as juveniles could be up for resentencing. With that comes concerns of potential overload and strain on prosecutors' offices across the state. "Yes, there will be court resources spent on resentencing these individuals, but the savings and the potential to avoid needless, inhumane incarceration is massive," said Maya Menlo, assistant youth defender with the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO). In a 5-2 ruling, the Michigan Supreme Court found that people who committed murder between the ages of 19 and 20 should be resentenced, rather than serve life in prison without parole. Out of the 600 people convicted, 285 are in Wayne County. The state's high court made a similar decision for 18-year-olds. "We need to zoom out and look at the system as a whole, not just the court system, but also the Michigan Department of Corrections," said Menlo. The ruling, which called the original law a "violation" of Michigan's constitutional prohibition on cruel or unusual punishment, regardless of the date of the offense, says those cases should be reexamined because the defendants' brains weren't fully developed at the time. Jose Burgos knows the consequences of that firsthand after he was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole when he was 16. "As a juvenile lifer, as a child who went to prison, was giving a life without parole sentence, I knew that the only way we were going to change that is that somebody who experienced that was going to have to come out here and explain to the people, explain to the state of Michigan, explain to this country, how horrible it is to sentence children to life without parole," said Burgos. After serving 27 years, Burgos' sentence was reduced, and he was released in 2018. Menlo says the April decision doesn't minimize the crimes committed – or the victims impacted – but instead ensures defendants are given fair sentences. "Victims are not a monolith, and it is a disservice to victims to say that all of them oppose resentencing and all of them want life without the possibility of parole because we know that is simply not true," said Menlo. SADO found that the oldest prisoner up for resentencing in Wayne County is 80 years old, and all those eligible have served a combined total of close to 8,000 years in prison. One concern was the additional strain on county offices in terms of resources and staffing, so CBS News Detroit reached out to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who issued the following statement: "The MSC gave us six months to review over 400 Wayne County cases. Justice cannot be fair with this timeline. We intend to be thoughtful in evaluating these cases. We must review trial transcripts, MDOC records, medical and psychological records of each of the defendants, review the documents from each of the defense lawyers and find and contact each and every one of the affected families to inform them of this decision. "As has been the case with the MSC for years now, they do not seem to care about the plight of victims and the survivor families. These are all First-Degree Murder cases where these defendants were lawfully convicted. And we intend to be thoughtful and fair to each of these defendants. The WCPO is going to need a substantial amount of extra resources to be able to follow the dictates of the Court and do the right thing. And the timeline is untenable." Menlo says prosecutors do have a period of around six months to review all the cases and decide whether they want to seek life without parole for those who are eligible for resentencing.
