MI Supreme Court Scraps Some Mandatory Minimum Sentences

The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday to strike down some mandatory sentencing guidelines will mean a lot of work for trial court judges now and plenty of work this fall for a House committee.

State Representative Kurt Heise, chair of the House Criminal Justice Committee, says they’ll first spend some time cleaning up current state law.

The next step will be to ensure the right policies are in place moving forward.

The state high court’s decision means it will be up to judges to impose some minimum sentences as opposed to relying on a hard set of numbers.

Heise says that will likely be disruptive for some prosecutors and judges as they navigate the changes.

He also says a select group of people who have already been sentenced can appeal their judge’s decision.