Rewind: From 1980s ‘tough on crime’ laws to Michigan’s juvenile justice system today

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Careful eyes have been monitoring conditions for young people at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility , uncovering overcrowded facilities, substandard conditions and multiple instances of alleged abuse . This watchdogging has tracked the shortfalls in accountability on the part of those meant to protect this vulnerable population, unlike coverage of the past.

Yesteryear’s sensationalized media coverage of crime committed by young people was typically followed by a “ tough on crime ” response by leaders, particularly during the 1980s when violent juvenile crime and youth gang activity was on the rise . The highly publicized effort to tackle juvenile crime eventually led elected leaders to start seeking automatic waiver laws in 1985.

At the time, people under 17 years old attended juvenile court , except under certain circumstances where judges could waive 15- and 16-year-olds who committed violent crimes into the adult court system. Those in juvenile detention were required to be released by their 19th birthday.

Some argued any person who committed a violent crime should have gone to adult court, pointing to examples of older juvenile detainees who committed murder but would only serve short amounts of time in juvenile detention before being released. Others said instead of being released by age 19, juvenile offenders should be transferred to the adult prison system to continue their remaining sentence.

By the end of 1986, the Michigan Legislature introduced more than two dozen bills addressing the juvenile justice system during the 1985-86 legislative session, including several automatic waiver proposals.

“These bills, though certainly not perfect in every regard, go a long way toward fostering both individual responsibility for criminal acts and system-wide accountability,” Republican Sen. Rudy Nichols wrote in a 1988 opinion piece for Lansing State Journal.

The Michigan Legislature passed an automatic waiver law in 1988, which took effect on Oct. 1 that year . Under the new law, prosecutors did not need judges to waive 15- and 16-year-olds to adult court. Prosecutors could do it automatically for serious crimes.

Not all juveniles who committed violent crimes were given adult sentences, however. Two months after the law took effect, Wayne County Prosecutor John O’Hair said his office only sought an adult charge for 10 out of 48 eligible juveniles. At this time, the Detroit Free Press reported that gun injuries to young residents dropped from 365 in 1986 to about 280 in 1988, but the number of deaths rose from 43 in 1986 to more than 50 in 1988.

A month after the Michigan Legislature passed the new law, state officials and social service professionals formed the Juvenile Justice Alternatives Task Force to seek alternative methods of handling juvenile crime. The task force hoped to find solutions to address the root causes of juvenile crime and treatments to prevent recidivism.

J. Otis Davis, chairperson of the task force and director of the Bureau of Juvenile Justice Services, flagged that community-based juvenile programs had lengthy waiting lists while detention facilities overflowed with inmates.

“In every local detention facility, there are no vacancies,” Davis said at the time. “When a youngster is placed in detention there isn’t any treatment.”

At a youth violence conference that December, political leaders and experts explored solutions to curb crime. Some participants blamed the media for reporting on wealthy drug dealers and sensationalizing juvenile violence, while others blamed potential cuts to the budget of the Department of Social Services (now the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services).

Automatic waiver laws came under fire in 1989 when the Juvenile Justice Alternatives Task Force released a report to the Michigan Legislature criticizing the new law’s procedures and pushing for alternatives to prevent overcrowding.

“If we don’t get a handle on which kids need to be institutionalized and what alternatives exist for those kids who don’t need to be institutionalized, we’ll be building institutions that are even more costly than adult prisons,” said Rick Durancyzk, associate director of the nonprofit Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency .

In 1996, state legislators reduced the minimum age teens could be sent to adult court, from 15 to 14, in a series of laws targeting juvenile crime. The Detroit Free Press reported that the legislation was some of the harshest in America.

Some, like then-Detroit Police Chief Isaiah McKinnon, said the new legislation was unfortunate but necessary to combat juvenile crime. Others, like the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, said it would worsen juvenile crime when offenders were released.

Today, automatic waivers can be used for young people ages 14-16, and juveniles can still be charged as adults for certain crimes in Michigan. For example, Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life without parole in December at age 17. He is the first juvenile to receive such a sentence since the U.S. Supreme Court deemed life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional except in rare circumstances.

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