Democrats in the state House and Senate introduced legislation this week to abolish life sentences for juveniles. If passed, Michigan will join 26 other states that have taken steps to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling, Miller v. Alabama, which declared that a life sentenced for a juvenile was considered a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment. “The United States Supreme Court and the Michigan Supreme Court have ruled that automatically sentencing youth to life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment.