Josh has exhausted all but 1 appeal so there is little hope for his release on direct appeal but he does have his last appeal, a 6.500 motion left. Yet, around the United States, the courts are beginning to understand that it is unconstitutional to keep young adults in prison until they die.`

`Over 5 years ago, in the Miller v Alabama case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to die in prison. Yet, this only applied to individuals 17 years old or younger. What this means is that here in Michigan well over 20+ 17-year-olds, many of which where the actual shooters, have been resentenced in the past few years. Most of them received the low end, 25 years, of the guidelines which are 25 to 40 years. Yet, Josh must still die in prison.`

`In a recent Federal case, in Connecticut’s U.S. District Court, the court ruled that the defendant, Cruz, should have the same protections as the above Miller case even though the defendant was 18 years old. So, despite being the shooter of 4 people in a gang-related shooting, Cruz will be resentenced. But this case doesn’t help Josh because Michigan is not Subject to Connecticut law.

`Both of the above cases were based on, and greatly influenced by Brain Science that has proven that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25. In the Cruz case, recent advancements in fMRI scans have proven that the frontal cortex develops last and functions at a lower capacity in late adolescents, age 18 to 21-year-olds. The frontal cortex is something like the braking system on the car, thus the late adolescents can go fast, take risks, and do adult things but they do not weigh consequences of their actions well. Nor do they take into account the effects their actions will have on others. The experts in this field are led my Dr. Laurance Steinburg who has spent decades analyzing the adolescent brain. Hear what he has to say: (Insert video of Steinburg)

`Here are some Quotes on the issue of late adolescents:`

“Laurance Steinburg states in ‘Young adults as a transitional category` 85 Fordham Law Review 641 “Young adults (18-21) are more like adolescents in their behavior, psychological functioning and brain development.” Dr. Steinburg went on further explains”while research into late adolescence is relatively recent, (he) is absolutely certain… the hallmark characteristics of adolescents continue through at least age 20″ 

`Lisa Jacobs the Program Manager at the Center for Criminal Justice Research says “You can’t say with a straight face that 18-year olds are adults and 17-year olds are not. You just can’t.”

`A Department of Justice (DOJ) Study Investing in the health and well being of young adults, supra at 361 states: “focused on ages 15-29…the authors conclude that ‘young adult offenders age 18 to 24 are more similar to juveniles than adults with respect to their offending, maturation, and life circumstances,..”