Leonard Lopate at Large: Antonio Espree Joins Samantha Michaels

Today on Leonard Lopate at Large, Antonio Espree joins Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones for a conversation a discussion of what his life has been like returning from a life sentence.

“When Antonio Espree was 16, he fatally shot an innocent bystander during a drug turf war near Detroit,” reads a passage from Samantha Michaels feature article in the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine.

“The state sent him to die in prison. But in April 2017, he was paroled thanks to a series of Supreme Court decisions arguing that because their brains were not fully developed at the time of their crimes, kids should face more lenient sentences than adult perpetrators. The rulings, which took place between 2010 and 2016, have banned mandatory life-without-parole sentences for teenagers, giving thousands of juvenile lifers around the country a shot at release.”