William Rousan, currently confined at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, filed the Section 1983 lawsuit against Steven Muller and the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. Rousan was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile and alleges that defendants are unlawfully denying him a parole hearing until he serves 50 years in prison. He seeks both monetary damages and injunctive relief to force the state to provide him with a meaningful opportunity for release.
Phillips found that Rousan's constitutional challenge has sufficient merit to proceed, noting that his claims appear grounded in established Supreme Court precedent. 'Granting a liberal construction to Plaintiff's claims,' Phillips wrote, 'they do not appear to be totally frivolous or maliciously raised.' Rousan argues that the 50-year requirement violates Missouri Revised Statutes Section 558.047 and conflicts with landmark Supreme Court decisions in Miller v. Alabama, Montgomery v. Louisiana, and Jones v. Mississippi, which established constitutional protections for juvenile offenders.
The case comes after Rousan was granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, allowing him to pursue the lawsuit despite his inability to pay court fees upfront. Phillips ordered that Rousan pay an initial partial filing fee of $25.60, with the remaining $324.40 of the $350 filing fee to be paid through monthly deductions of 20 percent of his prison account income whenever it exceeds $10.
The Missouri Department of Corrections has 30 days to notify the court whether it will waive service of process for the defendants. If service is waived, the defendants must respond within 60 days; otherwise, they have 21 days after being served. The case may also be scheduled for mediation, which Phillips noted could occur at any time at the discretion of the court's mediation program director.