A Clearfield County Judge who last year dismissed a civil complaint filed by “a juvenile lifer” against several psychologists in the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale has been upheld by the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

The term “juvenile lifer” refers to an inmate who was arrested for a murder committed when he or she was under 18 years of age.

Under Pennsylvania law, if the juvenile was tried and convicted as an adult of first- or second-degree murder, the mandatory sentence was life without parole.

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 2012 ruling, Miller v. Alabama, concluded that life without parole for a juvenile was unconstitutional.

That ruling eventually led to resentencing hearings for hundreds of Pennsylvania inmates, including Michale J. Anderson, who, in 1989, at the age of 17, murdered Karen Hurwitz, a classmate and a friend at Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.

He used a martial arts sword to stab his friend.

Anderson, who during the second of two trials was described as a person suffering from several severe mental health issues, stated that he was influenced by the film “A Clockwork Orange” to commit the murder.

He was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

Since the Miller decision, Many of those juvenile lifers have been resentenced to terms in prison that will eventually allow them to apply for parole.

Two juvenile lifers from Blair County, Leonard Bocchicchio and James “Frankie” Rodgers, have recently been resentenced.

Anderson, the Houtzdale inmate, was among those resentenced.

But he was resentenced to a term of 50 years to life.

Upset at the length of his new minimum sentence, Anderson filed a civil lawsuit in March 2020 in the Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas charging the “psychology professionals” who treated him at Houtzdale with malpractice.

According to a Superior Court opinion issued last Thursday, Anderson stated therapists associated with Houtzdale’s medical department “placed negative and untrue information in the records to diminish the possibility of (him) being released at the resentencing hearing.”

On May 20, 2020, Clearfield County Judge Fredric J. Ammerman dismissed the civil complaint without hearing because Anderson, who claimed to have copies of his medical records, did not specify what comments in the records he considered true or not true.

Anderson appealed Ammerman’s dismissal to the Superior Court, contending that the judge should have permitted him to amend his lawsuit.

Anderson even attached an amended version of the lawsuit to his appeal.

It was more than 80 pages long.

He argued that he had reserved the right to amend his initial complaint.

Anderson stated “that the COVID-19 global health pandemic prevented him from presenting a proper complaint,” according to the Superior Court panel that reviewed his case.

The inmate told Superior Court he had planned to amend his complaint, but the Clearfield judge would not grant him permission to do so.

But the Superior Court stated that once Anderson filed notice of appeal, the trial judge (Ammerman) had no power to permit him to amend the initial complaint.

“We conclude that the trial court did not violate (Anderson’s) constitutional rights, abuse its discretion, or err in dismissing (his) complaint.” the opinion stated.

The Department of Corrections reports that as of Aug. 31, Pennsylvania has resentenced 466 juvenile lifers.

The DOJ statistics show that 266 have been released.