House speaker Joe Tate said of those who failed to show up, “they refused to do their jobs.” Attorney General Dana Nessel said that failing to attend was “literally criminal,” referring to a one-year misdemeanor of willful neglect of duty. Deep divisions between the two major political parties, as well as within the Democratic party, are being blamed.

The House is officially scheduled to meet one more day on December 31, but this day will likely include nothing but formalities to end the session. The House will reconvene in January with newly elected members and new leadership.

• Michigan House Democrats order police to retrieve boycotting Republican members, December 19, 2024.
• Michigan House of Representatives sputters to an end without enough members present to vote, December 20, 2024.
• Internal divisions doom Michigan Democrats in their final days of legislative control, December 20, 2024.

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Prison Policy Initiative released a new report that outlines a number of criminal legal system reforms that should be considered in the coming year.

The 34 reforms focus on eight areas:

• Expanding alternatives to criminal legal system responses to social problems;
• Protecting the presumption of innocence so people receive a fair shot at justice;
• Decreasing the length of prison sentences, and providing pathways for all people to exit prison;
• Treating people humanely during incarceration;
• Treating people on community supervision fairly, and helping them thrive in their communities;
• Setting people up to succeed when they leave prisons and jails;
• Giving incarcerated/formerly incarcerated people political representation and voice;
• Reducing spending on the criminal legal system while increasing investment in communities.

This article was originally published by Prison Policy Initiative as “34 criminal legal system reforms that can win in 2025,” authored by Wanda Bertram

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These bills represent a monumental step toward creating a fairer system that values growth, redemption, and second chances. Advocates, including formerly incarcerated individuals, shared powerful testimonies that moved the needle toward justice.

Additional bills are also being considered, including proposals to limit the use of no-knock warrants, establish a “duty to intervene” when law enforcement officers see excessive force being used, providing law enforcement with de-escalation training, and more.

This progress is a victory—but it’s not the end. These bills will next move to the House floor before they will become law. Please contact your representatives and let them know how important it is to pass criminal legal reform legislation.

Thanks to our partner MI-CEMI for keeping a close eye on this legislation!

The post Michigan Legislature Moving Forward on Reform Bills appeared first on Voting Access For All.

On November 12, 2024, the House Criminal Justice Standing Committee heard testimony on a package of bills to advance pretrial reform in Michigan. Safe & Just Michigan Executive Director John S. Cooper provided written testimony and stated:

“The pending bill package would eliminate cash bail in many low-level, non-violent cases while leaving the existing system in place for more serious or violent cases. In doing so, it recognizes that pretrial detention should be reserved for people who pose a demonstrable threat to the public rather than those who are simply unable to pay, while acknowledging concerns about including serious and violent cases in the initial round of bills.”

Download from Safe & Just Michigan website >> SJM Testimony in support of Pretrial Reform Package November 12, 2024.docx

This post Written Testimony in support of pretrial reform package – November 12, 2024 first appeared on Safe & Just Michigan.

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Four years after the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and too many others, Michigan is still waiting for meaningful police reform. Despite strong bipartisan support and well-crafted proposals refined through extensive outreach to law enforcement and community groups, no substantial legislative action has occurred.

With time running out in this legislative session, we urgently need your help to push forward a package of commonsense bills designed to:

• Limit the use of no-knock warrants to high-risk situations only.
• Establish a “duty to intervene” when officers witness a colleague using excessive force.
• Require clear and comprehensive use-of-force policies, including bans on chokeholds and guidelines for de-escalation.
• Protect body camera footage from tampering and ensure transparency.
• Provide ongoing training in de-escalation, implicit bias, and crisis response.
• Revoke licenses of officers who use excessive force resulting in death or serious injury.
• Strengthen laws for investigating police misconduct while ensuring truthfulness in officer statements.
• Protect the anonymity of some complaints against law enforcement officers.

How You Can Make a Difference

To get involved, sign the petition, or to learn more, read the original post Join Us in the Fight for Commonsense Police Accountability from Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration.

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A report of racial disparities in the county, the “Prosecutor Transparency Project,” was released in 2024. The multi-year analysis was conducted by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, ACLU of Michigan, and University of Michigan.

Findings include that law enforcement agencies in Washtenaw County are over four times more likely to seek criminal charges against Black people than white people, according to a report released by the prosecutor’s office.

The study looked at 35,000 cases files between 2017 and 2022. 

The report found that Black people appear in 49.9% of police requests for criminal charges during that time span, but make up only 12.2% of Washtenaw County residents. By comparison, white people appear in 47.8% of charging requests and make up 70% of the county’s population.

The report is summarized in a 2024 article from FOX2 Detroit.

An excerpt below is from the Introduction of the Report:

The criminal legal system should provide accountability for people who threaten public safety, respect the rights of crime victims and defendants, and treat people fairly regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. However, in Washtenaw County, there is evidence that people of color have different encounters with the legal system than white people. 

As part of the  Prosecutor Transparency Project , the University of Michigan analyzed cases referred to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office from 2017 to 2022. That analysis found the largest racial disparity occurred in requests to file charges received by the prosecutor’s office from local law enforcement. Black people appear in 49.9% of requests for charges between 2017 and 2022 but make up only 12.2% of county residents. By comparison, white people appear in 47.8% of requests for charges and make up 70% of the county’s population. This suggests the demographic composition of the cases that come into the prosecutor’s office are a significant driver of previously observed racial disparities in Washtenaw County’s criminal legal system.

The analysis also points to some evidence of racial disparities in the following areas:

• The prosecutor’s office was 0.7 percentage points more likely to authorize charges for defendants of color than for white defendants in similar circumstances between 2017 and 2022, which was largely driven by a disparity in 2019;
• Defendants of color were charged with crimes having maximum sentences 2.15 months longer than white defendants in similar circumstances between 2017 and 2022, with statistically significant disparities that are larger in 2018 and 2020;
• Among eligible defendants, white people were more likely to be designated as habitual offenders, which means longer maximum sentences; and
• Defendants of color faced 0.05 more charges per case on average than white defendants in similar circumstances between 2017 and 2022.

 The analysis did not find evidence of racial disparities in the following areas:

• In acceptance into a pre-plea diversion program, nor
• In granting Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) status, which allows young defendants to avoid a criminal record. 

Data limitations make it impossible to construct a reliable analysis of a representative sample of plea bargains in the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. The preliminary analysis of plea-bargaining decisions that was conducted, however, did not find evidence of racial disparities.

The Prosecutor Transparency Project demonstrates the ways data collection and analysis can help identify disparities in the criminal legal system and inform action to promote equity, fairness, and harm reduction. To allow for a better understanding of the impact of decisions made at each stage in the criminal legal system, more prosecutors’ offices, law enforcement departments, and courts need to participate in transparent data sharing and analysis.

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Held annually since 1972, the 50th-anniversary event will highlight the cannabis industry, marijuana legislation and cannabis activism.

Hash Bash organizers told MLive that this year’s speakers include advocate John Sinclair, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) and other local activists. The speakers list has not been finalized.

This will be the first Hash Bash held in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday, April 2

Monroe Street Fair: 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

• The annual shopping event will run concurrently with the 2022 Hash Bash. In 2022, it will celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Ann Arbor Hash Bash: Noon

• The free event will be held at the University of Michigan Diag.

Hash Bash Afterparty with MacPodz: 7 p.m.

• Continue to celebrate with an afterparty at the Blind Pig. The psychedelic funk event, at 208 S. First St., costs $10.

For details and to check out the schedule of events for Hash Bash 2022, visit https://www.hash-bash.com

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