Michigan’s prison population dropped by a drastic 11.7% between 2019 and 2020, driven by an effort to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections 2020 Statistical Report. While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer turned down requests to accelerate parole efforts during the pandemic, another decision of hers did lead to the sharp decrease [...]
For those who don’t have money, they are stuck in jail, trying to fight their case and hold their lives together with a crazy glue made out of incapacitation, restricted access to a telephone, and the wreckage of whatever was left behind. - Joshua Hoe Getting arrested and going to jail turns your entire [...]
The Michigan Jail Task Force on Jail and Pre-Trial Incarceration made 18 recommendations that were turned into legislation. In the last weeks of 2020, the Michigan Legislature passed that legislation and changed the laws but more importantly it will change hundreds of thousands of Michiganders lives for the better. Some of this legislation focused on [...]
This past year has been one of extremes. The COVID-19 pandemic has been tragic and caused enormous loss, as many people with loved ones inside prison know all too well. At the other extreme, it has also been a year of unprecedented gains in criminal justice reforms. In between, all of us at Safe & [...]
Safe & Just Michigan’s mission is to support policy changes that will bring about safer, more just and more equitable communities throughout ours state — including communities that reside within state prisons. However, for the past eight months, COVID-19 has largely been setting the agenda inside our prisons, affecting everything from visits to transfers and [...]
The 2020 election is shaping up to be an historic event. We are now just days away from Election Day, and already, many political commentators are expecting to see record voter turnout. This is a great thing, because the more people who vote, the more voices that are heard. Having a Criminal Record is Not [...]
We are less than three weeks away from an historic election — are you ready to vote? Perhaps you have already? Maybe you’re wondering if it’s too late to register? Or maybe you don't even think you can vote because of a criminal record? We don’t know how any of the many contests currently underway [...]
We are now 46 days away from a historic election. Here in Michigan, having a felony or misdemeanor conviction on your record is no barrier to voting, so long as you’re not currently incarcerated and serving a sentence. That means that the moment you leave jail or prison, you can vote. If you’re on probation [...]
On Tuesday, June 9, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections held a meeting to discuss the prison population and the Michigan Department of Corrections’ response to the Covid-19 crisis. However, due to pending litigation, the review of the MDOC’s response to Covid-19 is delayed until a future meeting. What can’t be delayed or denied is [...]
There are more than 44,000 people on Michigan’s bloated sex offender registry — more people than are incarcerated inside Michigan prisons — and this number grows yearly. For more than 90 percent of people on this list, registration is for 25 years to life. While there is a process to petition for removal from the [...]