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 & [...]
It has only been a couple months since I took part in the Juvenile Lifers Summer Camp retreat. However, during this pandemic, time has somehow seemed to have slowed a bit. I was a little bummed because my friend Walter had informed me that he could not attend the latest Metal Health Art Workshop because [...]
The COVID-19 crisis presents an unprecedented challenge to our country that touches on all aspects of our society, including the criminal justice system. Knowing that there is broad public support for protecting incarcerated people in Michigan prisons will help us advise state decision-makers, and helps those elected leaders feel confident as they make their choices. [...]
In these are trying and uncertain times, we at Safe & Just Michigan want you to know that we are working to limit the impact of COVID-19 on people in Michigan's jails and prisons, to keep the public up-to-date on what is being done, and to support advocacy for diversion and decarceration both during the [...]
(Please note: the following blog post contains the reflections of formerly incarcerated people in their own words, and it covers material that is emotionally sensitive such as rape and gun violence.) Daniel Jones’ life changed forever when his parents separated when he was just a young boy. Up to then, he felt secure and [...]
Mary Lynn Stevens always told me that her job as development director for Safe & Just Michigan was the capstone of her career. After all, it brought together many of the things she is most passionate about in her life: her thirst for justice, her love of connecting people to causes they care about and [...]
Each year, the Michigan Department of Corrections releases a factbook of statistics describing their department, the state prisons and the people who are incarcerated inside them. This year’s factbook, which looks at statistics from 2018, was recently released. Overall, the facts and figures point to continuing trends: Michigan’s prison population continues to fall, while our [...]
As 2019 winds down, we thought we’d take a moment to look back at a busy year for criminal justice reform in Michigan and take stock of all that’s happened. From the introduction of Clean Slate to the passage of Raise the Age, the formation of the Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration [...]
Every year in mid-November, thousands of criminologists from around the world gather in a large U.S. city for the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology (ASC). ASC is the primary professional association for criminologists and other academics that study crime. This year, the conference took place in San Francisco, and the theme was [...]
Last week, on October 10, Just Us Now and the National Lifers of America Inc. held a community day event at the state Capitol. The crowd was an eclectic mix of people who have served and been released from life or long sentences as well as their loved ones. Most in attendance wore shirts with [...]