On September 16, 2020 Executive Director John S. Cooper submitted written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in support of House Bills (HB) 5846 - 53. Cooper states in the written testimony: Safe & Just Michigan urges the Michigan Legislature to pass H.B. 5846-53 without changes and without delay. These important reforms will improve the [...]
On September 10, 2020 Policy Analyst Josh Hoe submitted written testimony to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee in opposition of Senate Bill (SB) 289, 290, and 291. Hoe states in the written testimony: There is no evidence that public registries provide a public safety benefit and a large amount of evidence that public [...]
On June 11, 2020 Executive Director John S. Cooper submitted written testimony to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee in support of HB 4980 - 85 & 5120 (2019). Excerpt: Safe & Just Michigan supports all of the expungement reform bills being considered today, but my testimony today will focus on H.B. 4980--the “automatic [...]
On May 13, 2020 Policy Analyst Josh Hoe submitted written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in opposition of House Bill (HB) 5679. SJM states in the written testimony "any replacement registry bill that does not ensure more are removed from the registry than added cannot make Michigan safer." Download>> Written Testimony HB 5679
On September 24, 2019 Executive Director John S. Cooper submitted written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in Support of HB 4980-‐85 (2019). Safe & Just Michigan supports all of the expungement reform bills and the focus of the testimony is on HB 4980 – the automatic expungement, or “clean slate” bill. Michigan already has [...]
On September 20, 2019 Policy Analyst Josh Hoe submitted written testimony to the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. The testimony outlines how Michigan could drastically reduce the state's jail population by simply agreeing to discontinue the practice of incarcerating large numbers people for non-serious misdemeanors. Download>> Testimony Misdemeanor Incarceration
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Everyone makes mistakes, but people who have served their time deserve a second chance. While laws already exist to expunge past criminal convictions, only 6.5 percent of the people eligible take advantage of the process. That’s why Safe & Just Michigan supports Clean Slate legislation, which would remove certain convictions from a person’s record and [...]
On August 23, 2019 Policy Analyst Josh Hoe submitted written testimony to the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. Safe & Just Michigan recommends two easy ways to address Pay to Stay practices. First, detain many fewer people by increasing our reliance on alternatives to incarceration and looking at incarceration as a [...]
On August 23, 2019 Policy Analyst Josh Hoe submitted written testimony to the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. Safe & Just Michigan supports efforts to limit or eliminate the use of cash bail in Michigan. Download>> Bail Reform Testimony