Chelsea Richardson earns the Emerging Leader Award!

Advancing Real Change Names its 2026 Award Recipients

Congratulations to SADO JLU Mitigation Supervisor Chelsea Richardson for receiving the 2026 Emerging Leader Award from Advancing Real Change (ARC)!  Read more


Registration is open for the 2026 Appellate Writing Workshop

September 30 - October 2, 2026 in Detroit

MAACS Roster Attorneys and SADO Assistant Defenders are invited to register for the Appellate Writing Workshop (AWW), an in-person, 3-day writing workshop specifically designed for criminal appellate attorneys. Read more


Project Reentry's End of Summer Gathering

September 20, 2026 | 12-3pm

Please join us as we come together to celebrate our community’s growth as we wrap up the summer season with our End of Summer Gathering. Formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, and reentry community partners are all welcome. Read more


Safe & Just Michigan

Criminal Defense Newsletter | August 2026

Early in the budget process, we and other advocates in the criminal legal reform space rallied to ensure that our priorities would be reflected in the upcoming budget. We knew that this was going to be a challenging fiscal advocacy year for us. Read more


Old Chief: The solution you didn’t know you needed in aggravated stalking cases

Criminal Defense Newsletter | August 2026

Old Chief is why we stipulate that our client has a conviction for a felony in every case with a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. It is time to apply the Old Chief logic to personal protection orders (PPOs) when clients are charged with aggravated stalking. Read more


Michigan Supreme Court sentencing decisions, term 2025-2026

Criminal Defense Newsletter | August 2026

The Michigan Supreme Court’s 2025-2026 term brought resolution to a number of high impact sentencing questions: long sentences for youthful offenders, the limits of sex offender registration, felony murder sentences under Aaron, and recreational marijuana use for probationers.  Read more


SADO's Michael Mittlestat works with UM clinical law students to secure new trial

University of Michigan Law School | July 2026

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently reversed the trial court’s judgment in a felony murder case, agreeing with the defense on two issues briefed by student-attorneys from the University of Michigan Law School's Criminal Appellate Practice (CAP) Clinic. Read more


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