Congratulations, SADO!

On September 4, Safe & Just Michigan will present SADO with the Justice Warrior Award at our annual Signature Event in Lansing. One of four awards being presented that night, the Justice Warrior Award is given to a person or organization that exemplifies the work to reform Michigan’s criminal legal system. In particular, we are grateful to SADO for its work on behalf of people serving juvenile life without parole sentences in Michigan and its efforts to help people returning from prison to settle back into their communities. We will also be presenting the William G. Milliken Award, honoring an elected official who demonstrates a commitment to criminal legal reform, to Michigan state Senator Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit). Among other things, she has served on the House C.A.R.E.S. Task Force, the Criminal Justice Policy Commission, the Joint Task Force on Jails and Pretrial Incarceration, the Juvenile Justice Reform Task Force, and the criminal justice policy committees in both the House and the Senate. Further, she was a sponsor, co-sponsor, or key supporter of many important bill packages, including Raise the Age, Clean Slate, the 19-bill Jails Task Force Package and Medically Frail Parole. She is currently sponsoring Senate Bill 318, supported by SJM, to eliminate the $5 copay people in prison must pay for non-emergency medical, optical, or dental care. Finally, we will honor Detroit Police Commission Vice Chair Darryl Woods, Sr., with the Lifetime of Service Award. Mr. Woods received a commutation on a life without parole sentence in 2019 and came home to Detroit after nearly 30 years of incarceration. While in prison, Mr. Woods became a minister and became active with several programs to reduce recidivism. He chaired the NAACP Detroit Branch Prison Program Committee and served on the board of Chance for Life. Since returning home, Mr. Woods has served on many community boards including the Michigan Appellate Defender Commission and the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network’s Substance Use Disorder Board. He is an elder at Greater Grace Temple and the founder and CEO of Fighting the Good Fight LLC. 

Keeping the police accountable 

Last month, we updated you on a set of bills, Senate Bills 333-343, that would improve police accountability and oversight. Now, we have new resources to help explain what these bills would do. We hope you’ll review and share them with your friends and family. An overview of the legislation can be found at bit.ly/STATOverview, and a fact sheet is available at bit.ly/STATFacts. 

We hope you’ll want to learn more about these bills and help us move them through the Legislature. These bills make common-sense changes to how police officers handle interactions with the community and prevent the use of excessive force. Crafted through extensive work with community stakeholders and law enforcement, these common-sense reforms would ensure Michigan remains a leader in advancing policies that enhance public safety and uphold justice for all. 

Report on fines and fees to be released 

Over the past year or so, we’ve talked about our efforts to reduce the legal fines and court fees assessed to justice-impacted families. For instance, we are in full support of Sen. Sylvia Santana’s Senate Bill 318, which would eliminate the $5 copay people in prison must pay to access health care. But that is just the start. In the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing our latest report, Debtors in Prison: How fines & fees capture justice-impacted Michigan families in debt. The report takes a comprehensive look at why people in prison need money and how they earn it, how these expenses harm both the incarcerated individual and their family and how outstanding debt can hamper a successful reentry. We also list several suggestions that would relieve the burden on families without harming public safety. Keep watch for our report, which will be released on August 25. We hope you’ll find our research useful and that you’ll support our work to reduce legal fines and fees. 

Help amplify Inside Voices

Inside Voices is a written by justice-involved people currently incarcerated in Michigan prisons that is published in our hardcopy newsletter. While space in the printed newsletter is limited, we are able to post more of them online for everyone to read. If you would like to encourage someone who is incarcerated to submit a letter, please tell them they can send a letter of 300 words or less on criminal justice reform, pending legislation, re-entry or related topics to Inside Voices, c/o Safe & Just Michigan, 119 Pere Marquette Drive, Suite 2A, Lansing, MI 48912. To learn more, visit us at www.safeandjustmi.org. If you would like to join our efforts, email us at info@safeandjustmi.org or sign up for our newsletter at bit.ly/sjmsignup.

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