Safe & Just Michigan

Criminal Defense Newsletter | May 2026

Michigan Sentencing Commission holds its inaugural meeting

The Michigan Sentencing Commission held its inaugural meeting on May 7, 2026. This is a new body created by the state Legislature to review existing sentencing standards in Michigan and make recommendations for new standards to the Michigan House and Senate. While commissions like these exist in about half of all states, Michigan hasn’t had one in about 30 years.

Safe & Just Michigan worked hard to make the Michigan Sentencing Commission a reality. We championed the legislation that created it and worked with our supporters in the state Legislature to shepherd it through the Capitol. With this commission in place, we are hopeful that Michigan’s sentencing practices will become more uniform and less arbitrary.

We are also pleased to reconnect with our former executive director, John S. Cooper, who left our organization recently to become the Chief of Staff for the Michigan Sentencing Commission. We feel confident the group is in good hands, and we look forward to helping the commission with its mission.

Dedicated justice warrior joins Safe & Just Michigan

Safe & Just Michigan is proud to announce that Tony Gant will be joining our team as the Director of Policy.

Most recently, Tony served as Co-Executive Director of Nation Outside, a statewide criminal legal reform organization led by formerly incarcerated people. He brings experience in leadership, policy development, legal writing and community organizing, all grounded in deep lived experience.

At Safe & Just Michigan, Tony will lead our policy work, including building partnerships with lawmakers and other decision makers, providing testimony at legislative hearings and helping our supporters communicate effectively with their elected officials. Tony believes that keeping the most vulnerable and marginalized people in mind when making decisions.

We hope you'll say hello to Tony when you see him at one of our upcoming events. Until then, you can learn more about him at safeandjustmi.org/staff-tony-gant/.

Hear discussion on the future of Clean Slate

Last month, we released our latest report, “Clean Slate Turns 5: Clean Slate 2.0 and What Comes Next,” which is available for reading at bit.ly/CleanSlate5Year. In conjunction with that release, we also hosted an hour-long moderated discussion to go over the report's findings and recommendations.

That discussion is now available for viewing anytime. Hear report author and Clean Slate Program Manager Kamau Sandiford in a conversation with Detroit’s Project Clean Slate Executive Director Stephani J. LaBelle and Michigan Advocacy Program Attorney and Director of Pro Bono Sarah Munro and moderated by SJM Senior Research and Policy Specialist Cassie Larrieux at bit.ly/CleanSlate5Live.

We’ll see you in September!

We know everyone in Michigan is looking forward to the start of summer, but we think it’s time to start thinking about September. We’ll be holding our annual Signature Event on Thursday, September 3, at 6pm. We’re still making our plans and preparing the award presentations, and we’ll be updating you with new information as soon as it becomes available. For now, we hope you will just pencil us in on your calendar, and we will look forward to seeing you then!

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.