This was the first time I’ve ever felt unhinged excitement entering a county jail, here’s why:
October 24th 2022 at 10:00am, six candidates running on the ballot in Michigan this November, accepted the invitation to speak directly to jailed voters in-person. After a round of introductions participants, including media and outside community members like myself, along with jailed voters; learned a little about the judicial candidates running in the highest levels of Michigans courts. Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Ambassador, Percy Glover, reached out to all of the candidates running for office and those who accepted the invitation to enter the jail and speak directly to incarcerated citizens included Supreme Court candidates Richard Bernstein and Kyra-Harris Bolden; court of appeals candidates, Micheal Warren Jr, and Sima Patel; and finally 7th district court judge candidates Dawn Wieir and Mary Hood. In a situation where a population of voters are confined without freedom of movement or the ability to freely access election information, those candidates who chose not to attend speaks volumes.
In this piece I’ll be rating each candidate 7 points max in each of the following categories
- Explaining the workings of the court
- Relating to voters on stance(s) or experience(s)
- Sharing related accomplishments thus far, particularly in Criminal Justice arena
Issues of focus that resonated among jailed participants included:
- Protection of Voting rights
- Case backlog (due to pandemic)
- Reimplementing in-person hearings
Attending Candidates for Supreme Court Justice
Richard Bernstein
While Bernstein did a good job with relating to voters, highlighting his empathy and understanding for challenge & struggles as ‘The Blind Justice’, more of his time was spent on his frustrations with the current system’s online hearing structure than on explaining the Supreme Court’s workings. However, he ensured voters that he would prioritize a transition from hearings being online to going back to in-person which resonated with the audience. As a current Justice, his greatest achievements are in the environmental arena of social justice, his a recent opinion on the Flint water crisis as well as on a Rouge plant effecting Dearborn, aims to protect citizens’ negatively impacted by changes in manufacturing infrastructure.
Explaining court workings – 5 points
Relating to voters – 7 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 7 points
Total Score = 17
Kyra Harris-Bolden
Harris did an absolutely fantastic job in all three categories, she took the time to explain the process of, not only the Supreme Court and their selective nature, but also relating the Supreme Court with the interworking of the lower level courts. She urged voters or the importance of having the right people at each level, “90% or so [of cases] will go to the court of appeals, only a few number will go to the SC so you want to have people at the table that know this issue is important for it to be taken up…we have to make sure we have people in power that understand these issues.”
Harris related to voters in a signifiant way, sharing her own family history. As a descendant of a great-grandfather who was lynched and drowned just for asking for his receipt on his purchase; her passion for justice was ignited by her family’s inability to seek justice for her great-grandfather’s death. This is documented in a film, Accidental Drowning. When elected Harris would be the only woman sitting on the Supreme Court, as well as the first black women to ever sit on Michigan’s Supreme Court. She shared that she wasn’t proud to be able to say that in 2022, but now is the time for this change. Harris shared how her unique experience as a lawmaker in the stat’s legislature will inform a unique perspective in the court amongst judges who’ve never written law themselves. Over her years as representative, her focus has been in criminal justice reform passing 5 bills successfully while in office. Her experience as a lawmaker will inform her interpretation of law in a way that could only benefit those judges who’d sit alongside her when elected.
Explaining court workings – 7 points
Relating to voters – 7 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 7 points
Total Score = 21
Attending Candidates for Appellate Court
Micheal Warren Jr.
Unfortunately, Warren spent most of his time quoting the Declaration of Independence. He began his time sharing a long quote from the Declaration, which wouldn’t have applied to most of the attending voters’ ancestors when it was written, which was jarring while trying to listen for when he may share any of his personal stances or experiences.
Rather than share any concrete stances, Warren boasted about his experience as a judge saying, “I’ve sentenced thousands of people” and “I’ve been a judge longer than the other candidate has been a lawyer”. He attempted to relate to voters religiously saying they are valued “as children of God” and while this is true, it can be hard to digest while confined in a jail. He did this while referring to jailed voters as inmates, using dehumanizing language while speaking to his audience, with each of his statements ending with “God bless you and God bless America”. These statements, without any support of his personal stances in relation to reforms of the system seemed to fall flat, creating more distance between voters and himself.
Explaining court workings – 2 points
Relating to voters – 1 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 2 points
Total score = 5
Sima Patel
In contrast to her opponent, Patel did incredibly well with relating with voters as a civil rights attorney. When awarded the seat she would be the first Indian woman to sit on the bench, and only one of two with a civil rights background. While she has yet to be a judge, she stood on her stance that more perspectives in the court would be more valuable than any added number of years as a judge. I agree wither her. As a civil rights attorney she’s impassioned by the creating pathways for her clients to evolve into better circumstances. She also believes that everyone, regardless of their race or economic status, deserves access to justice.
While some may think that her lack of experience as a judge may be a hinderance, it actually sets her apart from her competition as well as those other judges who’d be sitting alongside her on the bench. If we already have judges with decades of experience who’ve made no real differences for our community during their “service”, then that’s no real valuable criteria in determining how their authority would be exercised to positively benefit those on the margins. Patel is a perfect fit for those voters seeking to make a different type of choice that would allow much needed change in Michigan’s appellate court system.
Explaining court workings – 7 points
Relating to voters – 7 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 6 points
Total Score = 20
Attending Candidates for 7th District Court
Dawn Wieir
Wieir is a great candidate for office, simply because of her commitment to “Justice for All” as a court appointed defense attorney for over a decade. She shared that in this role she’s received some of her greatest winnings for clients. She’s the type of attorney anyone would be incredibly grateful to have appointed to them in a time of crisis. She shared her relieved that a coworker was able to cover her cases that morning, emphasizing her deep commitment to her caseload along with the importance of taking the opportunity to speak to voters as apart of this forum. Her perspective in her current role is valuable and would make a positive impact.
Unfortunately, she, like Warren, also used the term “inmate” in her language while speaking to jailed voters which surprised me; indicating a lack of personal connection to her audience that I wasn’t expecting. However, with Genesee County already having five specialty courts that specialize in alternative sentencing she noted that after witnessing over 85% of cases during the pandemic being assaultive cases, Dawn shared her intent to establish a anger management court which could help decrease the jail population.
Explaining court workings – 7 points
Relating to voters – 5 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 7 points
Total score = 19
Mary Hood
Hood has already been working in the 7th District Court for over 30years. She’s presided over thousands of cases in family law and with the open seat being in the family arena, Hood’s background perfectly resonates. In the past, she established pathways for incarcerated parents to be involved in their child’s court proceedings. Recalling one case where the child’s parent was serving life in prison, she ensured that the father was phoned in to witness and speak at each hearing. She emphasized the significance of parents in the growth of and development of their children, reguardless of their status of incarceration. This type of worldview demands a wholistic perspective. Hood shared from personal experience how a loved one’s incarceration stifled her law school education, as they committed to covering her tuition prior to being convicted, her ability to pay for law school was at risk by a system that didn’t take her needs into consideration.
Hood has been miraculously active across the county throughout her campaign visiting block club parties, parades and churches in all five villages, eleven cities and seventeen townships of Genesee County. She emphasized her need for voters to witness her character, “if you know my character, then you’ll trust my decisions whether you agree with me or not.” She’s the only black attorney to ever be appointed to her current role and deeply values her relationship to voters on the ground. Now with the authority to ensure that the uniqueness of every case is taken into consideration at the 7th District Court, she’s already been doing this in her current role for over 30years, I’m confident that she’ll have an even greater positive impact in a greater role.
Explaining court workings – 7 points
Relating to voters – 7 points
Sharing related accomplishments – 7 points
Total Score = 21
Building upon Sheriff Swanson’s opening statements, “We don’t just want a blanket check in a box”, access to the vote for incarcerated citizens must include opportunities for education. Without access to internet or a wide variety of printed materials for election research, these types of in-person forums are critical to inform voters in jail environments AND even for those outside of jails when livestreamed like this one. Knowing that there’s no other way for candidates to make a streamlined impact on those jailed voters, any candidates choice to forgo that experience makes one’s opinion of those voters evident. When Bolden shared that she had a baby 10 weeks ago, the excuses for those other candidates failure to be present made their stance clear. How could a proper judicial candidate reject the opportunity to make an influence in this space they sentence so many to? We as outside community members must take this into account. Any candidate who undervalues any group of voters, especially those directly impacted by their decisions, shouldn’t even be considered for office.
In a prior article covering Genesee’s county’s groundbreaking in-person forums in service of jailed voters, I reflected on a possible future of more forums happening in jails across the country. After being present for this event, I solidify that vision with a stronger sentiment, candidate forums especially those for judicial positions, must be held inside of correctional facilities for the benefit of incarcerated and outside citizens to directly witness their handling (or mis-handling) of marginalized voters in language position and behavior; which works to the benefit of all voters reguardless of which side of the wall they case their ballots from.
