Fall 2019 the movement to repeal TIS laws was reinvigorated by congressional failure to get another criminal justice reform across the finish line. In 2018, I received a prison phone call out of Gus Harrison that a bipartisian HB 5666 was introduced in the House of Representatives in order to revive an earned time system […]
Over this past year Michigan United (MU) took on the heavy lift of hosting an initiative campaign. According to the board of canvassers, the minimum number of valid signatures required for each petition is based on the total number of votes cast for the most recent gubernatorial election. This past year, after more than 4 […]
Two methods for replacing outdated laws in Michigan are being employed in order to address massive overcrowding in the state prisons. For the past decade the legislature has been heavily resistant to passing criminal justice reforms, like HB 5666, claiming it’s “too controversial” to touch. The majority of Michigan law makers are seemingly more comfortable […]
We are only as safe from an epidemic as our most vulnerable are. At this time communities across the country are aware of the risks of not practicing the five habits that help to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. We have been encouraged to self-quarantine and many have been “locked down” for weeks. Some […]
Like many states across the country, Michigan has reached a critical point in the status of its Corrections Department and citizens are fed up. The Department’s failures expand across the spectrum of corrections from financially and operatively to their regularly inadequate programming and continually degrading prison conditions. These mounting issues incite the need for deep […]
After decades of over sentencing and mass incarceration plaguing Michiganians, community members are taking the problem of Michigan’s criminal legal system back into their hands, the way it always should have been. At this point the state of Michigan’s Department of Corrections is so far behind that of so many states in the process of […]
As a Michigan native I’ve done a lot of work on behalf of our incarcerated residents, especially last year’s Good Time Campaign promoting HB 5666. I get questions from people interested in contributing to the movement about how they can get involved. Often people don’t know where to start and I always tell them that […]
The one year mark since the original introduction of the Good Time Bill is right around the corner. February of 2018 was when the bipartisan HB 5666 was first introduced in Michigan’s legislature by Representatives David LeGrand (D) and Martin Howrylak (R). Over the year since the bill was introduced its been stalled in the […]
[featured image of a solidarity rally in Des Moines, Iowa outside of the Iowa Prison Industries office] As supporters of the national prison strike, we must remember that the call to end prison slavery isn’t the only of prisoners demands. In 2016 this was a major focus nationwide and this has continued to be a […]
While plenty of coverage has been given to democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, there’s another democratic candidate that Michigan prisoners have endorsed as the one to vote for, “Have all of your Michigan contacts vote for Shri Thanedar for governor on August 7th. His campaign centers around prison reform. He’s the only one I’ve heard say […]