Press Contact: Jeremy Cherson, Director of Communications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
(LANSING, MI) — Today, the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony on a bipartisan package of pretrial reforms (House Bills 4655-56 and 4658-4661) to improve Michigan’s criminal justice system by strengthening due process, preserving the presumption of innocence, advancing public safety, and limiting wealth-based detention. The legislative hearing included testimony from The Bail Project; local advocates; Representatives Carter, Grant, and Young; Chief Judge Bill McConico; and Ottawa County Public Defenders provided testimony on the urgent need for this robust legislative solution.
In response to the committee’s hearing, The Bail Project offered the following statement:
“The legislation heard today in Michigan’s House Committee on Criminal Justice advances common sense pretrial reforms that center fairness and equal justice in the state’s pretrial system. To the benefit of all Michiganders, the Committee should vote ‘yes’ on this package and advance meaningful criminal justice reforms that balance protecting public safety and mitigate the harms of unnecessary incarceration. The full passage of these bills is an opportunity for Michigan to lead the Midwest and the nation towards a more perfect criminal justice system.
These bipartisan bills offer an opportunity to move Michigan’s justice system forward, shifting away from a model where wealth acts as a proxy for safety, creating a two-tiered system – one for those with money, and another for everyone else. On any given day, there are more than 16,000 people in Michigan jails, many of whom haven’t been convicted of a crime and are facing low-level, nonviolent charges, even though a judge has deemed them eligible for release. Michiganders deserve a more fair and effective pretrial system, and thankfully, the legislature now has the solution.
We urge the Criminal Justice Committee, and then the full Michigan House of Representatives, to swiftly pass this crucial package of bills.”
Thank you for your valuable attention. The urgency and complication of the cash bail crisis requires meaningful participation to create real change – change that is only achieved through the support of readers like you. Please consider sharing this piece with your networks and donating what you can today to sustain our vital work.
