Tag Archives: Michigan State Law

  When an old woman falls in the bathtub and can’t get up, she may be able to call 911 for help and have officers and paramedics rush to help her. But what happens to the police body cam video of that incident? Should it be shielded from public view because it contains personal, sensitive […]

  A new law, signed recently by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, addresses the need for law enforcement to quickly and accurately identify people with special needs. The idea that drove these bills is that in the event of a missing persons case, where the missing individual has special needs, police can identify them quickly and […]

  If you read our blog with any regularity, you’ll remember the article we posted a while ago about MAPS – the Michigan Automated Prescription System. MAPS is the state’s answer to the current opioid addiction problem. It’s an online database that tracks prescription drugs, who they were issued to, and which doctor wrote the […]

  Imagine this: You live on a tight budget. You make just enough to pay your bills, feed your kids and put gas in your car. Most months there’s nothing left over, so when something unexpected comes up you struggle to make ends meet – having to choose between groceries, rent and whatever incidental you […]

Ten years ago, the idea that medical marijuana would be legal in Michigan was nothing more than a pipe dream to many people. And yet here we are. Nine years ago, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 was signed into law. And while there has been a great deal of confusion over the years, […]

A new bill introduced recently in the Michigan Senate aims to outlaw FGM or female genital mutilation. Although this may seem like a strange subject to outlaw in Michigan, where it is hardly a regular occurrence, the recent FGM-related arrests in the Detroit area have stirred up the subject. As a result, numerous legislators have […]

  When talking about Michigan criminal justice reform, which we do from time to time on this blog, one of the subjects that comes up regularly is compensation of the wrongfully convicted. If you haven’t run into the subject before, it refers to the government providing financial compensation for people who have been wrongfully convicted […]

  Thanks for joining us one last time to wrap up the topic of expungement in Michigan. In case you are just joining us, expungement is very similar to having a person’s criminal records sealed. What this means is that either specific parts of, or all of, a criminal record will be unavailable to the […]

  Civil asset forfeiture is a subject that brings on very heated debate, particularly in Michigan. People tend to be very against it, or wholeheartedly in favor of it. Wherever you stand on the issue, the fact remains that Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture laws are in need of an overhaul. And while it’s happening slowly, […]

  The Michigan Court of Appeals has handed down their much anticipated ruling on who will be deciding the fates of juvenile lifers. The answer is that our judges, not juries will determine that.   According to the ruling, the appeals court convened “a special conflict panel to resolve the conflict between the previous opinion […]