US House Judiciary Committee Democratic Report finds Michigan's Emergency Manager Law Unconstitutional

 

 

The United States House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff released their report on the legal implications of Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. The report entitled, “Democracy for Sale: Subverting Voting Rights, Collective Bargaining, and Accountability under Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law”.

The Report represents the first comprehensive legal analysis of the Emergency Managers law since its adoption. Foremost among the Report’s detailed findings is the conclusion, based on expert testimony (including preeminent academic expert Professor Kenneth Klee) and legal precedent that the Emergency Manager law is unconstitutional because it violates the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Report also identifies other serious legal and management issues. The Report contains several recommendations, including amending the law; collaborative actions by local, state and federal authorities; and increased federal oversight of the law.

Poverty has a huge impact on the ability of Michigan’s economy to recover!

When people have less disposable income, consumer spending goes down, forcing businesses to lay off workers or shut down entirely. This means less revenue for the state as incomes decrease and the tax base shrinks. With high long-term unemployment in Michigan, many Michiganians have had drops in their income, thus impacting their ability to spend. Michigan’s median household income of $45,413 dropped by 11 percent over the past five years, the second highest drop in the U.S.

 

 Poverty

Poverty in Michigan was 16.8 percent in 2010 and child poverty was 23.5 percent. Though 41 percent of those living in poverty worked during 2010, total poverty and child poverty have grown by more than 50 percent over the past 10 years and Michigan’s family poverty rate is the fourth fastest growing in the nation. Isabella County had the highest poverty rate at 32.5 percent and more than half of Michi-gan’s counties had poverty rates of at least 15 percent.

 

 Children

Children have been especially harmed. Child homelessness grew by 40 percent between the 2009–2010 school year and the 2010-2011 school year. More than 31,000 children in Michigan are homeless and more than 700,000 are on food assistance. Fourteen Michigan counties had more than one-third of children in the county living in poverty. In Lake County, 45 percent of children were in poverty in 2010. Charlevoix, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland and Ottawa counties have had their child poverty rate grow by at least 50 percent since 2006.

Unemployment

Michigan led the nation in unemployment between 2006–2009. The state has not experienced the current level of unemploy-ment since the early 1980s. The changes over the last decade have been extreme, with unemployment growing by more than 200 percent. Seventeen counties had unemployment rates of 15 percent or greater in 2010. Baraga County had the high-est unemployment rate—23.3 percent of the county was jobless. All but three counties had unemploy-ment double over the past decade. Allegan, Livingston, Oakland and Ottawa counties all had unemployment rates that tripled. Fortunately, Michigan’s unemployment rate has started to decrease over the last few months, but reaching pre-recession employment levels will take years.

Public Structures

Although recent legislation was passed to reduce the amount of time that Michiganians receive cash assistance, the average number of months that a household is on cash assistance has declined by
42 percent since 2001. Sixty-five percent of Michi-ganians getting cash assistance receive benefits for 12 months or less. One-quarter of recipients are on cash assistance for three months or less. These numbers are from before the 48-month time limit changes were made. In 2011, the average number of months a household received cash assistance was 14.9.

Michigan’s recession has forced many to rely on the public structures that help children and families until the economy stabilizes. A quarter of the state’s population received some sort of help in 2011. Nationally, studies have shown that two-thirds of American adults will rely on a safety net program during their lifetime. Public structures that help children and families also work to stabilize incomes and consumer spending and speed up economic recovery. Cash assistance, food assistance, unemployment insurance and home-lessness prevention can help provide the temporary relief needed by so many families in Michigan as well as bolster the economy so that it can grow and thrive. Policies that seek to undermine these programs will only slow the state’s recovery.

Policy Recommendations

Instead of focusing on making government assistance programs more punitive, now is the time to expand these short-term support programs. For Michigan to be truly competitive in the future, it must have the people and infrastructure that will attract investments in the state. For economic recovery to be possible, the state must invest in its people. Michigan’s financial future will be greater if its economy is designed to make sure all people in the state are able to maintain stability and economic balance. Michigan’s economy must work for everyone, and not just those at the top of the income scale.

Realizing the American Dream Through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

Realizing the American Dream Through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
LADA July Blog

This summer as we attend parades, pitch horseshoes, Bar-B-Que or view fireworks, it’s a good time to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

The many generations before us and the hard work many exuded from the sweat of their brow allows us to enjoy our freedoms today. Our founding fathers envisioned freedom from oppression. Today we are more likely to express the idea as the ability to live freely – and the freedom to reach for the American Dream. That dream is a little closer with the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. This historic decision means we are progressing toward the goal of healthcare for all. We’ll all benefit if we have a healthier population.

Last week, when the Supreme Court decision was announced, people all over the country rejoiced but it was an even more exciting time for child and family advocates, knowing that there is now safe passage through a treacherous portion of the path leading to better healthcare for all. More importantly we should keep in mind that a key portion of the Affordable Care Act – the expansion of Medicaid – remains a question mark.

The court ruled that Medicaid expansion is an option, not a mandate, and states will decide whether to participate. Thankfully, Gov. Rick Snyder said he’s weighing options, and he did not immediately join some other GOP governors in rejecting the expansion. (See Michigan League of Human Services Jan Hudson’s blog for more information.)

The harsh reality we face now us is the potential of automatic budget cuts that would hinder the ability of public entities to help Michigan families through tough times.

It is vitally important that we understand the impact of the federal Budget Control Act. In January, unless an alternative is agreed upon, automatic cuts will slice some 8% in federal funding from most programs. These are deep cuts that will hurt programs such as WIC, Head Start, special education, Pell grants and others that give children a chance at growing into productive adults.

Many in Congress would protect the military from the any cuts and extend the expiring Bush tax cuts triggering even deeper cuts in the rest of the public programs. And these are in addition to the dramatic cuts made at the state level recently.

As our economy slowly improves, the programs that help children and families with the basic necessities must be in place. Helping children through tough times will pay off in the long run by preventing negative, lifelong impacts from poverty.

So, after you celebrate the freedoms we enjoy throughout the summer, let’s resolve to jump into the hard work of making sure the next generation has plenty of opportunity to prosper and to achieve that American Dream.

by Al Williams

Unemployment Insurance expanded to include Work Sharing

Governor Snyder has signed a work-sharing bill that gives qualifying employers an important tool for avoiding layoffs. Rather than laying off some employees entirely, the employer reduces hours for a group of employees for a specified length of time and Unemployment Insurance benefits make up part of the employees’ lost wages. This will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013, and has a five-year sunset.

The League has published a fact sheet, Work Sharing: A Win-Win Solution for Workers and Employers that explains the new policy. As noted in the fact sheet, workers benefit from work sharing because they will have less disruption in their household income than if they are laid off. Employers benefit from work sharing because it enables them to keep their skilled workers rather than having to search for, hire and train new workers when business improves. Overall, Michigan benefits when there are fewer layoffs and less risk of some workers becoming long-term unemployed.

While this is a positive development, there still is work to be done. As a League report explained last November, Michigan’s UI program still falls short in many ways, most notably in that it only provides benefits for a maximum of 20 weeks. The new work-sharing program will not be able to help those who are laid off entirely and are unable to find work after 20 weeks of job search. But it may prevent some others from getting into that situation and is definitely a good step for Michigan.

Workers benefit from work sharing because they will have less disruption in their household income than if they were laid off. While UI benefits never replace 100% of lost wages, the wage loss is lower for workers with reduced payroll hours than for those with no payroll hours at all. For some workers, it will mean not getting laid off; for others, it will mean “sharing the sacrifice” through a reduced income so that their co-workers will not be laid off. Workers also benefit because they can continue receiving health insurance and other benefits without disruption (this is a requirement of the law). Participating in work sharing does not count against a worker’s available weeks of Unemployment Insurance, nor is the employee required to participate in job search activities (since it is expected that the employee will in the future be working full time again for the employer).

Employers benefit from work sharing because it enables them to keep their skilled workers rather than having to search for, hire and train new workers when business improves. This reduces unpredictability, administrative costs and training costs. It can also help maintain positive morale in the workplace, as workers are likely to prefer spreading the sacrifice around rather than fearing the loss of their jobs entirely.

Bieda Praises Signing of Paternity Legislation Into Law

Bieda Praises Signing of Paternity Legislation Into Law

LANSING- Senator Steve Bieda (D-Warren) is pleased that Governor Snyder has signed into law a package of bills he sponsored that amends Michigan’s paternity laws. Under the old law, a woman’s husband is legally her child’s father, even if the child was fathered by another man. One well documented case is that of Daniel Quinn, of Fenton, MI. Despite having proved paternity and raising his daughter for two years, Mr. Quinn was denied parental rights because the girl’s mother was married to another man at the time of birth.
“Advances in science have made the old system for determining paternity obsolete,” said Senator Bieda. “This law will remove legal barriers that are preventing fathers from having a relationship with their children. I think it’s great that passage of this law comes before Father’s Day, it will be an early gift to some fathers.”
In Michigan, 42% of all babies are born to unmarried women. This trend has led to an increased focus on the father of these children. Unmarried fathers have few legal rights when they seek recognition and expanded roles in raising their children. The four bills create the Revocation of Paternity Act and set out procedures for establishing that a presumed father is not a child’s actual father. The individuals involved would be required to participate in and pay for blood or tissue typing or DNA profiling.

Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) Small Claims Courts Workshops

Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) conducted the first in a series of three free workshops on small claims courts April 24 at LAD headquarters, 613 Abbott St.

 

The workshop was designed to teach residents of Wayne County to represent themselves in the small claims division of 36th District Court in Detroit and collect money judgments. Michelle Johnson, supervising attorney of LAD's Detroit-Wayne office, conducted the workshop.

"Small claims court is a judicial process in district courts that allows for settling money dispute of $3,000 or less," Johnson said.

Although plaintiffs cannot be represented by attorneys in small claims courts, Johnson told attendees at the workshop, "It is always advisable that you discuss your particular circumstances with your attorney before going to court."

LAD's second workshop, for Macomb County residents, will be held Tuesday, May 15 at Clinton/Macomb Library, 40900 Romeo Plank Road, Clinton Township.

The third workshop, for Oakland County residents, will be held Wednesday, June 20 at Oakland County Law Library, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Pontiac.

Registration for both workshops will begin at 3:30 p.m. The workshops themselves will begin promptly at 4:00. For further information, contact Gina Polley, deputy chief counsel of LAD's Civil Law Group, at (313) 967-5638 or GPolley@ladadetroit.org.

THE FIGHT FOR QUALITY INDIGENT DEFENSE IN MICHIGAN!

Where are we in the fight for quality indigent defense in Michigan…?
…On the brink of what could be major steps towards the day when indigent defendants charged with crimes can count on having a public defender that will betrained and accountable!
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (“NLADA”) released a June 2008 evaluation of Michigan’s indigent defense system, and found that “the state fails to provide competent representation to those who cannot afford counsel in its criminal courts”

On October 13, 2011, at the urging of numerous legal and community leaders, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder issued a historic Executive Order establishing the state’s first Indigent Defense Advisory Commission (“Commission”) to make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for “improvements to the system of providing legal representation for indigent criminal defendants.”
After several meetings, the 14-member Commission has issued nine recommendations,and endorses the establishment of a permanent Commission that will promulgate and implement rules requiringstate-wide standards and enforcement, and provide a greater assurance of quality legal representationfor poor defendants.

Now we need the Legislature to introduce and pass a bill that will not only create a permanent Commission, but arm it with the tools necessary to implement all of the recommendations offered by the Advisory Commission. Wayne County, home to the State’s largest city, Detroit, is also Michigan’s most populated county (with 1,820,584 residents); and is most densely populated (with 2,974 residents in each of its 614 square miles). Richly diverse, it boasts a population that is 52.3 percent white, 40.5 percent African American, 5.2 percent Hispanic/Latino, and 2.5 percent Asian.
Wayne County can also be viewed as “ground zero” for many of the problems that face indigent defenders in Michigan. Wayne County residents constitute a plurality of Michigan’s prison population.

According to the Urban Institute’sReport on Prison Reentry in Michigan, “Approximately one-third (34 percent) of prisoners released to parole in 2003 retuned to Wayne County – a county that already faces greater economic and social disadvantage than many other counties throughout the state. For example, the percentage of families living below the federal poverty level in Wayne County is 72 percent higher than the statewide average, and the Part I crime rate is 57 percent higher in Wayne County. The majority (80 percent) of prisoners released to parole in Wayne County returned to Detroit, where the unemployment rate in 2000 was more than double what is was in poverty.  Among the prisoners released to parole in Wayne County, 41 percent returned to eight zip codes – all of which are in Detroit. Most of those eight zip codes display high levels of economic and social disadvantage”

So, what’s the problem?

 One of the problems in Wayne County is that the community is not aware of – nor has it been engaged in – the struggle for quality indigent defense. Most people do not see it as a pressing – or even personal – problem. Consequently, they have not demanded reform, nor held their elected officials accountable for the mess we’re in!
However, when one thinks about it, almost everyone in Wayne County has been touched – or has a family members or friend who has been touched – by the indigent defense system. Just look at Wayne County’s prisoner reentry return rate! We all have a stake in the outcome of this process.



Al (BJ) Williams

SNYDER SIGNS PRISONER RE-ENTRY BILLS

SNYDER SIGNS PRISONER RE-ENTRY BILLS
Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation requiring the Department od Corrections to assist prisoners in obtaining identification documents, aiming to improve chances for employment upon their release.
The bill requires DOC to provide prisoners released at the end of their sentence or on parole with prisoner identification cards. The Department of State must accept these cards as one of several identification documents required to obtain a state ID card or driver's license.

This Legislative package included four bills:

2011 House Bill 4074: Facilitate ex-cons getting state IDs
to require prisoners to make an effort to assemble the documents needed to get a state identification card upon release, and require the Department of Corrections and the Secretary of State to help them get the documents and the card. Also, to issue all prisoners with a photo identification card when they are released.

2011 House Bill 4075: Facilitate ex-cons getting state IDs
to require the Secretary of State to accept a Michigan prison prisoner identification card as one of the identification documents that allows a person to get a state ID card, and give the Secretary of State access to the Department of Corrections prisoner biography database for purposes of making it easier for ex-prisoners to get a state ID card.

2011 House Bill 4076: Facilitate ex-cons getting state IDs
to require the Secretary of State to accept a Michigan prison prisoner identification card as one of the identification documents that allows a person to get a drivers license, and give the Secretary of State access to the Department of Corrections prisoner biography database for purposes of making it easier for ex-prisoners to get a state drivers license (or ID card).

2011 House Bill 4077: Facilitate ex-cons getting state IDs
to require new prisoners to be given a form that explains the importance upon release of getting either a drivers license or a state ID, describes the documents needed to do so, and includes a request that the person get the documents and give them to the Department of Corrections, which will retain them in his or her file.

All Signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on February 21, 2012.

LEGAL AID ADVANCING JUSTICE INITIATIVE: Consent Agreement! What would Coleman Young Say?

LEGAL AID ADVANCING JUSTICE INITIATIVE: Consent Agreement! What would Coleman Young Say?: Consent Agreement/ Emergency Manager! Detroit has been here before? Today, as Detroit struggles with an escalating deficit of $300 ...

Consent Agreement! What would Coleman Young Say?

Consent Agreement/ Emergency Manager! Detroit has been here before?

Today, as Detroit struggles with an escalating deficit of $300 million and a consent agreement, the intriguing question on the minds of many is what would Mayor Coleman Alexander Young do if he were Mayor of Detroit right now?

          In 1981, the city of Detroit and then Mayor Coleman Alexander Young faced a budget deficit of $133 million, an amount that today translates to roughly $331 million. According to Tim Kiska, WWJ editor and Historian in political journalism, wrote, “We forget that the 1980’s was a difficult time – even more difficult, on some levels, than what we faced since 2008. Unemployment hit the double-digit mark in February 1980, and stayed there until 1985, peaking at 16.8 percent in December of 1982. It hasn’t been that high in the current recession.”  Looking back to the year 1981, budget deficit was worst; there was a looming possibility of a state takeover. Unemployment was in double digit range; police department was cut by 27% and Mayor Young cut thousands of workers from 1974 to 1980.

Facing re-election in 1981, Mayor Coleman Young was unyielding in battling the financial crisis. Reality is, during an election year you don’t make bold leadership decisions like increasing taxes to get rid of a budget deficit. But, that’s exactly what Coleman Young did. So Mayor Young worked with then Governor Milliken to put together a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to provide the votes needed to get the legislature to approve the tax hike. The proposed tax increase raised taxes on residents from 2 percent to 3 percent and on non-residents from .5 percent to 1.5 percent.

Mayor Young then hired Conrad Mallet Jr., former Supreme Court Justice, former chief administrator for the Detroit Medical Center, who is currently a member of Governor Snyder’s financial review team, to lead the campaign advocating for Detroiters to vote in favor of a tax increase. How ironic! But in the end voters approved the tax hike by a 68-32 margin.  Conrad Mallett played a major role in saving Detroit from a state takeover in 1981 and now he sits on the governor’s review team to establish an emergency manager and has been mention as the possible EM.  If Coleman Alexander Young, the first African American Mayor of Detroit was still in office today, he would have made concessions with labor, he would have convinced Detroiters to vote in favor of a tax increase, he would have cussed and fussed until Lansing lawmakers understood what strong leadership is truly about. 

Leonard Flemming, of the Detroit News wrote on the assumptions of who Gov. Snyder might select as Detroit’s Emergency Manager and said “Speculation about who could be named the emergency manager has included former Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Conrad Mallett, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris and former Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams, who testified recently before the governor's Detroit financial review team on the merits of a consent agreement for the city.” Mallett, who is on the Detroit review team with state Treasurer Andy Dillon, said he is not interested in the post.

Conrad Mallett was quoted in the Detroit News article saying "If the governor were forced because of a lack of political agreement to put in an emergency manager, the city of Detroit's future would be in severe jeopardy," Mallett said. "The consent agreement is the only solution. It's a very practical response to this very difficult situation. The political leadership of Detroit needs to accept the truth, and the truth is the consent agreement is necessary.” Convincing someone to be the “chief bureaucrat” of Detroit as an emergency manager will be a challenge, as well as finding someone with the "fiscal and political leadership that Detroit requires because it's a very complicated job," Mallett said. It would be tragic" if an agreement isn't reached. "It is precisely because there is such a dearth of candidates available that both for political and practical reasons, an emergency manager will not work," he added. "You cannot have someone come in whose only suitability is their ability to manage a ledger sheet.  Conrad Mallett also commented saying “I have made the determination that that person will fail."

(FYI)
So what exactly is an emergency manager?

Under Michigan law, an emergency manager has the authority to lay off or cut the pay of employees, outsource services, merge and reorganize departments, overturn ordinances, alter the budget, cancel vendor contracts, abandon labor agreements and sell city assets. The City of Detroit has many assets -- such as Belle Isle, the Water and Sewerage Department, a share of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Coleman A. Young International Airport -- along with tens of thousands of abandoned or unused properties that could be sold or leased.

What happens to Detroit residents if there is an emergency manager?

The main goal of an emergency manager is to continue essential services. That means garbage would still be picked up, water would run and police and firefighters would still protect residents. But so called non-essential services, like recreation centers, special programs and subsidies to cultural institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, could be reduced or eliminated altogether. It also means the Emergency manager has the power to privatize any and all services at his or her discretion. For instance, the city of Pontiac is currently under an Emergency Manager and has been for the past 3 years. In November of 2011, just days prior to an election Emergency Manager Lou Shimmel privatized the department of elections in Pontiac and fired the city clerk. Needless to say that election process was a disaster. 

What happens to city employees?

Nonunion employees would be in danger of losing their jobs, or having pay or benefits reduced or cut at the will of the emergency manager. In all cities run by an emergency manager, union employees have had to renegotiate contracts and their pay and benefits have been cut.

On our next blog entry we will look closely at the newly signed consent agreement!

Legal Aid and Defender's Association

Twitter: @Legalaidadvancjustice
Facebook: LegalAidAdvancingJustice

"The Social Welfare Act" House Bill 5223

“The Social Welfare Act” House Bill 5223

As part of a national push to require drug testing for people currently receiving public assistance, Michigan is contemplating passing House Bill 5223, entitled the “The Social Welfare Act”.   This bill is an amendment  to current state law that "shall establish a program of substance abuse testing as a condition of eligibility for Family Independence Program assistance benefits,” according to Kenneth Kurtz (R), Chairman of the Families, Children, and Seniors committee.

In Michigan, “The Social Welfare Act” has already been deemed unconstitutional. In 1999 the National ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan challenged the constitutionality of these same efforts in the case Marchwinkski v. Howard, (113 F.Supp.2d 1134).  In this case, Plaintiffs challenged a Michigan law requiring FIA to impose testing for substance abuse as a condition of welfare eligibility.  After several court hearings and an en banc review, six federal court judges upheld the lower court’s ruling that the testing was a violation of Plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment rights because the testing was done without particularized suspicion. 

According to the National League for Human Services “no proposed or current policy in any state has been able to show that drug testing policies save any state dollars.” The legality of random or universal drug testing policy for cash assistance recipients is questionable, and it would behoove the State of Michigan to stay away from such controversial courses of action, as it will once again be challenged and end up in court. Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia have all passed bills to create suspicion-based drug testing policies, though the cost are high and not likely to save states any money. Arizona estimated that it would cost $3.4 million to just do testing for applicants and recipients, Oklahoma assumed a cost of $2.16 million for its program and Missouri expects to spend $1.9 million during FY12 and another $2.2 million in FY13.[i] Not to mention additional cost outside of the actual testing such as the administrative cost of staffing and training, and an increase of administrative hearings have not been taken into account.  Drug Testing.

Many others have said there is a compromise. A family receiving or applying for cash assistance should be given at least two to three months to enroll in a drug treatment program if and only if there is reasonable suspicion that there is a substance abuse problem. Secondly, their participation and progress should be measured as a part of their accomplishments in meeting self sufficiency. Failure to comply with the development toward self-sufficiency should result in grounds for penalty or termination of benefits. Fortunately, this is what the law already stipulates and is established in DHS policy. Prohibiting recipients from assistance, without proper due process, will inhibit those who are having substance abuse issues from getting treatment, as they will be burdened with no money or support, nor have the ability to get access to treatment.  Then no one wins.

Contact Legal Aid

by: Al Williams

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[i] ASPE Issue Brief, Drug Testing Welfare Recipients: Recent Proposals and Continuing Controversies, October 2011

LANSING LEGISLATORS LOOK TO REVISE THE CRIMINAL DEFENDANT “YOUTHFUL TRAINING ACT”(HYTA)
On December 14th, 2011, Michigan State Senator Bert Johnson introduced Senate Bill 880, which will revise the criminal defendant “youthful trainee status” to increase the age limit from age 21 to age 26 on “youthful trainee status” forcriminal defendants, which provides a mechanism to exclude the offense on the youth’s permanent record. According to Bert Johnson the bill would also establish various conditions for this status, including a full time school, work or community service requirement and more. The new legislation as written contains Sections that will minimize or eliminate judicial discretion by the mandatory requirements relating to tether, costs, and community service. Opposition to the bill are concerned with community service being allowed to be performed for private 501(C)(3) entities.  Community service is also not appropriate forall offenses or offenders.  e.g. sexualor assault related convictions.
See legislation: http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=142264

Currently,in Michigan, individuals from the age of 17 until their 21st birthday who areconvicted of a crime may be eligible for Holmes Youthful Trainee Act(HYTA) to avoid a public record of conviction. The actual name of thelaw, Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, may conjure up some image of"trainees" in boot-camp, but in truth, there's nothing like that.Currently, a person who has been granted HYTA (also called YTA) by a Court must, at a minimum, be placed on Probation.A Judge cannot order more than 3 years of Probation, but the Judge can also include incarceration as part of its' Sentence. In other words, being granted HTYA status has no effect on whether the Judge sends someone to Jail, although, to be sure, in the vast majority of cases where HYTA is granted, there is no incarceration ordered.
Today, HYTA only applies to people charged with a crime which occurred after their 17th birthday, but before their21st birthday. That age range is inflexible; if someone is charged with a crime that occurred one day before their 17th birthday, or on the very day of their 21st birthday, they are ineligible.
 According to the state legislature, HYTA applies to all kinds of Crimes, not just Drug Possession charges,. There are certain exceptions: Crimes punishable by imprisonment for life (Capitol Offenses), Major Drug Crimes and all Traffic Offenses.
Originally,the reasoning behind this law is the recognition that young people, on occasion,do dumb things. An instance of bad judgment before one has the chance to mature and think like an adult should not necessarily handicap that person for life with a Criminal Record, which can have all kinds of negative consequences forfuture advancement. HYTA is equally applicable to Felonies and Misdemeanors, with the exceptions mentioned above. HYTA status allows a person to prove to the Court that they can stay out of trouble longenough to warrant dismissing the whole case without ever placing it upon their Public Record.

Legal Aid and Defender launches Advancing Justice Initiative

DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) launched its Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials with a series of breakfasts in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties.

LAD is Michigan's largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income residents.  It serves metropolitan Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. LAD also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  Including brief consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.

LAD developed the AJI following a reduction in funding by the federal Legal Services Corp. that forced it to lay off 13 attorneys from the staff of its Civil Law Group.
Legal Aid and Defender

"We're always there for the community," Deierdre L. Weir, president and CEO of LAD, told the breakfast audience.  "We're looking for new funding and partnerships," she said.

Wayne County AJI Keynote Speaker Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano expressed his support for Legal Aid. “LAD is an important partner of Wayne County, according to County Executive Robert A. Ficano, keynote speaker at the breakfast.  He cited LAD's involvement in the county's STEP (Second Chance Through Expungement) and mortgage foreclosure programs. Legal Aid and Defender is a key part of the nation's unique legal system, Ficano said.  "It's making a difference," he said.

U.S. Rep. Hansen Clark, D-13th District, also addressed the breakfast in Wayne County, which was held at the Legal Aid and Defenders headquarters on Abbott in Downtown Detroit.

Following a welcoming address by Weir, LAD's three senior attorneys - Donald Johnson, chief counsel of the State Defender Office; Miriam Siefer, chief counsel of the Federal Defender Office; and Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group - described the roles of their practice groups and the clients they serve. In her talk, Howard cited the importance of the help LAD receives from pro bono attorneys from the private bar and corporate practice.

LAD clients, one a single mother with a mortgage foreclosure problem, the other a restaurateur with serious health problems, gave testimonials to the value of the help they received from LAD.

"We work with clients in a comprehensive manner, so that as we solve their legal problems, we help solve other problems as well," Weir said.  "We help people rebuild their lives and help families stay together."

Second in series of breakfasts promotes Advancing Justice Initiative
Legal Aid and Defender meets with officials in Oakland County

DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the second in its series of Advancing

Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials Nov. 21 at the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in Pontiac.  The Oakland County Advancing Justice Initiative Breakfast was a success. Former mayor of Detroit and chairman emeritus of Detroit-based law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, Dennis Archer was the keynote speaker. "You have in Legal Aid and Defender an outstanding organization with a staff of dedicated attorneys," he told the assembled officials.  "They care and want to make a difference in people's lives."

"What you do makes a difference," said James V. Jackson, an aide to Levin.  "I see it every day." Oakland County commissioners, state legislators and representatives of U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, D- 12th District, and Gary Peters, D-9th District, attended the meeting. "We also like to help with policy work," Howard said, including the drafting of legislation that affects poor people.

Bidelman said that LAD's work in Oakland County includes the Free Legal Information Help Desk for pro se litigants at the Oakland County Courthouse staffed by LAD attorneys and pro bono private attorneys from the Oakland County Bar Association, the bar association's Mentor Program for new attorneys, and the Lawyer of the Day program at 43rd District Court in Ferndale.

Third in series of breakfasts promotes Advancing Justice Initiative

Legal Aid and Defender meets with officials in Macomb County
DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the third in its series of Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials Dec. 2 at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library in Clinton Township.

Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group, and Kelly L. Bidelman, managing attorney of LAD's offices in Macomb and Oakland counties, spoke on behalf of LAD.

"We represent people who otherwise would not be able to utilize our court system," Howard said, including people victimized by "bad actors" engaged in mortgage foreclosure and other scams.  "We're here to help your constituents," she said.  "We'd also like to be invited to comment on legislation affecting poor people," she said.

LAD came to Macomb County in 2003 as part of a consolidation of legal services programs by the Legal Services Corp., Bidelman said.  Since then, LAD's Macomb office has served more than 10,000 people and provided them with more than $3 million in economic benefits, she said.
Cotact: Legal Aid and Defender