I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
LANSING — The House Judiciary Committee heard nearly five hours of testimony on Tuesday about proposed legislation to change the way juveniles who commit murder are punished. Right now, juveniles age 17 and under who are charged with and convicted of first-degree murder face a life-without-parole sentence. The bill would change that, allowing a parole board to take testimony and consider releasing convicted youth after 15 years.
The hearing featured gut-wrenching testimony from family members of murder victims, as well as testimony of families of youth sentenced to life in prison.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy testified that the bill should not become law.
“I don’t think anyone is beyond redemption,” Worthy said. “But there is difference between redemption and the punishment for your crime.”
Worthy, joined by Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, testified that passing the bill into law would encourage gangs to continue to recruit youth to perpetrate violent crime on the hope of getting lighter sentences. Such a situation in Wayne County in the 1970s and ’80s lead to the state’s passage of the current juvenile life-without-parole law.
Diane Bukowski, a reporter for The Michigan Citizen, testified in favor the bill. Bukowski called on the Judiciary Committee to pass the law, and even expand it to include those prisoners convicted of crimes committed when they were 17.
“I think the bill should be passed,” she told the committee. “People should remember ‘vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.’ That is in the Bible for those vengeance seekers out there.”
The legislation did not receive a vote from the committee, as the hearing concluded at 1:40 p.m. and there was not a quorum of representatives present to vote.
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