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.
A three-judge panel for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court ruling granting a release on bond for the five remaining members of the Hutaree 9 still in custody pending a trial on charges of seditious conspiracy.
Four of the nine arrested members of the Hutaree Christian militia have already been released by consent of the government, but prosecutors appealed the release order for the five remaining defendants — David Stone Sr., 45, the alleged leader of the group; Joshua Stone, 21, his son; Michael Meeks, 40; Thomas Piatek, 47, of Whiting, Ind.; and Joshua Clough, 28 — and asked the appeals court to keep them in custody to await trial.
The appeals court was partially divided, with all three judges agreeing that David and Joshua Stone and Michael Meeks should be held in jail pending trial. Two of the three judges ruled the same for Piatek and Clough but the third judge disagreed on those two particular defendants. Since two of three votes makes for a binding ruling, the decision applies to all give defendants.
Judge Victoria Roberts had granted release on bond for all nine defendants, but with strict conditions that she believed would protect public safety. The appeals court rejected that position:
As discussed in some detail below, each defendant here has a demonstrated interest in committing actual, physical violence against law enforcement and several have shown a lack of concern about the likelihood of killing civilians, through the use of weapons of mass destruction, firearms, and other means. Thus, the nature and circumstances of the charges against all defendants weigh in favor of detention…
Viewing all of the factors together, we conclude that … no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community.
Judge Helene White concurred for three of the five, as noted above, but wrote a separate concurring opinion to express her belief that, “I find this to be a far closer call than the majority opinion would indicate.”
Here is the full ruling:
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