Our criminal justice system can be difficult to navigate. And once you dive into the details, you can quickly discover that it’s fraught with inequities. This is especially true when it comes to cash bail. What is cash bail? Cash bail is the system whereby accused...
Few falls from grace were as significant as the one Bill Cosby suffered, many say justifiably. The veteran standup comedian and actor whose long-running “The Cosby Show” earned him the title of “America’s Dad.” Persistent rumors of inappropriate behavior with...
Those accused of a high-profile crime still deserve to have their due process rights upheld. This can be a challenge if the defendant is well-known or if the charges grab national attention. One situation that has been particularly news-worthy over the past few years...
Your Fourth Amendment rights protect you from illegal search and seizure. Relying on this Amendment can be a strong criminal defense tactic, but the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of exceptions to the warrant requirement, which has granted law enforcement...
The number of people who are wrongly convicted of a crime is tragically high. Within the last several months, three people were released after serving decades in prison. They have been exonerated, granted their freedom and are now working to re-build lives...
Although over 5,000 crime kits await testing by the Michigan State Police, officials say that the backlog has actually shrunk dramatically. Recent reporting in the Detroit News revealed that crime lab testing backlogs have dropped by 63% since 2016. According to the...
Retail theft, also known as shoplifting, is a relatively minor crime in Michigan. Retail fraud in the third degree, which is defined as taking an item worth less than $200, is a misdemeanor that is typically punished with probation and a fine. What many people are not...
Theft is a common crime in Michigan. A lot of people think that individuals steal out of necessity while others engage in such behavior for the thrill or simply out of a desire to acquire something they’d rather not pay for. But for some time now, scientists have dug...
Among many other things, 2020 was a year of civil unrest throughout much of the United States, including here in Michigan. Massive protests, along with notable crime trends in the Detroit area, highlighted the tense relationship between law enforcement and portions of...
It’s no secret that many claim that the legal system disproportionately affects those in poor and minority communities. One area where this disproportionate impact is clear is in Michigan’s cash bail system. For most alleged criminal offenses, accused individuals are...