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Michigan Chronicle honors metro Detroit’s '40 Under 40'
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michiganchronicle.com
Volume 79 – Number 8
County Treasurer appoints Eric Sabree Chief Deputy Effective immediately, Wayne County Treasurer Raymond J. Wojtowicz announced he has appointed attorney Eric R. Sabree to the position of Chief Deputy Treasurer of the Wayne County T r e a Eric Sabree surer’s Office. Sabree has served as Deputy Treasurer of Land Management since 2011. He was previously Chief of the Real Estate and Tax Section of the Wayne County Corporation Counsel. Mr. Wojtowicz informed the Treasurer’s Office staff and other elected officials of the new appointment. “It is with great pleasure to announce that I have appointed Eric Sabree Chief Deputy Treasurer.”
Former Michigan Bell executive Charles N. Boyce dies Charles N. Boyce, 80, passed away in his home on Wednesday, October 28. He was born to Robert a n d Dorcas Charles Boyce ( B r a i l s ford) Boyce of Detroit, Michigan, on June 9, 1935. He accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized at Bethel A.M.E. Church, where he was an active and faithful member for many years. Boyce sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and was a member of the June Club. He later joined Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, where he served faithfully before moving to New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church. After graduating from Northwestern High School, he attended Wayne State University, where he played basketball and became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Charles also completed executive education courses at the University of Michigan School of Business. Boyce served on boards and committees for many organizations, including the Detroit Urban League, Operation PUSH, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. SEE PAGE D-5
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November 4-10, 2015
Russell Simmons speaks out on
Justice at last? RushCard fiasco
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA
Russell Simmons hasn’t slept much since news broke in mid-October that users of his RushCard couldn’t access their own money and were locked out of their accounts, due to a computer glitch, leaving some unable to make rent payments, pay utility bills, or buy groceries for their families. “Technology glitches happen, but this was a tsunami,” said Simmons in an exclusive, hour-long interview with the NNPA News Wire.
By Trevor W. Coleman SPECIAL TO THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
T
his week an estimated 6,000 prisoners convicted and sentenced to prison over the last few decades on drug felony charges are set for release back into society. The action is seen as the first meaningful step in a national effort to reduce the federal prison rolls that have swollen grotesquely as a consequence of the mass incarceration of American citizens. It comes on the heels of a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill recently voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and moving through Congress known as the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 (H.R. S. 2132.). If ultimately approved by both Houses and signed by President Obama, it would, among other things: • Narrow the scope of mandatory minimum sentences to focus on the most serious drug offenders and violent criminals • Broaden the existing “safety valve” that allows judges discretion in sentencing lower-level non-violent offenders • Ensure retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine. Additionally, the bill would strengthen recidivism reduction programs by allowing qualified prisoners participating in the programs to earn credits toward early release and the opportunity to spend a portion of their remaining sentences in residential reentry centers, home confinement, or under community supervision. In addition, the bill would allow early release of certain non-violent inmates who are older than 60, terminally ill, or in nursing care, according to the Chicago-based American Bar Association, the nations’ largest organization of lawyers. Such action would have been virtually un-
thinkable just 10 to 15 years ago, said Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project. He noted that the bipartisan consensus now firmly behind reducing the nations’ shameful incarceration rates grew out of a realization that the “War on Drugs” has been catastrophic for both families and taxpayers.
Users began experiencing problems when Simmons’ company switched to a new transaction-processing provider, something that he said they’ve done successfully at least four times.
For example, the federal prison population has increased nearly 800% since 1980 and more than doubled since 1994, with spending up 1700% over that period, and federal prisons are currently operating at 131% of capacity. This is due in significant degree to the proliferation of mandatory minimum sentences. Nearly half of all federal prisoners are serving sentences for nonviolent drug crimes – as is the case for most of those being released this week. “The reason we have mass incarceration is not because we don’t have enough research documenting the problem with it, but, politically, policymakers have been fearful of being soft on crime for too many years,” Mauer said. However, criminal justice reform advocates say the reliance of the United States on its criminal justice system and lengthy prison terms more than any other nation has also had such severe economic and budgetary consequences that it now has made such policies literally unsustainable. Thus, while you may have liberals motivated by social and racial justice factors and conservatives by economics, you do have a bipartisan consensus around criminal justice reform at a time when there is little political consensus around much else. A May 2014 policy memo from the Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, found that in 2010 the United States spent more than $80 billion on corrections expenditures at the federal, state, and local levels.
See CRIMINAL
JUSTICE REFORM page A-4
Russell Simmons “We made the transfer of processes four separate times in the past and the next thing you know, I get a text message that we sent to our customers that we were down for two hours,” said Simmons, the iconic business magnate who founded Def Jam Records and the Phat Farm clothing line. “Our call center usually gets about 600 calls and now it’s (getting) 600,000 calls.” Simmons said that five multi-billion dollar corporations were involved in the process and each has been helpful in resolving the technical issues related to the latest transition. Simmons credited MasterCard CEO Ajaypal Singh Banga with immediately responding to the problem and helping to fix it.
See RUSHCARD page A-4
How to protect your teen’s rights in the classroom By Rashida Maples, Esq.
the incident to get further information surrounding what led to this assault against the student.
NEWSONE
On Monday, video taken by frightened students in a high school classroom was released, showing a white male police officer physically attempting to restrain an African-American female student at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina. In the video, it’s clear that the student was sitting in a desk when Officer Ben Fields entered the room, approached her, grabbed her by her neck and arms, body slammed her to the floor while she was still entangled in the desk, and dragged her on the floor to the door of the classroom. It’s not the first time that young black females have been assaulted by law enforcement officers. But as we call for justice, we also need to stay informed so as to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities. Here is what you need to know about the case and what it means for
Fields has since been fired from his position as a school resource officer. “It’s very disturbing what happened today. It’s something I have to deal with and that’s what we’re going to be doing,” said Lott, whose agency is reportedly responsible for the resource program at the school.
students nationwide. What we know about the case so far According to some of the eyewitnesses, the student was asked to put her cell phone away during class, but did not do so. School officials were called, along with Officer Ben Fields What transpired next was captured on the cell phones of other
students in the room, many of whom have come forward to express just how deeply Fields’ actions were uncalled for. As to be expected, this video has caused an uproar across the country. According to reports, Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County, South Carolina, has asked the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate
The student was later released to the custody of her parents. Her attorney said that she suffered injuries and is wearing a cast. Two past lawsuits have been filed against Fields in federal court, accusing him of violating civil rights and also unlawfully and recklessly targeting African-American students. How does this affect you? Different states maintain different rules, procedures, and
See CLASSROOM page A-4