Faith. B6
Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 81 – No. 35 | May 9-15, 2018
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Mayor introduces program to help Detroiters eliminate driver’s responsibility fees months ahead of schedule Mayor Mike Duggan was joined at a press conference by employers, training partners and members of the faithbased community to announce a free Driver Responsibility Fee forgiveness program for tens of thousands of Detroit residents. The new program gives Detroiters who owe Driver Responsibility Fees the opportunity to get their driver’s license restored months ahead of schedule by participating in workforce development activities. Earlier this year, Mayor Duggan and a bi-partisan statewide coalition convinced the state legisla-ture to forgive the onerous responsibility fees that prevented as many as 350,000 Michigan res-idents from having their licenses restored. In Detroit alone, 76,000 residents owe an average of $1,600 in responsibility fees. Rather than force its residents to wait for the fee forgiveness to kick in October 1st, the City of Detroit created a program that allows them to complete 10 hours of workforce development training now and get their licenses back months sooner. The program was developed in part-nership with the Michigan Department of Treasury, Secretary of State, and the Michigan Works Association. The program helps participants strengthen their job readiness skills and introduces them to the breadth of services offered by the City’s Detroit at Work initiative. “Along with the need for training, Driver Responsibility Fees have been one of the biggest barri-ers to connecting Detroiters to jobs and opportunity,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “It’s not just an issue for logistics opportunities like truck driving. We are seeing significant growth in skilled trades opportunities, but these jobs often require a license because workers may need to be at a worksite on the east side in the morning and the west side in the afternoon.” Mayor Duggan’s Director of Workforce Development, Jeff Donofrio, said that the legislation will mean more Detroiters are job-ready and can help fill many of the in-demand jobs available in the city. "We would like to thank Legislators for passing the (Drivers Responsibility Fee Elimination) Bi-Partisan Legislation, particularly Senate Bill 614 (S-1), authored by Senator Ken Horn, which allows for the Workforce Development Training program to help drivers get there license back sooner" said Donofrio, who testified before the House Michigan Competitiveness Committee in Lansing last year in favor of eliminating the fees. “Many Detroit residents have had offers of
See DRIVERS
…And Justice for All
Wayne County receives $17 million to address deficiencies in legal services for the indigent By Patreice A. Massey MANAGING EDITOR
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or 16 years, Wayne County’s Public Defender Office has been sort of flat funded. An example of a flat funding would be paying the electric company a set amount every month regardless of the actual cost of the electricity used. Sometimes it may work out but eventually you may still end up in shut off status. So, what that means here is that Wayne County paid the same dollar amount each year to the Public Defender’s Office despite increases in workload and the cost of doing business thus leaving very little money left to defend cases. A new reIf you have been port has been convicted of a released by the Sixth Amendcrime because ment Center of ineffective (6AC) and has assistance of identified sevcounsel, one legal eral deficienoption is to file a cies in legal motion for Ginther services for Hearing. The term Wayne County’s indigent. The for this motion is 6AC is a nonderived from the partisan, nondecision People v faith, technical Ginther, 390 Mich assistance cen436 (1973). ter that aims to help policy makers meet their constitutional obligations as stated under the sixth amendment—which is the right to an attorney. “When you have a set amount of money and your costs are going up and the amount of cases are increases you have to cut costs somewhere,” stated 6AC Executive Director David Carroll. They began cutting support staff which are your paralegals, investigators… they’re down to 16 attorneys who have to cover an incredible amount of court cases.”
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Chamar Avery And it gets even more daunting. National standards state that an attorney should handle no more than 150 felony cases within a single year which even experts say is a lot. However, in Wayne County the attorneys were handling 217 felony cases a year—145 percent above the national standard. This means that many public defenders share workloads which can lead to a defendant feeling like they’re on an assembly line as they’re having to retell their stories to each new attorney that steps in. In the report, 6AC made the argument that the county was not upholding their constitutional obligation by providing what has been described as little more than a warm body standing next to a client. It has been said that the public defense attorneys in Wayne County are prevented from providing effective representation because they lack sufficient time, resources, and support staff to properly prepare cases. In response to these revelations, and reform efforts organized by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), Wayne County has secured two grants awarding state funds to bolster indigent legal services. One MIDC grant for $17,275,171 mil-
lion will go toward addressing the main findings of the Sixth Amendment Center. A second MIDC grant of $901,371 will fund a team of experts to specifically determine how to best elevate Wayne County’s indigent defense delivery system in the future. MIDC approves grants to improve representation in every community in the State and while Wayne County represents over 30 percent of all felony cases, $18 million in State grants will be less than 22 percent of the amounts granted statewide. “The addition of state funding will make it possible to address the serious problems identified in the 6AC report, and the standards adopted by the MIDC,” said Dawn Van Hoek, a consultant for Wayne County and former director of Michigan’s appellate defense system. “It is essential that indigent defense become a higher priority, not only to ensure justice for citizens, but to avoid costly mistakes.” Costly mistakes such as wrongful convictions. While there is no existing data that shows the correlation of wrongful convictions for people using public defenders it’s easy to see how the financial shortfall can increase the likelihood for a wrongful conviction. “We know that giving attorneys the tools they need to effectively represent clients will mitigate the circumstances that lead to wrongful convictions,” says state MIDC Director Loren Khogali. Requiring training, early appointment of counsel and earlier meetings with between clients and counsel, combined with the increased use of experts and investigators will only help the indigent defense system as a whole. “I think it’s great that they are receiving more funding but the bottom line is that people need to do their jobs. There are people’s lives at stake,” said Chamar Avery, 36 of Detroit. Avery is well versed in the ways of the PDO as it was a public defender who represented
NAACP national convention coming to Detroit in 2019 By Branden Hunter
Highland Park’s first lady leaves
Love
Legacy of
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See JUSTICE page A2
Reverend Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, said he had a “treat” for the thousands of attendees at the 63rd annual NAACP Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner at Cobo Center. The NAACP announced that it will hold its 110th annual national convention at the Cobo Center in Detroit next year. “It is my privilege to announce to you that the 110th annual convention of the NAACP will be held in Detroit, Michigan in July of 2019 in this very hall,” said Leon Russell, chairman of the NAACP’s national Board of Directors. “We want you to be engaged, we want you to be involved, and we want you to support this host branch during its obvious rebirth and regeneration. We look forward to it.” The convention will bring delegates from across the country to downtown Detroit, where the group will determine the future policy and program of the NAACP’s advocacy and civil rights efforts. The NAACP previously held its national conven-
Keynote speaker Sen. Cory Booker tion in Detroit in 1921 and 1943. “We are proud and excited to host the convention here next year,” said Anthony, who has been president since 1993. “Detroit is the largest NAACP Branch in the country and an important city in the fight for freedom and equal rights for African-Americans. The city has seen some progress but still has
a long way to go. We want to use this event to continue to shed light on the problems of everyday Detroiters.” The theme for the dinner was “We Can’t Rest Now, The Stakes Are Too High!” Anthony, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, who was the keynote speaker, and a host of other dignitaries
echoed the issues of voting, basic rights, education, jobs, and racial relations around metro Detroit and across the country. Booker is from Newark, a city similar to Detroit in regard to African-American demographic, crime, and poverty. Booker’s family is from Detroit and his mother was born at Harper Hospital. He understands the struggles of a predominately African-American city and the direction it needs to head in. “We see every day the unfinished business of America,” Booker said. “I feel a sense of urgency as I stand here right now. But I want you to know being here in Detroit rekindles my sense of hope and potential. Detroit is very near and dear to my heart, since my family is from here. You share the same struggles as the people in Newark, New Jersey but Detroit has always been a town of fighters and will one day be free of the barriers that have been holding it back.” The Detroit Chapter of the
See NAACP page A-2