Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence — House Bills 4670

Summary

The Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence (MCEDSV), representing over 70 Michigan community-based agencies, submits a statement dated November 8, 2021, on House Bills 4670 (Star-1 H-1), 4671, 4672, 4673. The statement says the draft leaves out survivors of stalking and domestic violence from productivity credit exemptions and that notice requirements are not specific. It also says both the minimum and maximum sentence may be reduced, allowing a person to come before the parole board sooner than a victim may be expecting. It urges a No vote on the bills, with Elinor Jordan, Senior Law & Policy Manager, listed as the contact.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence
 Representing over 70 Michigan community-based agencies in service to survivors
       and promoting sexual and domestic violence prevention initiatives


                House Bills 4670 (Star-1 H-1), 4671, 4672, 4673
                              November 8, 2021
As an organization with a long-demonstrated commitment to advancing social justice,
the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (MCEDSV) supports
reforms to address injustices across and within societal systems. To truly achieve
justice, such reforms must honor survivors who seek safety for themselves and
accountability for their offender(s) through the criminal legal systems.
MCEDSV appreciates efforts by supporters of the package to address concerns for
survivors’ safety and confidence in sentencing. In particular, the draft exempts people
incarcerated for committing an offense that would place them on the Sex Offender
Registry from productivity credits. Although we welcome this change, most of
MCEDSV’s original concerns remain:
   •   This draft leaves out survivors of stalking and domestic violence from
       productivity credit exemptions, rolling back decades of advocacy to ensure
       these crimes are taken seriously.
       o People who perpetrate these crimes can demonstrate high levels of
          manipulation and dedication to harming their target. These are precisely the
          populations likely to leverage credits to cause further harm.
   •   Notice requirements are not specific, such that survivors would only know that
       their perpetrator was eligible for credits, and would be left to guess whether they
       were taking advantage of such credits.
   •   Behavior that would disqualify an incarcerated person from taking advantage of
       credits does not include efforts to contact any victim in their underlying case.
   •   Both the minimum and maximum sentence may be reduced, allowing a person to
       come before the parole board sooner than a victim may be expecting.

Many victims plan their lives around the expected release date of a person who harmed
them—securing alternate housing and other protections in order to ensure they can stay
safe. Any proposal to amend truth-in-sentencing in concept or practice, must be based
on a comprehensive review that includes a broad range of victims’ rights groups and
recognizes the important practicalities for survivors, as well as the foundational
principles and history of this framework.
                            MCEDSV urges a “No” vote on
                  HB 4670 (Star-1, H-1), HB 4671, HB 4672, & HB 4673

   Contact: Elinor Jordan, Senior Law & Policy Manager, MCEDSV Elinor.Jordan@mcedsv.org; 517-898-1088


File and source

File

2021-11-09_testimony_rule-2021-elinor-jordan_47402.pdf

Size

107,071 bytes

SHA-256

aa131445c0cc4b93a0c3a8c56cce3853d4e07ef88148e04c4967c3598baf823c

Our copy

2021-11-09_testimony_rule-2021-elinor-jordan_47402.pdf

Original

No public link identified.