14 Bill Cobbs

Decarceration Nation (with Josh and Joel)

A recent interview between Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Cobbs and Josh about criminal justice reform in Michigan.

If you are not familiar with what is going on with water in Michigan. The State approved Nestle's new contract to remove even more water from the Great Lakes, Flint had State supplied water suspended while the Flint school's were and are still testing high for lead and we discussed Detroit's ongoing water crisis.

The crisis in public schools in Michigan accelerated after the onset of the so-called "school choice" reforms in Michigan.

Abandoned houses and how to deal with them is a huge issue in Detroit.

Michigan is one of five states in America that has not raised the age to ensure that 17-year-olds are not presumptively tried as adults. I am a volunteer at MCCD who are working to Raise the Age in Michigan.

Michigan passed a number of mental health reforms recently, including diversion programs, but mental health care inside our jails and prisons still lags far behind.

The Suboxone issue and the resulting changes in the mail policies at the Michigan Department of Correction have caused massive problems with families of inmates. The new mail policy is complicated and hard to comply with.

Cash bail is a pretty large problem all over the United States. Tens of thousands of people are arrested in America every day and every one of them will likely stay in jail unless they can afford to pay bail. Jails, particularly certain jails in Michigan, are very dangerous.

Video Visitation has been replacing in-person visits all over the country, we are experiencing this problem, for instance, at the Washtenaw County jail which no longer allows in-person visits. It is important to remember that the service provider incentivizes jails to shut down in-person visits by ensuring that jails get a cut of any profits from video visits.

Criminal justice fines & fees can be excessive and are applied liberally to virtually every person in jail or prison in Michigan.

Thanks again to Mr. Cobbs for such an open and fascinating discussion about the need for criminal justice reform in Michigan.