Thirteen years ago, Nealmetria Loper came to a reckoning in her life. After living in a Detroit neighborhood that was troubled by violence and poverty, she decided she wanted better for her own children — and other children living in the city. Loper — one of two Safe & Just Michigan Community Outreach Fellows— already knew cycles of crime and violence can affect children. Her family was affected by domestic violence when she was growing up, and when she was a young adult, her older brother was murdered. The loss left an absence in her family that she still feels, and she’s keenly awar ..read more

By her own account, Erica Cederberg said she had a charmed life — until suddenly she didn’t. She was the head of her family’s business, was married and had two girls she adored. But then, in a desperate attempt to keep her family business afloat, she misappropriated funds. The decision led to seven years in prison, the dissolution of her marriage and years without seeing or hearing from her children. During this time, her mother and her sister passed away and the family business folded. As losses stacked up, Erica began to see the world around her through newly opened eyes. Many of the people ..read more

Second Look leads to second chances My name is John Halcomb. I am 60 years old. I regret my violent behavior every day as I am reminded through the violence I see in my prison environment. This prison violence, however, began my rehabilitation when it caused me to empathically place myself in my victim’s place. I know that no amount of years can ever lessen the damage I have done, but if this Second Look policy succeeds, it may grant me a chance to contribute to my community by helping — if just one person — to not commit crime. After coming to prison, I remained the same self-centered person ..read more

The Michigan Legislature is considering a proposal to end juvenile life without parole in Michigan. Fully half the states and Washington, D.C., have already taken this step, banning the practice of sending children to prison to die, and another seven states currently have no one serving such a sentence. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional — an opinion echoed by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2022. However, Michigan courts still may apply these harsh sentences on a discretionary basis. Since the 2012 Supreme Co ..read more

We use the phrase “second chances” so often in criminal justice reform work that it can sometimes sound like a buzzword. We urge employers to adopt second-chance hiring to give people with a criminal record a chance at a job. The federal Second Chance Act provides grants to nonprofits and agencies that work to reduce recidivism. We encourage lawmakers to support our legislation in the name of second chances. But to me, a second chance is much more than a catch phrase. I fought for my second chance for nearly 16 years inside Michigan prisons that held me after I was wrongfully convicted for the ..read more

Think twice before demanding Bernstein resignation There’s no mistaking Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein’s Freudian Slip objection to newly appointed Justice Kyra Bolden’s hiring ex-felon Pete Martel as one of her law clerks as racism, bigotry, or discrimination. But calls for Bernstein’s resignation are unwarranted because his outburst isn’t reflective of the “blind justice” he has delivered in opinions he has written or concurred with regarding unemployment benefits, condemnation of property, judicial bias, juvenile lifers, and other cases too numerous to mention here. Althou ..read more

Inside Voices is an opportunity for our members who are incarcerated to voice their ideas and opinions to the outside world. Since they can’t access our monthly electronic newsletter, Safe & Just Michigan prints a newsletter several times a year that is mailed to our members who are in prison. We have invited those readers to send us their letters for publication in the next printed newsletter, and in addition, we are sharing them here. Also, we invite our members who are not incarcerated to send along questions to our incarcerated members that they could use as writing prompts. If you hav ..read more

(NOTE: Safe & Just Michigan is nonpartisan and doesn’t make political endorsements. Ronnie Waters, our community engagement specialist, is speaking about his own personal endorsement of Justice Richard Bernstein.) SJM Community Engagement Specialist Ronnie Waters (left) with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein in the summer of 2022. When Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein asked me to support his re-election campaign in the summer of 2022, I was quick to do it. Justice Bernstein demonstrated his understanding and commitment to criminal justice reform by writing ..read more

Kimberly Woodson was almost locked away forever. We should all be grateful she wasn’t. Not only has she started a Detroit-based nonprofit to help others reintegrate into the community after coming home from prison, Safe & Just Michigan is lucky enough to welcome her onboard as one of our two new fund development fellows. As a teen, Kimberly was sentenced to life in prison in 1988. In 2017, she was released after a series of Supreme Court rulings ordered a review of all juvenile life sentences. The world Kimberly was released into was much different than the one she knew 30 years ago. The c ..read more

Lucas Day is still learning. A graduate from the Michigan State school of journalism and now a student pursuing a master’s degree in social work degree from MSU, Lucas has learned more through his interviews with the people he’s writing about than anywhere else. “I feel like my perspective is always shifting,” Lucas said. “The variety of people I’ve talked to through journalism have forced me to realize there’s a lot I don’t know, and if I make a habit out of making assumptions, I’ll be wrong a lot.” Now, Lucas is ready to learn about criminal justice reform and the people who have been impact ..read more