Established in 1956, MCCD is Michigan's only statewide organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness of policies and systems aimed at preventing and controlling crime.
As states around the nation grapple with the effects of the fiscal crisis a major area of attention has been the cost of corrections. Over the past 25 years the four-fold rise in the prison population has caused corrections expenditures to escalate dramatically. These increased costs now compete directly with higher education and other vital services within a climate of declinig state revenues.
WASHINGTON – Michigan's successful efforts to reduce its statewide prison population by more than eight percent during the past two years while at the same time improving public safety provides a model for other states seeking smarter, more affordable criminal justice policies, according to a report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.
As Ohio becomes first state to come into substantial compliance with the Act, the Justice Policy Institute has re-released their report, “Registering Harm,” detailing the destructive impact of the Act on youth and families, and lack of evidence showing registries make us safer.
In an article for the American Bar Association newsletter, Children’s Rights (“Life after Roper: Using Adolescent Brain Development in Court” (Fall/Winter 2009), Wendy Henderson of the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, an NJJN member, writes about the scientific evidence showing that brain development continues through the mid-20s. Research on brain development can be used in court to support the propositions that adolescents are more reckless than adults, more susceptible to peer influence, less able to judge risk, less able to envision the long term consequences of their actions, and generally less culpable than adults are.
National Association of Social Workers Lead Conference 03/11/10 Michelle Weemhoff to present, Michigan's Forgotten Children: A Guide to Juvenile Justice Reform.
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House Judiciary Subcommittee on Mental Health Hearing 03/17/10 re: Juvenile Competency
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House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing 04/28/10 re: Juvenile Competency
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Association for Children's Mental Health 05/03/10 - 05/04/10 re: Leadership Conference
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