Michigan Courts Don't Care If Kids Are Raped n prison--Kids Don't Need Civil Rights Acording To Michigan [Picture, Video]

Kids say that they were raped in Michigan prisons.

It’s not OK, it’s not legal. But it happened because before 2013 the state housed some youthful offenders, 17-year-olds, with adults, and there wasn’t adequate protection from guards or other prison staff.

You’d think that would subject the state to some form of liability, in addition to unqualified shame over the circumstances.

But you’d be wrong, at least for now. An appeals court ruling this week reached a shocking, alternative conclusion: that a technical flaw in seven juvenile plaintiffs’ efforts to sue the state for the abuse they suffered in prison overrides their claims, and that it’s OK that the state’s primary civil rights protection statute, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, was rescinded from the reach of prisoners by the Legislature in 1999, and that the Legislature acted reasonably when it decided to exclude prisoners from the protection of the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits the state from discriminating on the basis of race or gender.

If ever there were an incentive for the Michigan Supreme Court to set the record straight in the name of justice, this would be it.

For the full article, see Detroit Free Press Editorial Board, “More injustice for Michigan’s young inmates”, Detroit Free Press, August 26, 2015.

For another, see Kahil AlKajal, “Teen prison rape lawsuit thrown out because prisoners excluded from Michigan civil rights law”, MLive, August 26, 2015.

President Obama Speaks at the NAACP’s 106th National Convention Started on Jul 14, 2015 Obama Pushing for Greater Criminal Justice Reform at NAACP Convention highlight bipartisan ideas for reform, Barack Obama implored popular entertainment outlets to stop making jokes about prison rape. “We should not tolerate conditions in prison that have no place in any civilized country,” Obama said to applause. “We should not be tolerating overcrowding in prison. We should not be tolerating gang activity in prison.”
“We should not be tolerating rape in prison, and we shouldn’t be making jokes about it in our popular culture,” Obama added. “That is no joke. These things are unacceptable.” The President will outline the unfairness in much of our criminal justice system, Obama Pushing for Greater Criminal Justice Reform at NAACP Convention highlight bipartisan ideas for reform, Obama to Entertainers: Stop Making Jokes About Prison Rape and lay out his own ideas to make our justice system fairer, smarter, and more cost-effective while keeping the American people safe and secure. President Obama called for either reducing or eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug crimes, reconsidering solitary confinement for prisoners and increasing job training programs for people while they incarcerated. Obama also urged states to get rid of laws that bar convicted felons from voting and said employers should avoid asking on job applications if a person has a criminal record, both practices that disproportionately affect minorities.
The president called on Congress to pass a criminal sentence reform bill by the end of the year. And he said he had asked the Department of Justice to start a study on ways to improve conditions for Americans in solitary confinement.

In a speech to the NAACP’s annual convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the president called on members of Congress to support reductions in jail sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

The remarks come on the heels of the president commuting the sentences of 46 federal prisoners convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. The president cast the decision as part of a push to reform the criminal justice system. Had they been convicted of the same crimes today, most of the 46 would already be out of prison, the White House said.

Fourteen were serving life sentences.  

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