In response to the recent surge in violent criminal activity north of the City, and the subsequent public outcry, the Ypsilanti Police Department, the Washtenaw County Sheriff Department and the Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety have come together to announce a coordinated offensive that would put more officers on the ground around the […]
Tag Archives: tough on crime
Bob Sloan on the new slavery of the American prison factory system
When I flew into Providence a few weeks ago, to attend the Netroots Nation conference, I caught a taxi from the airport to the hotel with a fellow by the name of Bob Sloan. Bob, like me, had won one of the Democracy for America scholarships, and we talked about our work as we made […]
Who needs colleges when you can have prisons… Good work, Michigan!
I haven’t seen the new numbers, but, in 2008, I remember reading that Michigan was one of only four states that spent more on corrections than on higher education. And this, if I’m not mistaken, is happening in spite of the fact that Michigan’s prison population is dropping. I mention this because I just saw […]
Michigan’s prison industrial complex
I’ve been thinking about Michigan prisons quite a bit lately. It seems as though, all of a sudden, the subject is everywhere… The University of Michigan’s annual exhibition of art by Michigan prisoners opened today. There’s an article on the Daily Kos this evening about how, under Governor Snyder’s Emergency Financial Manager plan, non-elected officials […]