According to the blog of the ACLU, Grand Rapids police have a practice of arresting people for trespassing on the properties of businesses across the city—often without warning or asking them to leave first. They get away with this using a system that skirts the Bill of Rights.

First, the police department circulated a form to area business owners. The form, when signed, states that the business owner wishes to prosecute all trespassers on their property. More than 800 local businesses have signed the forms.

Then, the police department takes it upon themselves to determine which citizens are customers who should be left alone and which should be taken into custody for trespassing—sometimes even when they were paying customers.

The practice has been going on for years and it seems the police enjoy the permission they seem to have to harass any patrons that don’t look right or that they would rather see in cuffs.

The ACLU offers examples. The first is a man who stopped at a gas station to stretch after a car ride. The police had a trespassing form signed by the business owner, so they stopped and asked the man what his business was. They asked to search his car and gave him a breath test, which he passed. Without finding any other reason to make a lawful arrest, they arrested him for trespassing. This despite the clerk admitting at his hearing that he never asked the man to leave nor complained of his presence to police.

Though the charges were eventually dropped, he sat in jail for three days before a friend bailed him out.

A similar arrest was executed when two men sat in a car outside of a sports bar. There was a line to get in, but it was raining so a friend was holding their place. The police arrested the men for trespassing, citing the signed form from the business owner as their justification. Charges were later dropped.

The ACLU’s lawsuit says these are violations of the constitutional protection against unlawful arrests and the fact that these trespassing charges don’t hold up in court offer support to that claim.

If you are facing criminal charges that you feel are unjustified, we may be able to help. Call for a defense consultation.

According to MLive.com, state lawmaker Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) introduced the bill and spoke at a press conference just this week.

“We know, and the people here in Michigan know, that marijuana prohibition is not working,” he said. “Despite the fact that we’re spending a minimum of $325 million a year on arresting, trying, and incarcerating marijuana users in this state, we know marijuana has never been more available.”

People want their marijuana. And the laws of the state are not doing anything to squash this demand. It is this demand that led to several cities passing their own decriminalization ordinances this past fall. And now the state may follow suit.

If passed, the decriminalization law would make it a civil infraction to be caught with up to an ounce of marijuana. This means, you would not be subject to arrest and would not have a “record” for possession. Instead, it would come with a fine. Period.

Other lawmakers have already signaled their support, including some Republicans and Democrats alike. The law would be a smart move and no one can argue that marijuana enforcement, as is, is having any positive effects.

“Alcohol prohibition also didn’t work,” said Irwin. “And when we adopted a more sane, and may I say sober policy for alcohol, we were better able to control it and keep it out of the hands of our children.”

“This is nothing radical,” said Tim Beck of the Coalition for a Safer Michigan. “We’d only be doing what a lot of very sensible legislators and voters have done in other states.”

As a matter of fact, an estimated 17 states have passed some sort of decriminalization law. In Washington and Colorado, that decriminalization led to all-out legalization, something Michigan isn’t ready for.

Under the new law, possession of marijuana would carry a $25 fine. A second offense would carry a $50 fine. And a third offense would carry a $75 fine. You can express your support for the bill on the NORML website, sending an email to your local legislator.

Until the resolution of this bill, however, laws remain the same in Michigan—largely disjointed. If you are accused of a marijuana offense, contact our offices today to discuss your case and how we might be able to help.

In Michigan, patients with certain chronic conditions can have access to medical marijuana through licensed caregivers. The laws were passed in 2008 to make it so. But, not everyone is on board with any liberal acceptance of pot. As a matter of fact, the town of Wyoming would prefer the law not been passed—so much so, they’ve taken it upon themselves to essentially negate it.

In November 2010, the city council of Wyoming, Michigan passed an ordinance that has proven to make medical marijuana inaccessible to its residents. The ban said medical marijuana could only come from pharmacists. The problem with that is that Michigan pharmacists aren’t authorized to dispense marijuana, something the city council was 100% aware of.

One local medical marijuana patient began fighting the ordinance as soon as it was passed. John Ter Beek filed a lawsuit saying the ordinance was in conflict with the will of the voters. A Kent County Circuit Court Judge ruled in favor of the city. Ter Beek appealed and a state Court of Appeals agreed that the ordinance was illegal. Now, the Supreme Court of the United States will take up the issue.

In their decision to hear the case, according to MLive.com, the justices said they want to hear from both sides on whether the ordinance is subject to pre-emption by the state medical marijuana law. If so, then they want to hear whether the state law is subject to pre-emption by the federal laws that classify marijuana as an illegal drug.

The case is one that will be watched by marijuana advocates and opponents alike across the country.

If a city can disregard the will of the voters and pass its own ordinances that conflict with state law (a loss for patients like Ter Beek), can the state then pass laws that conflict with federal statutes (a win for marijuana advocates everywhere)? It’s a sticky issue that will not be simple to solve.

Until it is, Michigan is filled with a slightly patchwork system of marijuana laws—from those in Wyoming that govern medical usage to those in cities where the substance has been decriminalized altogether. If you are charged with a marijuana offense, you need someone who understands these different laws and how they affect you.

Here are a few of the recent headlines of note:

MI Supreme Court Rules Towns Can Shutter Dispensaries

The state’s high court backed an appeals court decision that allowed Mt. pleasant to shut down a medical marijuana dispensary on the basis of it being a “public nuisance”. Some dispensaries voluntarily shut their doors in response, but others aren’t convinced the ruling has to affect them and will remain open until told otherwise.

It’s because the state’s medical marijuana laws don’t address patient-to-patient marijuana sales, as the dispensary in question was operating under. Attorney General Bill Schuette has given prosecutors across the state the green light for shutting down the shops, but this isn’t likely the last we’ll hear of this.

Registered Medical Marijuana Users on the Rise

Counties across the state, but particularly in Southwest Michigan, are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of cardholding medical marijuana users. According to MLive.com, statewide numbers rose from 119,533 at the close of FY 2011 to 124,175 at the close of FY 2012. In some counties the increase was more dramatic—56% in Cass County, 49% in Branch County, and 39% in Van Buren County.

It’s believed part of the increase is due to the declining stigma. People are now seeing marijuana as a more acceptable form of medical treatment.

Sharing Medical Marijuana is Not a Crime

The state appeals court ruled there is nothing illegal about one registered medical marijuana patient sharing a little pot with another registered medical marijuana patient. The ruling came after one patient gave his friend (another patient) less than 2.5 ounces of pot. No cash or anything else traded hands.

Proposed Law Would Legalize Dispensaries

Republican lawmaker Rep. Mike Callton is working to introduce a bill that would allow dispensaries in local governments that authorizes it. Right now, he says, caretakers are the only way for patients to get medical pot and with 126,000, there aren’t enough caretakers to go around. He is hoping the recent state supreme court decision will push lawmakers to pass legislation that specifically addresses dispensaries.

Though marijuana laws and municipal regulations seem constantly changing in the state, you still run the risk of being arrested on a pot offense. When this happens, you need a local criminal defense lawyer on your side. Contact our offices today to discuss your case and the legal options available to you. 

The police in Flint will ignore the new ordinance, says the city’s state-appointed emergency manager. In Detroit, officials are simply not doing anything about the new ordinance that says adults can possess pot without fear of arrest. Kent County Prosecutor Bill Forsyth of Grand Rapids is seeking a preliminary injunction that would block the new pot law there. And Kalamazoo officials said they simply won’t open dispensaries there despite voters’ wishes, because the dispensaries would violate state law.

Voters in all of these cities wanted looser marijuana regulation. While they didn’t have the opportunity to vote on legalizing marijuana on a statewide scale (as in Colorado and Washington), the state’s larger cities did vote locally to chip away at marijuana laws.

Still, officials seem scared to cross state law. It seems they are concerned that they can’t implement ordinances when they are in direct violation of state criminal law. This despite a state Court of Appeals deciding only the cities can determine how best to allocate their law enforcement resources. In other words, the big court said city officials can tell their police to back off pot offenders.

Opponents of the new marijuana ordinances say they send children the wrong message—that marijuana isn’t harmful. Apparently, these opponents have research on the “harmfulness” of pot that they aren’t sharing with the rest of us. Most reputable research these days instead points to the benefits of marijuana rather than the risks.

“ ‘Many times, young people will mix marijuana with alcohol’ and then take risks to their health and safety, including driving while intoxicated, said Jones, who is a retired sheriff of Eaton County.”

The retired sheriff is right—drinking and driving is bad for your health. Drinking is bad for your health, so it stands to reason that mixing alcohol with pot would be bad for you—as would mixing alcohol with Doritos or alcohol with video games.

The injunction being sought in Grand Rapids is the most aggressive opposition in the fight against the marijuana ordinances and we should be hearing the outcome on that in coming days. Until then, marijuana users are cautioned that cops in these cities may or may not care about what the voters have said and you may or may not face arrest if caught with pot.

If you are charged with a marijuana offense, contact us today. We can help you understand your legal options and what might be done to prevent serious consequences. 

Lawmakers recently voted to change the rules on record expungement for juvenile records. People used to have to wait 5 years before even applying for expungement, and even then they could only hope to get a clean record if their past reflected one single misdemeanor. Now, however, things will be easier.

Juvenile offenders can now request expungement if they have three or fewer misdemeanors or one felony, and they can do so only one year after their sentence has been satisfied. This marks a dramatic change and a step in the right direction.

Many people who made mistakes when they were young go on to pay the price decades after, finding it difficult to get a job with a criminal record. The Free Press points out one man who committed an offense at the age of 12. Seventeen years later he was denied admission to college because of the crime, despite not having so much as a traffic ticket in the meantime.

“Everyone is so gun-shy on this because they think we need to be tough on crime, and it’s politically correct to be tough on crime,” said Joe Haveman, R-Holland, who sponsored the bill. “But we can certainly look at alternatives if people are behaving themselves. And then they can be paying taxes instead of draining taxes.”

There is a big difference between paying your debt to society and being continually asked to pay on it long after you’ve satisfied court requirements. This new law is a step in the right direction, at least for juvenile offenders.

A conviction can follow you forever, particularly if you are an adult at the time of the offense. While you may get your record expunged under certain circumstances, generally you are forced to carry a criminal record forever.

The key to avoiding all of the headaches associated with a record is to avoid a conviction altogether. Whether you are charged with a drug offense or a serious assault, we may be able to help. Contact our offices today to discuss your case.

Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti voters all backed various decriminalization measures, while those in Kalamazoo supported a ballot issue to create medical marijuana dispensaries. As a whole, marijuana advocates were celebrating and no doubt sparking one up late Tuesday night.

Here’s our city by city guide to the results:

Detroit: Voters passed Proposal M, which decriminalizes possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for recreational use by people 21 and over while on private property. As of last count (7:40 am Wed.), approximately 60 percent voted in favor of the measure and 40 percent opposed. Eighty percent of precincts were reporting.

Grand Rapids: With nearly all precincts reporting as of 7:30 am on Wednesday, Flint voters passed Proposal 2 which would decriminalize marijuana, making it a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor criminal offense. This means, if you are caught in possession of pot within Grand Rapids, you will face a $25 fine and nothing more. Sixty percent of voters pushed this issue to passage.

Flint: In Flint, 60 percent of voters (as of 2 am Wed. morning and all but 3 precincts reporting) passed their measure, making it legal for anyone 19 or older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana on private property. This changes the current law, which classifies possession of less than one ounce as a misdemeanor punishable by jail time.

Ypsilanti: While the measure Ypsilanti residents voted on wasn’t as liberal as the other cities listed, 74 percent showed up to ensure it was passed. This ballot issue will make marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement in the city. What does this mean? If cops have something better to do with their time, they will, avoiding marijuana arrests to focus on more serious endeavors.

Kalamazoo: Voters spoke out overwhelmingly in support of a measure to create medical marijuana dispensaries in Kalamazoo. According to Mlive.com, the measure passed by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, with 13,569 yes votes and 7,542 no votes with all precincts reporting.

After months of work by activists and supporters, the campaigning paid off across the state. What’s next for Michigan marijuana policy is anyone’s guess. But with these numbers, a statewide legalization effort may prove worthwhile in coming years.

According to the National Organization for the Repeal of Marijuana Laws (NORML), those cities include Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Ypsilanti and the legislation could affect more than one million people.

In Detroit, voters are set to decide on Proposal M. If passed, this will remove criminal penalties for adults over the age of 21 found to be in possession of marijuana on private property. What does this mean? It means if you have less than one ounce of marijuana, you are aged 21 or older, and you possess the pot on private property (your home, your friend’s home, etc.), you will not face criminal charges.

In Grand Rapids, Proposal 2 will allow local cops to decide whether pot possession should warrant an arrest or a ticket. This law would only apply to first-time offenders and the ticket would carry a $25 fine.

Flint voters is similar to the one up for vote in Detroit. Here, however, the age limit will be 19. If you are found in possession of less than one ounce of pot and you are on private property and over the age of 19, you will not face criminal penalties.

In smaller Ypsilanti, voters will determine just how much attention cops should be paying to pot. They won’t be changing the law, per say, but passage on their proposal will succinctly say that marijuana possession should be the very lowest priority for local law enforcement.

Michigan voters who have the opportunity to loosen restrictions on marijuana prohibition should get out and vote. Even if your faith in the system is low, local laws like this put the power in the hands of the voters rather than some stuffy lawmakers on Capitol Hill or elsewhere.

Currently, throughout the state, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor and carries up to one year in jail and $2,000 in fines.

If you are caught with marijuana and charged with possession of pot or even possession with intent to distribute, we may be able to help. Contact our offices today to discuss your options and your legal defense options.

The reason for this exodus? Safety.

Most people in the city feel unsafe. Crime, they believe, has made their city uninhabitable. Now, the growing number of vacant homes and failing businesses are only adding to the unsafe environment.

A comprehensive poll of the city found that most Detroiters are ready to leave. Fifty-eight percent cited crime as their biggest concern, far more than the economy and unemployment (despite the unemployment rate being near 50%).

But police officials say the people of the city are being misled, that the media is portraying the city as more unsafe than it actually is. Try telling that to the people who are afraid to leave their homes at night, afraid of leaving their home empty, or afraid to wear nice clothing because they feel it will make them a mark for a robbery.

Violent crime is down 12 percent, say city officials. They credit CompStat (a computerized and targeted system that analyzes crime trends and encourages focused enforcement) with lowering the crime rate in Midtown by 38 percent. But while they sing the praises of CompStat, they ignore the issues that this program has created in cities like New York and Baltimore, with officers and administrators accused of fudging numbers and establishing quotas.

And what’s been experienced in Midtown seems to be unique to Midtown. That area has seen an influx of the young and economically independent. It’s seen a resurgence of life. Elsewhere, residents are fleeing.

Perhaps stoking the fear and issuing a bit of propaganda for their own benefit, members of the local police union handed out fliers this past weekend to fans at Comerica Park. The flyers said “Enter Detroit at your own risk.” Those officers, incidentally, are upset over paycuts.

If crime is down nearly 35% in Midtown, it could account for an overall decline in the city. But areas where crime is bad, where the people are afraid to walk alone, crime is likely to be holding steady or even climbing.

As it goes in Detroit, and other cities experiencing similar crime problems, the cops will make arrests and the courts will dole out punishments, with little being done to prevent crime or help make the crime-ridden neighborhoods more inhabitable.

If you are arrested for a criminal offense in Detroit, you need someone on your side advocating for your rights. The police don’t want to hear it and the prosecutor certainly isn’t on your side. Contact our offices today to discuss your case and how we might be able to help. 

According to the Free Press, about 70,000 parolees are currently under supervision by the state of Michigan, and the majority of them are told not only to not live with other ex-offenders, but to not associate with them. For many, after being released from prison, this is a hard rule to stick by.

When you come out of prison, whether you served time for drug charges or a sex offense, your options are pretty limited. Though some offenders find the support they need from family, many don’t have this option. For them, finding a place to live can be difficult.

Group homes, the majority of which are privately owned, offer cheap rent and cooperative living that draws many felons in.

In particular, older homes with many bedrooms in less-desirable parts of town are being turned into informal post-release bunk houses, housing four to ten ex-inmates a piece. And while some think this could nurture a positive rehabilitation, that isn’t always the case.

For many, living with other felons means a greater risk of recidivism. After all, if you are a heroin addict and so is your roommate, and he relapses, it would be far easier for you to follow him down that path. But, in other cases, parolees can offer each other the support that’s needed during a difficult transition period.

Many times, support group meetings are held in the home and the parolees keep each other in line. Studies indicate this type of living situation is particularly helpful in the rehabilitation of sex offenders.

But, some of these houses are being bought up and rented out to the parolees by people who are in it for the money, not necessarily a sense of social responsibility.

When you come out of prison, or even when you serve probation for a criminal charge, your record can significantly impact your ability to find work, housing, and establish positive relationships. In these situations, the best possible prevention is to avoid a conviction altogether.

If you are charged with a crime in the state of Michigan, we may be able to help. Contact our offices today to discuss your case and the legal options available to you.