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Prosecutor Admitted gun laws Do Fuck all to Keep People Safe
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Michael Ejercito
Mar 30, 2023, 11:30:22 AM3/30/23
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https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2021/08/10/ingham-county-prosecutor-lessen-use-felony-firearm-charge/5555564001/
Ingham County prosecutor to limit gun charge that disproportionately
impacts Black people
Kara Berg
Lansing State Journal
LANSING — Ingham County's Prosecutor has implemented another policy to
try to lessen the racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
This time, Prosecutor Carol Siemon is looking at the felony firearms
charge, which can be added whenever someone has a gun while committing a
felony, even if the gun is not used in the crime.
Siemon said she plans to limit the use of the charge, solely prosecuting
people on their actual behavior. This means her office will no longer
issue felony firearms charges except when "the other charges do not
adequately reflect the person's overall behavior," according to a news
release from Siemon.
Gun charges: Data: Lansing, state police using traffic stops to search
vehicles of young, Black men for guns
Looking at the data: Ingham County prosecutor data notes racial
disparity in gun charges, case referrals
The charge adds a mandatory two years of prison time to someone's
sentence if they are convicted. If they are convicted a second or third
time, the mandatory sentence is five or 10 years, respectively. The
sentence runs consecutively to any other prison time.
Charging people with a felony firearms offense was supposed to dissuade
people from carrying guns, but "all it did was disproportionately impact
Black people," Siemon said.
"While this law was enacted in 1976 to deter gun violence, it has never
lived up to its promise of keeping the public safer," according to the
release.
In Michigan, 82% of people serving a sentence for a felony firearm
charge are Black, despite Black people making up just 14% of the state's
population, according to the release. In Ingham County, 80% of the 269
people serving a felony firearm sentence are Black.
In 2020, 205 felony firearm charges were issued by Siemon's office. Of
those, 67% were against Black people.
"We applaud Prosecutor Carol Siemon's decision to limit the use of
charges under the mandatory minimum 'felony firearm' law," John Cooper,
director of Safe and Just Michigan, said in a statement. "Research shows
that mandatory minimums and the felony firearm law have failed to deter
the use or possession of firearms, and the racially disparate impact of
firearm charges is well documented."
This new policy is the latest of Siemon's reforms to address mass
incarceration and racial inequities in the justice system. She also said
she will stop charging gun and drug possession charges that stem from a
traffic stop for a non-public-safety-related reason and will have her
staff always review body camera footage before issuing resisting police
charges.
Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth said Siemon's policy to not
pursue charges for gun and drug possession stemming from some traffic
stops is giving criminals a free pass.
“This is yet another Ingham County policy or story focusing on what’s
best for the offender,” Wriggelsworth said. “What family will be the
next to be victimized? This is justice for whom? The only logical answer
is the offender.”
Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kb...@lsj.com. Follow
her on Twitter @karaberg95.
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Ingham County prosecutor to limit gun charge that disproportionately
impacts Black people
Kara Berg
Lansing State Journal
LANSING — Ingham County's Prosecutor has implemented another policy to
try to lessen the racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
This time, Prosecutor Carol Siemon is looking at the felony firearms
charge, which can be added whenever someone has a gun while committing a
felony, even if the gun is not used in the crime.
Siemon said she plans to limit the use of the charge, solely prosecuting
people on their actual behavior. This means her office will no longer
issue felony firearms charges except when "the other charges do not
adequately reflect the person's overall behavior," according to a news
release from Siemon.
Gun charges: Data: Lansing, state police using traffic stops to search
vehicles of young, Black men for guns
Looking at the data: Ingham County prosecutor data notes racial
disparity in gun charges, case referrals
The charge adds a mandatory two years of prison time to someone's
sentence if they are convicted. If they are convicted a second or third
time, the mandatory sentence is five or 10 years, respectively. The
sentence runs consecutively to any other prison time.
Charging people with a felony firearms offense was supposed to dissuade
people from carrying guns, but "all it did was disproportionately impact
Black people," Siemon said.
"While this law was enacted in 1976 to deter gun violence, it has never
lived up to its promise of keeping the public safer," according to the
release.
In Michigan, 82% of people serving a sentence for a felony firearm
charge are Black, despite Black people making up just 14% of the state's
population, according to the release. In Ingham County, 80% of the 269
people serving a felony firearm sentence are Black.
In 2020, 205 felony firearm charges were issued by Siemon's office. Of
those, 67% were against Black people.
"We applaud Prosecutor Carol Siemon's decision to limit the use of
charges under the mandatory minimum 'felony firearm' law," John Cooper,
director of Safe and Just Michigan, said in a statement. "Research shows
that mandatory minimums and the felony firearm law have failed to deter
the use or possession of firearms, and the racially disparate impact of
firearm charges is well documented."
This new policy is the latest of Siemon's reforms to address mass
incarceration and racial inequities in the justice system. She also said
she will stop charging gun and drug possession charges that stem from a
traffic stop for a non-public-safety-related reason and will have her
staff always review body camera footage before issuing resisting police
charges.
Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth said Siemon's policy to not
pursue charges for gun and drug possession stemming from some traffic
stops is giving criminals a free pass.
“This is yet another Ingham County policy or story focusing on what’s
best for the offender,” Wriggelsworth said. “What family will be the
next to be victimized? This is justice for whom? The only logical answer
is the offender.”
Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kb...@lsj.com. Follow
her on Twitter @karaberg95.
--
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