- Detroit Free Press Opinion: Michigan has a chance to modernize state court data transparency
Governor Whitmer’s budget includes funding for the Michigan Supreme Court’s (MSC) Statewide Court Data Transparency Project to develop an integrated data collection system for all state courts across Michigan’s 83 counties. While that may not seem like breaking news, it does break new ground because the Court is the first actor in the criminal legal system to use comprehensive, consistent data collection to evaluate policies, identify and address racial inequities and drive systemic improvements.
In 2021, then Chief Justice McCormack laid out the Court’s argument for data integrity in an opinion piece in which she noted “anecdotes don’t drive systemic improvements. Data does.” McCormack explained further, “Michigan’s decentralized court system with different funding units, using different technology, and with different resources means we don’t have the comprehensive data needed to evaluate our policies. This piecemeal approach isn’t only a problem for our criminal justice policy, but also for juvenile, child welfare and civil justice policy too.” Importantly, she went on to write, “Data can also be marshaled to help us identify and address racial inequities in our juvenile and criminal legal systems.”
That last point drew the attention of our group — Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw (CREW). Five months before McCormack’s piece, CREW published a first-of-its-kind analysis of more than 1,000 felony cases from the Washtenaw Trial Court’s website and found patterns of disparities in charging decisions by prosecutors and sentencing by judges. But the limited amount of public facing data left us with more questions and a call for a deeper, objective analysis of data across the entire criminal legal system, including the court. In that 2021 piece, the Chief Justice recognized the role the courts should play in using data to ensure equal justice under law when she wrote, “While I applaud citizen groups like CREW for stepping into this void, transparency in government demands more from us — the courts. That’s why the State Court Administrative Office [SCAO, the MSC’s administrative arm] …is using data to understand where racial disparities exist through a unique collaboration with academic partners and the Michigan Department of Corrections. “
SCAO’s data collection and analysis that Governor Whitmer is asking the legislature to fund isn’t sexy but it’s critical. So critical, in fact, that it’s embedded in the MSC’s first-ever strategic plan for Michigan’s judicial system, Planning for the Future of the Michigan Judicial System. Three of the five strategic goals — Court Funding & Technology Infrastructure, Racial & Social Equity, and Public Trust & Understanding, go directly to issues of data collection, analysis, accountability and transparency. Those themes were also echoed in the statement made by Chief Justice Beth Clement (a key member of the team that created the MSC’s strategic plan), upon her unanimous selection as the new Chief Justice.
CREW commends the MSC and SCAO’s leadership in taking on the work that lay before them because their data collection effort is only the beginning. There are 3 things that CREW will be watching for as the MSC’s Data Transparency Project unfolds:
- What will SCAO do with the data? Who will decide what data will be analyzed? (We hope SCAO includes meaningful input from users of the legal system beyond judges and court staff.) Will the data be analyzed for simple case processing details such as how long cases take from start to finish or questions related to deeper inequities? (In CREW’s report, we listed more than two dozen data analyses that the courts and prosecutors could do to understand whether equal justice under law is being carried out.) Who will see the data? Court personnel? The public? If the data reveals racial disparities in a judge’s decisions, what will the Court do? There is no Judicial Canon specifically addressing a pattern and practice of racially disparate treatment, so it is uncertain whether the Judicial Tenure Commission has oversight capabilities.
- Public release of the data analysis collaboration mentioned by Justice McCormack between SCAO, MDOC and academic partners (such as UM’s Criminal Justice Administrative Records System) which has been underway for more than 2 years.
- When will other taxpayer-funded government units involved in the criminal legal system follow the MSC’s lead and use data to ensure equity, accountability, transparency and effectiveness? The MDOC, for example, holds a trove of criminal legal data that could inform policymakers and the public on almost every stage of the criminal legal process from pre-sentence to reentry.
Is Michigan destined to be last in the pack when it comes to integrating data across the entire criminal legal system? A generation ago, a handful of jurisdictions around the country were on the cutting edge of improving government efficiency when they integrated data from different departments and used that data to address inequities, measure outcomes, develop policy, and increase efficiency across an entire system. Since then, technological developments have made data integration much more accessible. If we really want government to be transparent, operate efficiently, maintain public safety, and address racial disparities, why aren’t we doing that in Michigan?
- WDET, Detroit Today: Michigan’s Lax Criminal Justice Data
https://wdet.org/shows/detroit-today/ (at 8:20 mark)
- We don’t know how many kids are in the juvenile justice system | Opinion, Detroit Free Press
Missing data is missing people. Absent complete and accurate data, policies to improve the lives of Michiganders may not reach those who are not counted. The issues with data access, consistency, integrity, and transparency span across issue areas, but of particular concern is the prevalence of these data problems in Michigan’s adult and youth criminal justice systems. A new report released Friday by Wayne State University, Overview of the Criminal Legal System in Michigan: Adults and Youth, illuminates the data challenges Michigan faces to improve public safety and community well-being.
As noted in the report, Michigan’s data problems impact thousands of young people, adults, and families that touch the justice system. For example, the total number of young people in the youth justice system is unknown because of data limitations at the county and state levels.
Measuring recidivism — broadly defined as the re-arrest, reconviction, or reincarceration of a person after being adjudicated for a crime — is another challenge, particularly for adults: it requires following unique people across 83 counties, 57 circuit courts, numerous district courts, and multiple agency and information systems.
Michigan also lacks integration capabilities that would allow for comprehensive assessment of the criminal justice systems performance and outcomes, hindering the process to create a complete picture of all the people impacted by the justice system.
There are more than 81 jails in Michigan using a variety of information management systems with little ability to link county-levels jails together or integrate with other state systems. Further, the 25 locally owned and operated youth detention centers in the state have no ties to state-level systems and their data is not shared or integrated. It becomes impossible to assess the number of youths served, how long they are in detention, their outcomes, and if young people are returning into the system.
Community members, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have surfaced these issues in the past, and there is now momentum to improve data accuracy and integrity at the local and state level. Earlier this year, Chief Justice Bridget McCormack of the Michigan Supreme Court penned an opinion piece calling for improvements to the court data system, and also pointed to efforts like the data analysis project conducted by the Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw as a sign that greater data transparency is needed.
In addition, the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jails and Pretrial Incarceration, an advisory body established by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to improve jail and pretrial systems, recommended the standardization of criminal justice data and reporting in their final report.
One notable recommendation of the Task Force was that “a new or existing body should be directed to identify standards for collecting data and design a detailed plan for improving data collection and reporting.”
Problems like the ones discussed above present an opportunity to create solutions.
That’s why we are convening a group of thought leaders and justice system stakeholders to engage in long-term planning for enhancing the reliability, transparency, and integration of criminal legal data at the local and state level.
This effort, supported by the Michigan Justice Fund and led by the Lieutenant Governor, will launch in September, and include Wayne State University, the State Court Administrators Office, the Michigan Association of Counties and state and county stakeholders across the criminal justice system. Through this process, a blueprint will be produced for prioritizing actions and resources.
As we consider policies to improve public safety, strengthen our communities, and restore the dignity and humanity of people impacted by the justice system, we must first have the data to understand the scope of these issues. It is our hope that that collaborative efforts between government, practitioners, researchers, and philanthropy can help enhance data-driven decision-making toward effective policy for our state.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II is the 64th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan serving in the role since 2019 and is chair of the forthcoming Criminal Justice Data Convening.
Sheryl Kubiak Ph.D. is Dean and Professor at the Wayne State University School of Social Work and co-author of Overview of the Criminal Legal System in Michigan: Adults and Youth.
Melanca Clark is President & CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation and Steering Committee Chair of the Michigan Justice Fund, a funders collaborative of regional, state, and national philanthropic organizations that seeks to advance effective justice policy and practice in Michigan.
- Detroit Free Press: Racism in the criminal justice system requires our attention
- Detroit Free Press: What criminal justice data taught residents of Michigan’s most liberal county
- Blue Tent: A Small Group of Citizen Researchers Takes on One County’s Criminal Justice System
- Detroit News: Opinion by Chief Justice McCormack “Michigan needs better court data system”
- Click on Detroit: Washtenaw Prosecutor Eli Savit launches transparency project with U-M, ACLU
- MLive: Washtenaw Prosecutor launches effort to review thousands of past cases for racial bias
- WEMU: New Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit Says He’s Moving The Ball Forward In A New Direction
- WEMU: Fighting For Change Together: New Prosecutor Works With Community Activists On A New Path
- Michigan Daily: Washtenaw County community talks combating racial injustices in the legal system
- “Getting Real About Race” event challenges Washtenaw County to identify and address racial disparity
- The Ann Arbor District Library Panel Discussion: Reframing Criminal Justice
- Eastern Echo: Nominee for Prosecutor, Eli Savit, holds Criminal Justice Listening Tour
- The Sentencing Project, Race & Justice News: Sentencing Disparities Examined in Washtenaw County, MI
- Michigan Daily: ‘I never thought I would be seeing this again’: Demonstrators demand racial justice
- The Michigan Daily: Report Highlights Racial Disparities in Washtenaw County Criminal Justice System
- Detroit Free Press Opinion: Data was key to Understanding Racial Disparities in this County’s Court
- Observer’s A2 View: Report finds racial disparities in Washtenaw County charging & sentencing
- WEMU: Wide Racial Disparities Found In Washtenaw County Criminal Justice System
- MLive: Black defendants receive harsher treatment in Washtenaw County courts, Study indicates
- Stateside, Michigan Radio: Report says Blacks in Washtenaw County more likely to face felony charges
- Bridge Magazine: Blacks far more likely to face felonies In Washtenaw County, Report shows