You would think, as the Michigan Attorney General, Dana would know that in child welfare everything is a secret, protected by law, layered up through Public Private Partnerships, made up of fake ass child welfare NGOs, doing lots of trafficking tiny human stuff.
Praise the lord.
If Dana can find a way of getting those emails, well, gosh golly, I believe we may have ourselves one of those transposable models I so much adore.
Detroit — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told a room of journalists and members of the public that she is "deeply ashamed" that Michigan is the only state that exempts the governor, lieutenant governor and state lawmakers from Freedom of Information Act requests.
"We are not opening the doors to state government," Nessel said Saturday. "In fact, we are locking them with deadbolts, and then we are nailing boards across them, and then there’s a moat … that’s what FOIA feels like with our state government."
Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks to members of the public and the media at FOIA Fest, an event about the Freedom of Information Act, hosted by the Society for Professional Journalists at Wayne State University on Saturday.Buy Photo
Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks to members of the public and the media at FOIA Fest, an event about the Freedom of Information Act, hosted by the Society for Professional Journalists at Wayne State University on Saturday. (Photo: Kevin J Hardy / The Detroit News)
Nessel was the keynote speaker at a day-long festival focused on how to reform FOIA exclusions to the executive and legislative branches of government, developing a state ombudsman or independent commission for FOIA appeals, and reform excessive fees, delays and loopholes in the state's system.
Nessel, who took office in January, has called for more government transparency while noting Michigan's current FOIA restrictions.
"I can’t think of anything more important than to have the public have all the tools available to them and know how to get information," she said.
Kat Stafford, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, introduced Nessel, saying the attorney general was invited to the FOIA Festival, hosted at Wayne State University by the Society of Professional Journalists, because she's been advocating the importance of government transparency for Michigan residents.
Current and former members of the The South End student newspaper at Wayne State University, which is funded by the university but is editorially independent, share difficulties of filing FOIA requests within their own campus and how they studied student press law after being restricted.
Nessel also used the event to take a few shots at the Trump administration, saying the lack of transparency in Michigan is nothing compared to what is going on at the federal level.
"While I am embarrassed on various levels for our lack of transparency in Michigan, but what’s happening in the federal government right now is absolutely unacceptable," Nessel said. "Without these constructs in place, it will be the end of America as we know it."
Nessel also addressed the investigation of John Geddert, a former USA Gymnastics coach who oversaw a Michigan club where multiple victims of sexual predator Larry Nassar trained, Nessel said her office continues to try to get documents Michigan State University has withheld under attorney-client privilege.
MSU initially withheld 7,500 documents under attorney-client privilege and it appears as though her office is not going to see 6,000 of those documents because the university has "fought this office every step of the way."
She called it disingenuous that MSU would ask for the attorney general's office to investigate and then refuse to provide the evidence they need.
"We’ve taken this as far as we can. To fully complete our investigation, we absolutely need to have those emails," she said. "I would ask the board of trustees to reconsider and provide us with those 6,000 plus emails so we can actually complete our investigation."
Beth Konrad, president of the SPJ Detroit chapter and adjunct professor at WSU, said the idea for Saturday's FOIA festival was aimed to build greater awareness and understanding of FOIA and Michigan's Open Meeting Act for better government transparency.
Two Michigan State University board members have partnered to buy a dilapidated downtown Muskegon office building and redevelop it into a mixed-use property with commercial and residential spaces.
Brianna Scott and Joel Ferguson were awarded the bid Tuesday night by the city commission to redo the former Ameribank building at the corner of Clay Avenue and First Street. Terms of the deal are still to be worked out, Jake Eckholm, director of economic development for the city of Muskegon told the Free Press.
News of the partnership drew immediate reaction from those who believe Scott was the key in the killing of independent investigation of MSU's actions around Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics and MSU doctor imprisoned after he abused hundreds of girls over 25 years under the guise of treatment.
Rachael Denhollander, the first Nassar victim to go public about her abuse and one of three survivors to call out Scott for her role, said the deal should be examined.
"I find it reprehensible that Brianna Scott had time to accuse me of benefiting financially from the independent investigation all the while she was engaging" in this business deal, Denhollander told the Free Press. "It's time for the leadership at MSU to say, 'No more.' The issue isn't with the survivors, it's with the politicians and leadership. To campaign on (reform) and then to sell out survivors is reprehensible."
The building is currently a shell, stripped down basically to the metal frame. The city spent about $500,000 to buy the property and get rid of asbestos and do a partial demolition.
Joel Ferguson
Ferguson, with his Ferguson Development, is a prominent developer in the Lansing and Detroit area, including a partnership with Magic Johnson to develop a portion of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. He was originally elected to MSU's board in 1986 and is known for his tight ties to MSU athletics.
Scott is a Muskegon-based attorney who was elected to the board in November 2018 and took her seat in January. In her board bio, it says Scott has practiced real estate law.
Her spokeswoman, Debra Brown Hendrickson, said Scott has been looking at projects n the downtown for years, but hasn't been able to close any deals. She said there was no way the deal was Scott being bought off by Ferguson, who also opposed the independent inquiry into MSU's handling of the Nassar case.
"She is going to vote on the MSU board with what she believes in her heart is the right vote for the university," Hendrickson said, adding that "you cannot tell her (Scott)" how to act if she doesn't want to go that way.
"I can't imagine Joel Ferguson would be able to."
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is "always concerned about the appearance of impropriety or bias" and her office is "still in the process of determing how or if this relates to our ongoing investigation of MSU," Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney told the Free Press.
Scott's mom worked in building
Scott is active in the Muskegon community and her office is less than a half mile from the building she and Ferguson are buying.
Scott has long had an interest in what would happen to the building, where her mom worked as a department manager in the bank once housed there, Eckholm told the Free Press.
According to a report in MLive, Scott said that personal interest is driving her involvement.
“It’s going to be a sense of pride if we can take something that other people have looked at and two other developers previously walked away from,” she told Mlive. “It’s a pretty historic building and I want to do something great with it.”
“I think this will be something that could incentivize people to come back,” she said. “The city of Muskegon is putting its money where its mouth is. Especially when they see that their communities are going to help them establish the businesses they are dreaming of establishing.”
The 54,122-square-foot building was constructed in 1923. The city thought it has a deal with a local developer to rehab it, and would have sold it to him for $150,000. But that deal fell through.
Afterward, the city sent out a request for proposals in an effort to get regional developers interested. About five were interested and two finalists were chosen.
One wanted to build senior housing, but city staff recommended Scott and Ferguson's company.
Housing proposal key
"This proposal calls for a market rate housing development at the existing site with two development scenarios pending the opportunity to conduct a construction analysis and other due diligence," Eckholm wrote in a memo included in the City Council agenda packet.
"The two scenarios have the same vision for the development, and simply differ as to whether or not the existing structure will be rehabbed and incorporated into the project or demolished and removed to make way for new construction. The concept vision calls for a commercial first floor that will activate the block with an aesthetic and accessible street wall, and the development proposal contains two letters of intent for these commercial spaces. One LOI is for a bar/restaurant development that would be owned and operated by the Potent Potables Project, a conglomerate of Lansing area restauranteurs, and the other is for an event space. This development does not commit to a specific number of units, rather calls for a market study to determine number, size, and amenities of units to accommodate the downtown housing."
Getting market rate housing into downtown was key to Muskegon, which Eckholm said was seeing more growth.
"Their rendering was more complete, their financials and project team composition was more in depth and detailed, and crucially, they approached the project with the appropriate amount of due diligence built in," Eckholm said in his recommendation. "This is a build-out concept that has already proven difficult for two other developers, and their request for the ability to conduct construction analysis and market study reflects a strong background in commercial housing development. They also featured a more robust commercial portion of their mixed-use proposal, which will better serve to 'activate' the corridor as highlighted in the City’s RFP."
The city also wanted to diversify its ownership base, Eckholm told the Free Press and wrote in his memo.
"880 First LLC, the project specific company that will own and develop this project is a completely minority-owned business, and is 50% woman-owned. By selecting this developer, we afford an opportunity for a local developer that will help move us toward a goal of increasing diversity of ownership in the community."
Mackinac Island — Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office is “at an impasse” with Michigan State University’s former interim president John Engler regarding an interview for Nessel’s investigation into the university Larry Nassar scandal.
Engler’s unwillingness to be interviewed about the university's handling of complaints against former sports medicine doctor Nassar will not stop Nessel’s office from completing its investigation, she said, “but we won’t have as much information.”
Nessel said she won’t put up with Engler’s “forum shopping” or excuses regarding his lack of availability for an interview.
“It’s not because he never comes to Michigan,” Nessel said. “It’s because he doesn’t want to be interviewed in a state where I have prosecutorial authority. He doesn’t want to be interviewed in a state where ... he can be held responsible in the event that he makes intentional misrepresentations.”
When contacted by The Detroit News Wednesday, Engler said he had a call on the other line and hung up. A request for comment sent to Engler’s lawyer was not immediately returned.
Nessel requested an interview with Engler in January around the same time the former governor resigned under pressure after a year at the helm of MSU. He had replaced former President Lou Anna Simon, who resigned in the wake of the scandal involving serial pedophile Nassar.
In April, Engler’s lawyer Seth B. Waxman said Engler had not been contacted by Nessel’s office since it cancelled a scheduled March interview in D.C. Nessel’s office has said it was only willing to meet with Engler in D.C. if he was unavailable in Michigan.
Engler has attended several MSU sporting events during that time period.
In March, Waxman objected to having Engler be interviewed by Christina Grossi, who is the lead assistant attorney general in the MSU probe. He argued that Grossi had "prejudged Mr. Engler's veracity and motives without ever talking to him" and wrote that Grossi demonstrated a "personal bias against Mr. Engler."
When university trustees urged Engler to meet with Nessel in an April letter, Waxman responded that Engler “at all times offered, and made himself available, to meet with the Attorney General’s Office.”
Dear U.S. Department of Justice, They just refuse to stop stealin'. Please make them stop stealin'. Much love, /s/The Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed
EAST LANSING, Mich (WLNS) - Arrest warrants have been issued for seven people in connection with the investigation into fraud in the MSU Healing Assistance Fund.
The initial fund was established for survivors of the Larry Nassar sexual abuses at Michigan State University.
Today the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office issued the warrants for 22 felony counts for claims of over $527,000 in fraudulent payments from the fund.
The payments were to be used to support the resources needed for survivors’ recovery and healing, specifically counseling and mental health services that are not covered by insurance.
The Michigan State University Police Department has been investigating alleged fraudulent reimbursements since fall of 2018.
A second Healing Assistance Fund has been established for survivors in the wake of the fraud investigation.
FBI Director Christopher Wray appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies to testify on proposed budget estimates and justification for the fiscal year 2020 for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Nassar - MSU investigation is under Inspector General and is ongoing?
Oooooooo........
There is an ongoing Inspector General investigation with the 2016 election?
Ooooooooo......
The Dude behind the left of Wray with the earpiece has yet to blink.
What a great psyoptic to watch later because I bet she got the money shot!
Give FBI more money so they can spend more time partnering in the community, listening to the original sources and get new tech stuff and pass out swag.
"The irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is
a valuable and commonlyused estate planning
tool. An ILIT can be beneficial for clients having
liquidity needs at death due to support obligations
for dependants or transfer taxes imposed on
assets held outside the ILIT." ~ HuschBlackwell, 2007
Husch Blackwell is the law firm Engler hired to audit Michigan State University.
I do not know why, but I immediately thought of the Children's Trust Fund when I saw they were from Kansas.
This was meant for me to find.
These are the schemes of the children's trusts.
They are specifically training through Continuing Education Credits for the Michigan State Bar attorney licensing, Insurance Wagering, when it comes to corporate parents.
These people are wagering on the trust fund, not the individual.
This is why they are pushing the co-optimization of abortion to be recognized as termination of parental rights.
"The guardian or conservator has an insurable interest in the life of the individual for whom the guardian or conservator was appointed."
That is why they are trying to "de-gender" everything.
This is legal trust nomenclature for foreign privateering the children's trust funds.
You can come in as a Child Placing Agency and get legal corporate guardianship, where you then go get some life insurance on the kid, paying the premiums probably under Medicaid, to take out a loan on the policy, wagering on the viability of the trust.
Now, since the administrator of the trust is called an "interested individual", you have a situation of NO-NAME, where you only know that there exists a pecuniary interest in the trust, not the individual, or in this instance, the child, and not who is running ops.
Are these foster children?
Are there other schemes for all the children of "The Poors"?
Are these Social Impact Bonds?
Is this predictive modeling crap?
Does the sun rise every morning?
But, it gets better.
So, it is now, not, illegal to wager on the death of the trust, and not the death of the child.
Then, just because I am very good at being morbid when it comes to child welfare in Michigan, I am going to go out there and say, only because Engler was up in this mix, that these law firms were taking out these ILIT policies.
This is the point I am inserting the entire termination of parental rights in the womb called "aborting birth" to expedite the paperwork for the insurance policies.
I am going to eventually have to map this out..
This is chattel law and I am going to go push the proverbial envelope and say that these people are pushing terminating parental rights as a form of civil asset forfeiture, where this pushes up equity in these corporate shape shifters who leverage the guardianship of the Medicaid cost reimbursement of dumb services which are also federally funded as human subject research projects of foreign universities to keep stealin' by taking out multiple mortgages on properties they got from other property tax and mortgage fraud schemes?
The termination of parental rights, or rather abortion, is the death of the child, where the corporate parent can cash in on the trust, and just issue a new birth certificate through a new birth called adoption?
These people have been expediting this child welfare rebranding.
Is this how all these Public Private Partnerships got leveraged with the Office of Michigan Attorney General?
It very much so looks that way to me.
Hey Bill, Smooches!
Dana Nessel had no idea of what she stepped into with these massively overlapping federal investigations, because she refused to listen to the people.
Do it very slowly, my precious ones, I want to watch and savor each and every morsel of my moments of retribution.
As the fallout from the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal lingers at Michigan State University, the Board of Trustees may pursue the path that General Motors followed to move past a massive safety recall.
Officials at the state's largest public university are considering whether to authorize an independent investigation into how Nassar's decades of molestation and assaults were allowed to occur.
Dan Kelly, vice-president, MSU Board of Trustees
The hope is that such a probe could satisfy demands for a full accounting while protecting sensitive information from public dissemination — similar to how GM resolved the crisis surrounding a faulty ignition switch that was blamed for causing at least 12 deaths.
The independent investigation is being discussed by the trustees' Committee on Audit, Risk and Compliance, chaired by board Vice Chairman Dan Kelly, who said after the last board meeting Feb. 15 that he hopes such an inquiry will occur.
"There needs to be more done in terms of public disclosures," Kelly said.
Board Chairwoman Dianne Byrum added, "There (are) multiple conversations going on about how we can assist the survivors in their healing.
"Everything is on the table right now for discussion."
Trustee Brian Mosallam, who has long called for an independent investigation, said last week that nothing is finalized but there are active discussions about the nature and scope of a possible independent investigation.
He said he has made numerous statements that an independent investigation is needed for "public consumption for a number of reasons."
In May, he wrote a statement called "New Day at MSU" that said: "We must immediately begin an independent internal review of the Larry Nassar matter to demonstrate to our courageous survivors, their families and all other MSU stakeholders (and government and regulatory authorities) that drastic voluntary remediation is better late than never."
The issue is heating up as MSU faces criticism from Nassar victims and state investigators for withholding more than 6,000 documents from the Michigan Attorney General's Office, citing attorney-client privilege. That probe has resulted in criminal charges against three former MSU officials, including ex-president Lou Anna Simon, but many say a deeper, broader inquiry is needed.
Those critics argue the AG's investigationis limited in scope and is not enough for MSU to understand what happened, to make changes and to ultimately allow victims, their families and the community to create a better culture.
"We need to look at what happened and why it happened," said Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault. "If we don’t find out those answers, it will be very difficult in looking forward."
GM, the nation's largest automaker, found itself in a similar situation five years ago, as scrutiny mounted over what the company knew and when it knew it about the defective ignition switches used in its Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars.
At the time, the automaker had known for more than a decade about the problems and faced several investigations, yet hadn't begun three recalls of the affected cars until January2014.
CEO Mary Barra, who had been on the job for two months, apologized shortly after the recalls, emphasized it had taken too long and added she had told Anton Valukas, a former U.S. attorney who was leading GM's internal review, that there would be no roadblocks or "sacred cows."
Two and a half months later, Valukas delivered an independent report that found a "pattern of incompetence and neglect" led to the delay of the recalls by nearly a decade. In response, GM fired 15 employees, disciplined five others and made major changes at the company to identify, elevate and train around safety issues.
"We failed these customers," Barra told employees during a town hall meeting in June 2014 after the report was released. "We must face up to it and learn from it. To that end, on behalf of GM, we pledge that we will use the findings and recommendations from this report as a template for strengthening our company."
Experts say an independent investigation is often the first thing an entity will do to resolve an issue and demonstrate transparency.
"It looks good to the outside world to have a third-party investigator," said Michelle Krebs, a Detroit-based executive analyst for Autotrader, a car shopping website operated by Cox Automotive. "Internally, it allows them to do it in a way that internal politics can’t get in the way. It is indeed a third party, not someone in the company who has bias."
Krebs noted that Ford Motor Co. announced last month that employee concerns prompted an outside investigation of whether incorrect computer modeling might have caused it to misstate fuel economy and emissions for government testing.
She also pointed to a 2010 third party investigation conducted as Toyota recalled millions of vehicles after reports of unintended acceleration that were suspected in the deaths of at least 89 people.
"You need to get out in front of it, fast," Krebs said. "Because then you get it over with more quickly.
Then you can get on with your business; otherwise, it’s this cloud that hangs over the company, the institution, longer than it needs to and it delays putting into practice new processes to prevent it from ever happening again."
That's exactly what MSU needs, Denhollander said. Nassar was enabled in his crimes by conduct at MSU that was not necessarily illegal, such as reporting failures, communication silos and training shortfalls, she said.
"This is a healthy step that many organizations have taken much faster than MSU," Denhollander said. "We want to know what went wrong so we can deal with it."
Many have called on Michigan State to do an independent investigation since the earliest public allegations against Nassar in September 2016. But until now, the idea has faced resistance from many university leaders.
Then-university spokesman Jason Cody addressed it in November 2017.
"As for the call for an independent investigation, the FBI and MSU Police Department conducted a joint investigation earlier this year to determine whether any university employee other than Nassar engaged in criminal conduct," Cody said. "The results of that investigation were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. We have no reason to believe that any criminal conduct was found."
More recently, former interim President John Engler addressed an independent investigation days before he was forced to resign under pressure In January, saying that such a probe had already been done by Husch Blackwell, a Kansas City law firm that examined MSU's Title IX process.
"There are some people who want to continue to investigate and inquire into lots of things," Engler said. "I wouldn't support any more. ... We're trying to get rid of lawyers and consultants now. We're trying to go back to work."
In January 2018, MSU trustees asked then-Attorney General Bill Schuette to do an investigation into the university's role in the Nassar scandal in the wake of testimony by more than 150 women about the former sports doctor's crimes. The university promised it would cooperate.
MSU handed over reams of documents, including some that had nothing to do with the Nassar investigation.
Officials at the attorney general's office, under Schuette and his successor, Dana Nessel, have alleged that MSU blocked its investigation by withholding documents under attorney-client privilege. Part of MSU's argument for doing so is that the university is still in litigation with insurance companies.
As lawyers in the Attorney General's Office went to court to have a judge review the withheld documents, Nessel said in January that it appears her office is not going to see the majority of those documents because MSU has "fought this office every step of the way."
Proponents of an independent investigation at MSU say an outside investigator could review the privileged documents to see what's in them and include them in a final report without making attorney-client discussions public.
"We want answers. All the answers," said Sterling Riethman, who was among the scores of gymnasts and other athletes assaulted by Nassar. "To get those, we need both an independent investigation and the remaining documents to be turned over to the AG’s office.
"If MSU wants to show us that they’ve truly turned a corner, the solution is simple: Engage and encourage the independent investigation we’ve been advocating for, and release the remaining documents to the AG’s office."
BRIEF SUMMARY: The bills would put in place additional protections for certain assets of wards and protected individuals, in order to prevent misuse or fraud by guardians and conservators.
FISCAL IMPACT: These bills would have a minimal fiscal impact on the judiciary system. The bills' new requirements may cause an increase in administrative workload for some courts, depending upon the number of relevant cases they handle.
THE APPARENT PROBLEM:
In recent years, several high profile stories about guardians and conservators bilking elderly or disabled individuals of their life savings have received media attention. In 1991 and 2000, several officials with a professional guardianship business, Guardian Inc., were sentenced to prison on charges of fraud and embezzlement involving hundreds of clients in Wayne County. More recently, dozens of seniors in Eaton County have been victims of guardians and conservators with a combined loss of over $3 million.
The Estates and Protected Individuals Code establishes the rules for when a guardian may be appointed to take care of an individual and when a conservator may be appointed to take care of an individual's financial affairs. A person can have both a guardian and a conservator appointed on his or her behalf. Generally speaking, a guardian is appointed when a finding is made by a court that a person is legally incapacitated—that is, unable to make informed decisions about his or her own care and custody. During the process to determine if an individual is legally incapacitated, a guardian ad litem is appointed to represent the best interests of the individual if he or she does not already have legal counsel of his or her own choosing. A person who has had a guardian assigned is referred to as a "ward" and a person who has had a conservator appointed to take care of his or her money or property is referred to as a "protected individual."
Most often, the person appointed as a guardian or conservator is a relative, such as a spouse, child, or parent, although a guardian or conservator can also be a neighbor, attorney, bank, or business that operates a service as professional guardians and/or conservators. In some cases, the petitioner for guardianship is a government worker, i.e, a social services caseworker. Current law requires certain duties of a guardian, a conservator, and a guardian ad litem (who may be an attorney, social worker, or volunteer). For instance, guardians and conservators are required to file documentation of how the ward is cared for and how the personal property of the protected individual is managed.
Discovering why abuses continue to happen despite current protections in law and how to stop those abuses has been the subject of several formal and informal task forces convened since the mid-1990s, the largest being a task force on guardianships and conservators convened by the state Supreme Court in the mid-1990s and a more recent one convened by the governor in 2005 and 2006 on elder abuse. Though both task forces compiled recommendations believed to be necessary to protect the state's vulnerable citizens, few of those recommendations have been implemented.
For example, Michigan law prohibits a conservator from selling the home of a protected individual in his or her care without prior court approval. Yet, there are no prohibitions in place preventing the conservator from opening up a line-of-credit loan on the home's equity, or other type of home equity loan that essentially strips the home of its value, and then through fraud or mismanagement, use up the proceeds. It is believed that requiring a conservator to obtain court approval before a home equity loan could be secured would give an additional layer of oversight that could stop unnecessary or intentionally fraudulent loans from being made, thus protecting the assets of the protected individual.
In light of the growing numbers of guardian and conservator appointments, and the continuing problems with foreclosures associated with refinance loans, legislation has been offered to implement several more recommendations of the task forces.
THE CONTENT OF THE BILLS:
House Bills 4619, 5192, and 6272 taken together would amend several sections of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) to require a guardian ad litem to ask about the amount of assets considered as "liquid assets" belonging to the individual and include an estimate of the amount in his or her report to the court; grant a court discretion under certain circumstances to order the guardian to petition for appointment of a conservator; prohibit a conservator from selling, mortgaging, or disposing of the protected individual's property without court approval; and require, with certain exceptions, a conservator to furnish a bond.
House Bill 5192 and 6272 are tie-barred to each other and to House Bill 4619 (previously reported). Consequently, the bills could not go into effect unless the bills to which they are tie-barred are also enacted into law. House Bill 4619, previously reported by the Senior Health, Security, and Retirement Committee, has passed the House and is pending Senate committee action.
House Bill 4916
House Bill 4619 would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5305). In addition to the current duties of a guardian ad litem (GAL) appointed for an individual alleged to be incapacitated, the bill would require a GAL to ask the individual and the petitioner for guardianship about the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual's estate (liquid assets).
Under the bill, if a court determined that the total amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash exceeded the limit for administering a small estate under Section 3982 of the act, or if the court determined that financial protection was required for the ward for another reason, a court could order the guardian to petition for the appointment of a conservator or for another protective order for the ward's estate. If a conservator had not been appointed for a ward's estate, and the guardian determined that there were more liquid assets in the ward's estate than were reported by the guardian ad litem, the guardian would have to report the amount of the additional cash or property to the court.
As a part of his or her duties, a guardian ad litem must also make numerous determinations. The determinations must be included in the report the GAL prepares for the court. The bill would revise one of the required determinations. Currently, the GAL must determine whether there are one or more appropriate alternatives to the appointment of a full guardian. The code lists as alternatives the appointment of a limited guardian; appointment of a conservator or another protective order; or execution of a patient advocate designation, do-not-resuscitate declaration (DNR), or durable power of attorney. The bill would require the GAL to also determine whether one or more actions should be taken in addition to the appointment of a guardian, and would require the GAL to consider the appropriateness of at least each of the listed alternatives described above as alternatives or additional actions to the appointment of a guardian (e.g., guardian and conservator, or guardian and DNR order, etc.). In addition, in the report informing the court of the determinations, a GAL would have to include an estimate of the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual’s estate.
House Bill 5192
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5410) to require a conservator to furnish a bond if the estate in question exceeded the small estate threshold. Specifically, a court would have to require the conservator, with some exceptions, to furnish a bond if the court determined that the value of cash and property readily convertible into cash in the estate and in the conservator's control exceeded the small estate threshold for administering a decedent's estate, adjusted under Section 1210 for the year in which the conservator was appointed. This requirement would not apply if one or more of the following applied:
·The estate contained no property readily convertible to cash and the cash was in a restricted account with a financial institution.
·The conservator had been granted trust powers under Section 4401 of the Banking Code.
·The court determined that requiring a bond would impose a financial hardship on the estate.
·The court stated on the record the reasons why a bond was not necessary.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.
House Bill 6272
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5422 and 700.5423) to specifically prohibit a conservator from mortgaging, pledging, or causing a lien to be placed on the protected individual's home without court approval. Currently, a conservator must obtain approval from the court in order to sell or otherwise dispose of the protected individual's real property (in general, land and buildings or fixtures on the land) or interest in real property. A sale or other disposal of real property or an interest in real property can only be approved if, after a hearing with notice to interested persons and consideration of evidence of the value of the property, the court determines the sale or disposal of the real property is in the protected individual's best interest. Under the bill, these provisions would also extend to a conservator's ability to mortgage, pledge, or cause a lien to be placed on the protected individual's real property or interest in real property.
A conservator would be required to record an order allowing the sale, disposal, mortgage, or pledge or placement of a lien on real property in the records of the register of deeds for the county in which the real property is located. Unless the order had been recorded or a person to whom an interest in the property was transferred had been given a copy of the order, the person would not be entitled to presume that the conservator had the power to make the transaction.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The bills are reintroductions of House Bills 5186-5188 of the 2007-2008 legislative session. Those bills were passed by the House of Representatives but failed to see Senate action. Supporters of last year’s initiative included the AARP Michigan, the Michigan Probate Judges Association, and the Michigan Probate Court Association.
ARGUMENTS:
For:
In many cases, petitions to appoint guardians for individuals are filed by people unfamiliar with the duties of guardians or conservators. Petitions are also filed by social service workers or health care workers who may not be familiar with the personal details of the individual. Thus, it often happens that an individual for whom a guardian is appointed has a substantial estate that should be under the management of a conservator. If the guardian is not astute in money management, or is corrupt, the ward's assets can easily be frittered away or stolen.
One easy way to identify those cases in which a conservator should also be appointed is to have the guardian ad litem (GAL) assigned by the court make some initial inquiries as to the amount of cash and personal or real property – that could be easily converted into cash – that is owned by the individual. The GAL process is a fairly quick assessment of the individual's situation, and many GALs are either volunteers or paid below current market for their services. Therefore, the bill would not require an exact figure, which could take days or weeks to determine. However, even a few well placed questions can identify an estate that perhaps should be under the management of a conservator.
To that end, House Bill 4196 would require the GAL to include an estimate of the individual's liquid assets in the section of his or her report to the court in which a determination of whether or not an appointment of a conservator or another protective order would be an appropriate alternative or additional action to appointment of a guardian. The bill would also establish a threshold for the size of the estate for which a court could--but would not be mandated to--require the newly appointed guardian to petition for a conservator to manage the estate. If the guardian found assets that the GAL did not know about, and therefore did not report to the court, the bill would put an onus on the guardian to report those assets. The court could then reconsider whether a conservator should be appointed.
Identifying the amount of the liquid assets up front could also alert the potential guardian that if a conservator were not appointed, it would be his or her duty to responsibly manage the ward's estate. Knowing the amount of the funds involved may also help the court in its determination as to the suitability of a particular person's appointment as guardian.
For:
House Bill 6272 would close a loophole in the law that enables a conservator to obtain a mortgage or home equity loan on the home of a protected individual (the person found to be legally incapacitated). Reportedly, there have been cases of conservators stripping homes of equity through various loan products and then either embezzling those funds or mismanaging them. Regardless, the result is that when the protected individual needs that equity to provide for his or her needs, or to pass on to an heir, it is gone. Requiring court approval should add an extra layer of protection. This is particularly important in light of the numerous mortgage products offered today and the problems that have arisen from subprime loans.
For:
House Bill 5192 would address another concern raised by the Michigan Supreme Court and Governor Granholm's task forces to end elder abuse. Under the bill, a conservator would have to furnish a bond if the estate exceeded the small estate threshold. If the conservator mismanaged or pilfered the assets, the bond would cover the loss to the protected individual. Basically, requiring a bond would provide another layer of oversight which should discourage fraud. Insurance companies providing the bonds also have the resources to aggressively go after "bad apples" and collect from those conservators the money paid out by the bond. An insurer is also apt to deny a bond to a person who has a sketchy credit history, a criminal history, or otherwise appears to be a bad risk; thus, without a bond, the person could not be appointed conservator.
So that the bond requirement would not provide hardship or be ordered unnecessarily, there would be several exceptions. For instance, if the conservator were the spouse or child of the individual, and it appeared the relative would provide proper care and management of the assets, a court would not have to require a bond, though the court would have to record the reasons why it determined the bond was unnecessary.
For:
As a package, the bills would provide a few more layers of oversight and protection for those for whom a guardian and/or conservator is appointed and would do so with minimal to no cost to the state. The measures won't cure all that ails the system, but will screen out some bad actors from being appointed guardians or conservators, will identify upfront some estates that should go into conservatorship that would be missed under the present process, and will provide a financial mechanism for protected individuals cheated by a conservator to recoup some or all of their losses.
Against:
The bills are an excellent first step in implementing some quick, low-cost fixes. However, according to an article published in AARP The Magazine entitled "Stolen Lives" in February, 2004, even professional guardians receive little training and are not required in most jurisdictions to be certified. By comparison, those certified by the National Guardianship Foundation, the certification arm of the National Guardianship Association, must adhere to a code of ethics and undergo continuing education. According to the article, "the vast majority of the (then) estimated 600,000 Americans under guardianship are receiving care from people without certification." Requiring certification of professional guardians, or even providing some minimal training and refresher courses for friends or family members appointed as guardians, could also help to protect the assets of wards from mismanagement or out and out fraud.
POSITIONS:
A representative of Elder Law of Michigan testified in support of House Bill 4619. (6-10-10)
A representative of the Michigan Advocacy Project indicated support for House Bill 4619. (6-10-10)
A representative of the Office of Services to the Aging testified in support of House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
A representative of the Long Term Care Ombudsman indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
The Michigan Bankers Association indicated a position of neutrality on House Bill 5192.
Bob Young, the man John Engler brought in to be the chief lawyer at Michigan State University, has been fired, just weeks after Engler stepped down as interim president under pressure.
Young, the university's vice president and general counsel, will walk away with nearly $1.3 million — the full amount of his three-year contract, Emily Guerrant, MSU spokeswoman confirmed. Young worked for the university for eight months.
MSU acting President Satish Udpa announced the dismissal of Young in a statement, but did not address why he was let go.
“We appreciate that Bob stepped in last year to help the university with the settlement and many legal issues facing MSU. It was a time of transition in the general counsel’s office,” Udpa said.
He added that Brian Quinn, deputy general counsel, will take on the role of acting general counsel.
Reached on Saturday, Guerrant would not explain why Udpa wanted to fire Young but said the former Michigan Supreme Court justice would get the full payout of his contract.
"He's not happy about it," Guerrant said of Udpa having to honor Young's contract that was ended more than two years early. "But he will do it."
Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to accuse Nassar of sexual assault, tweeted Saturday that "this is the first specific time I can say MSU valued what is right, and the message it is sending MORE than money."
"Thank you, (Michigan State)," she tweeted. "Thank you to acting President Udpa, and to the members of the Board of Trustees) who supported this. This means a great deal to survivors."
When Young's contract began in June, officials said could be dismissed for any reason, but that he would only be denied pay if terminated for cause.
Many MSU officials and several board members, could not be reached for comment Friday evening. A message seeking comment from Young was left at the MSU general counsel's office.
Trustee Joel Ferguson declined comment, saying board members agreed not to talk about the issue and let the university-issued statement stand.
Young, a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and a longtime ally of Engler, had angered victims of serial sex abuser Larry Nassar while serving as MSU's point person in negotiations that resulted in a $500 million settlement with more than 300 women.
"Fantastic news to end the day," tweeted Jacob Denhollander, the husband of Denhollander.
John Manly, an attorney who represented the majority of Nassar's victims in the $500 million settlement with MSU, called Young "John Engler's legal attack dog."
"Instead of attacking the university's insurance companies and encouraging them to settle the cases, instead he chose a tactic where he would try to attack the survivors," Manly said. "He always treated the survivors as adversaries."
Manly said Young should have advised MSU to embrace the survivors, admit responsibility and apologize, arguing that would have lowered the amount MSU paid.
Instead, Manly said, Young "revictimized the survivors and utterly decimated MSU’s reputation."
Manly also said Young, as MSU's lead counsel, did not cooperate with the Michigan Attorney General's investigation into Michigan State and worked to withhold information under attorney-client privilege.
Manly also said a report from the U.S. Department of Education that slammed MSU for its noncompliance with the Clery Act "was sitting on his desk" since December but the board did not know about it.
"I think that is a big part of" his firing, said Manly.
Engler, who took over MSU as interim president in February 2018 after the resignation of President Lou Anna Simon, brought in Young later that month to join a new legal team as the school struggled to cope with the fallout from the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
After the historic $500 million settlement was reached in May, Engler appointed Young as vice president and general counsel, effective June 1.
That month, the Board of Trustees approved Young's three-year contract, which came with a $425,000 salary.Trustees Dan Kelly, Dianne Byrum and Brian Mosallam voted no.
During the meeting, one of Nassar's victims, Kaylee Lorincz, lobbied the board to refrain from permanently hiring Young.
Then Engler was asked why Young was given a three-year contract when Engler, as interim president, would be gone before then, Engler said MSU needed to persuade Young to leave his law firm, that Young had negotiated the $500 million settlement and by the time the agreement is complete, Young's remaining time with MSU would be about 2 1/2 years.
"So somebody who has been part of that negotiation should be there to see it to its conclusion," Engler said.
Engler stepped down Jan. 16 at the request of trustees after he sparked a backlash by saying that some of Nassar's victims were "enjoying" the spotlight.
EAST LANSING - Michigan State University says the fraud involved in claims to a fund designed to help victims of the Larry Nassar scandal are "significant" - and that the investigation will continue for "some lengthy period of time."
MSU established a $10 million "Healing Assistance Fund" to help pay for counseling for sexual assault victims in December of 2017, as the case against Nassar was coming to a conclusion.
Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a handful of women in Ingham and Eaton counties under the guise of treatment, but more than 300 women and girls have come forward to say he abused them over the course of a two decade career.
Nassar served as a doctor at MSU and for USA Gymnastics. He worked with Olympic athletes.
He's behind bars for pleading guilty to federal child porn charges. He was sentenced to up to 175 in his state cases.
But MSU stopped paying from the fund over the summer, citing concerns about potential fraud. On Friday, the MSU police chief says that investigation continues and that "there appears to be significant fraudulent financial claims made for reimbursement by the fund and payouts for those claims."
He says survivors themselves are not being accused of anything. But he says "due to the complex nature of the fraud" that the investigation "will continue for some time."
Steve Penny, former president of USA Gymnastics, was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly tampering with evidence in the case of disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar.
Penny was arrested by the U.S. Marshals service in Tennessee on a warrant issued by the state of Texas. He was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of tampering with evidence, a felony, on Sept. 28.
He allegedly removed documents from the Karolyi Ranch, the U.S. gymnastics' training facility in Huntsville, Texas, related to Nassar's activity at the gym.
I bet those were financial docs of what they were doing with the tiny humans.
"The indictment further alleges that the removal of the documents was done for the purpose of impairing the ongoing investigation by destroying or hiding the documents," the U.S. Marshals said in a press release. He allegedly ordered the documents be sent to him at USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis. Those documents have never been recovered, authorities said.
U.S. Marshals Service ~ Nice modernization of the perp walk.The U.S. Marshals Service shared a photo of former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny being arrested in Gatlinburg, Tenn., on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, for allegedly tampering with evidence in the Larry Nassar case.+
Penny was taken into custody at a cabin in rural Gatlinburg, Tennessee, by the U.S. Marshals and Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force, according to authorities. He is awaiting extradition to Texas.
He faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
The Karolyi Ranch was operated by Bela Karolyi and wife Marta Karolyi, the two people tasked with selecting and developing athletes for the U.S. national team. It served as the national team's training facility from 2001 until earlier this year. Nassar worked at the facility and several of his accusers said they were abused by him at the facility.
Penny resigned as USA Gymnastics president in March 2017 amid allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar. Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of child molestation, but more than 130 women and girls, including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, have accused him of assaulting them. Many of those accusers testified at a hearing in January when he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in two other cases — one pertaining to assault and another possession of child pornography — as well.
Rhonda Faehn, Penny's former deputy, testified to the Senate in June that she brought up allegations of misconduct to him and she was told to keep quiet. Penny, who appeared before the same committee, chose to plead the Fifth and not testify.
AFP/Getty Images, FILEFormer Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stands in Ingham County Circuit Court on Nov. 22, 2017 in Lansing, Mich.more +
In a statement, USA Gymnastics said that it had "learned of the charges filed against its former CEO Steve Penny, who resigned in March 2017. We support law enforcement's efforts and have fully cooperated with the investigations by the Texas Rangers, Congress and others, and will continue to do so to help the survivors and our community heal from this tragedy."
USA Gymnastics has been in near-constant turmoil since the Indianapolis Star broke the story in September 2016 of Nassar's abuse of gymnasts under his care, both with the U.S. national team, where he was the team doctor, and at Michigan State University, where he was a faculty member. Nassar had been dismissed from his job with the U.S. national team in 2015, but only said it was done due to "athlete concerns."
After Penny's departure in March 2017, he was replaced by Kerry Perry in November 2017. But Perry's tenure was marked by consistent criticism over the handling of the Nassar scandal as well. She resigned less than a year after being named as Penny's replacement.
Perry was criticized by stars, like Raisman, over her lack of transparency about how the organization planned to protect athletes going forward. She resigned days after she hired Mary Lee Tracy, in part to replace the Karolyis, as the sport's top coach. The hiring of Tracy received condemnation from athletes because she supported Nassar in the immediate wake of accusations against him.
In this Tuesday, June 5, 2018 photo, former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny invokes his right not to answer questions in a Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington.+
But the neverending parade of presidents didn't end with Perry's ouster.
Just this week, former Congresswoman Mary Bono, who was tasked with replacing Perry as interim president of USA Gymnastics, was forced out for a pair of scandals -- less than a week since her hiring. A day after her hiring, Biles criticized Bono, a Republican, for a photo posted on Twitter in which she was shown blacking out a Nike logo over the company's hiring of Colin Kaepernick as spokesperson. She publicly apologized for the photo.
A few days later, Raisman joined calls for Bono's ouster after discovering that Bono worked for the same law firm that worked with USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal and crafted excuses for his absences.
Bono was not directly involved in the law firm's representation of USA Gymnastics, but she stepped down nonetheless on Tuesday.
Penny is one of at least three people arrested in connection with the handling of the Nassar scandal. Debbie Van Horn, a trainer who worked with Nassar, was arrested last month in Walker County, Texas. She has denied charges, according to her lawyer, who spoke to the Houston Chronicle.
William Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University's osteopathic medical school and boss of Larry Nassar while he was a sports doctor there, was charged March 27 with neglect of duty and criminal sexual conduct. His case will go to trial at a yet-to-be-scheduled date.
Lansing — A bill that would
increase the penalty for those in Michigan who failed to report child
abuse or neglect could have unintended consequences, a University of
Michigan law professor said Tuesday.
As a mandated reporter, you already are under threat of losing your professional licensing, $500 fine, or a few months in jail for not reporting, so the only way to make sure this does not happen, mandated professionals report everything, to save their livelihoods under the Janet Reno doctrine of "better to err on the side of the child".
The
testimony before the House Law and Justice Committee concerned
legislation, inspired by the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, that would
increase the penalty for mandatory reporters who fail to report child
abuse or neglect from a misdemeanor to a two-year felony.
Two years in prison is a doozie, so get ready for the Great Foster Care Bank.
Yes, the Great Foster Care Bank is a bank of tiny humans for the purposes maximizing revenues in the industry of trafficking humans called foster care and adoption, or you can call it the Bank of the Michigan Children's Institute.
That is correct, this is what is about to happen if this Baby P reactionary legislation goes through.
The Baby P Effect was first identified by Legally Kidnapped. Basically, there was a little boy, Baby P, that ended up being murdered by the parents when U.K. CPS did nothing to prevent it. Then, there was a mass hysteria of people calling the U.K. CPS and massive removing of children from homes to foster care and adoption. This way, by referencing the work of Legally Kidnapped, Michigan will not have to spend a penny on research.
Lawyer
Frank Vandervort told legislators that after similar legislation was
enacted after the Penn State University sex abuse scandal, the number of
reports increased in Pennsylvania, but the number of substantiated
reports decreased and child deaths increased.
It seems the Frank Vandervort does not fully grasp the entirety of the Penn State University Sandusky scandal. It was about trafficking tiny humans through foster care, using lots of different funding streams of child welfare federal grant funding, and money laundering, just like the Michigan State University case.
“You
had your CPS (Child Protective Services) folks investigating a lot of
low-quality reports,” said Vandervort, an academic researcher and
clinical professor of law at UM. “And then the really serious cases you
just get a system that’s overwhelmed and you’re going to the wrong
cases.”
Oh my dear! Do you not understand what a fraud scheme does? It does more than maximize revenues through child welfare service programs, it also funds political campaigns, and other business ventures. That is why the reporting system was designed to do. By taking in low-quality reports, where the majority come from mandatory reporters, and not the families who could actually call for request of assistance, you have a penal system that becomes reminiscent to stories in threats of the gulag. This allows the promulgation of lots of propaganda to change the narrative away from fraud and trafficking of tiny humans. That is how a state run tiny human trafficking network operates.
Vandervort cautioned
legislators to treat the Nassar case as an “outlier,” rather than
overwhelm the state system with laws that threaten a host of unintended
consequences.
No, the Nassar case is not an outlier, it is a network, a homogeneous system of international fraud and those unintended consequences are going to be more federal probes, considering the Ringler, Michigan Auditor General has already gone to the Court of Claims to demand DHHS turn over its child abuse documents, but administrators are not mandatory reporters and Vandervort should stay in his lane of juvenile justice, another mess of systemic fraud.
The testimony came about a week after
a Department of Health and Human Services official testified the
expected increase in reports could trigger a $54 million increase in
staffing at the agency.
That $54 million is in staffing, alone. That has nothing to do with operations or fixed costs. Then, you have to consider the Baby P effect, and the entire child welfare system will collapse, and it is not that difficult to do considering no one know what the hell they are doing. You can tell they are clueless just by looking the Kevin Ryan's reports to the Court.
Concerns about the bill and
others will be considered, Rep. Klint Kesto said Tuesday. He expects
the committee on Wednesday will consider “a ton” of amendments and
substitutes to the House bills.
Kesto, R-Commerce Township, has urged deliberate and focused consideration of the bills introduced to address gaps in the system that allowed Nassar to persist for years.
“Let’s
not have a knee-jerk reaction that’s inappropriate,” Kesto told
reporters. “
That’s a lot of times what happens in the Legislature, and
then we come back to amend laws.”
Nassar, a former
sports medicine doctor at Michigan State University, will spend the rest
of his life in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography and
sexual assault charges. He’s been accused of sexually abusing more than
250 women and girls under the guise of medical treatment, some of whom
say their complaints to university officials went unheeded.
No one cares about complaints to State Officials like the Office of Children's Ombudsman, CPS, police departments, when it comes to abuses in child welfare.
Lawmakers
introduced an additional four bills Tuesday that would create a state
office to serve as a resource and advocate for college Title IX offices
and students going through the Title IX process.
More Public Private Partnership$$$ through more layers, and layers of administration contracts for friends and family members of those who can push through legislation like this.
They also would
encourage higher education institutions to develop five-year campus
sexual assault response improvement plans; instill protections that
would shield student sexual assault victims from suspension or
expulsion; and exempt from disclosure identifying information regarding
sexual abuse victims filing anonymous civil suits.
Oh, so victims are treated even worse than mandatory reporters.
Rep.
Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, said the bill that would improve campus
sexual assault response would include a matching grant to help
institutions fund the improvements, an allowance that Kesto found
problematic.
Look! There is that grant shot.
“These universities and institutions
should have been doing this, period,” Kesto said. “It’s like, hey,
here’s a carrot for you to do the right thing.”
Three
representatives from the Michigan Catholic Conference also testified at
the hearings, sharing with legislators procedures put in place in
Michigan dioceses following the clergy sex abuse scandal in 2002. The
measures include background checks for all employees and volunteers,
annual audits to ensure compliance from parishes and schools, the
requirement that all allegations of sexual abuse be reported to
authorities, and a three-hour training on recognizing and reporting
sexual abuse.
What about those Catholic Charities? What about the fact that you can not run a background check on someone if they have never been convicted of pedophilia?
While dioceses perform state
background searches, churches and schools are barred from tapping into
the FBI fingerprint database because it requires legal language in state
law that permits private nonprofits access to those records, said
Candace Neff, director of communications for the Diocese of Gaylord.
The majority of pedophiles in the FBI database have been through the legal process of conviction. The majority of pedophiles in the world have never been caught when becoming a foster or adoptive parent. Something to think about.
Neff
said the FBI database is considered the “most reliable,” and while it’s
available to schools, state law has no allowances for access by
churches or youth organizations, even if they’re willing to pay.
So, there is table talk that Michigan may allow churches and schools access to federal identity databases? My issue with this is that privatization thing and what they will be doing with the data, or rather if they will be selling that data. I predict they will.
“To
do the best we can to protect children, we need you to introduce and
pass legislation that will allow us access to those records,” she said.
Yes, allow public access to all the records, even the financial ones. Child welfare operates under an iron cover of secrecy so now is the best time for illumination of Michigan's dark history in child welfare. Either that or I will just sit back and eat my popcorn, waiting....
Detroit — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told a room of journalists and members of the public that she is "deeply ashamed" that Michigan is the only state that exempts the governor, lieutenant governor and state lawmakers from Freedom of Information Act requests.
Current and former members of the The South End student newspaper at Wayne State University, which is funded by the university but is editorially independent, share difficulties of filing FOIA requests within their own campus and how they studied student press law after being restricted.
U.S. Marshals Service
AFP/Getty Images, FILE