Whitmer vetoes $10M for exonerees, prefers in budget instead
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued a line-item veto of legislation that would have added $10 million to a nearly depleted state fund that compensates wrongfully convicted inmates.
Whitmer said Friday she supports the funding, but it should be included in a spending bill — not the legislation she signed to improve transparency and reporting for the compensation fund.
Whitmer cited one of her previous executive directives, in which she promised to use her veto power to uphold citizens’ referendum rights.
The Michigan Supreme Court has interpreted the state constitution to make laws with spending in them immune from referendum.
The compensation account, created under a law that compensates exonerees $50,000 for each year spent in prison, is projected to have a shortfall in the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
ABA Center for Innovation and LSC launch legal tech donation effort
Seven legal tech companies are the first to join a new partnership between the American Bar Association and the Legal Services Corporation to provide free technology products and services to legal aid offices that help low-income Americans.
Called Legal Tech for a Change, the project is spearheaded by the ABA Center for Innovation, the association’s 2016 initiative to create more accessible, efficient and effective legal services. The center will focus on leveraging its resources and network to recruit tech companies while the LSC will identify tech solutions that help make the delivery of legal aid services more efficient and usable for LSC grantees.
“The ABA and LSC seek to produce a win/win for tech companies and legal aid providers,” ABA President Bob Carlson said. “More than 85 percent of low-income American households have a civil legal need that goes unmet each year. The donations from these generous companies will directly help bridge this ‘justice gap’ at a time when our nation’s legal aid organizations are being challenged to do more with less.”
The first group of donors are Ross Intelligence and PacerPro of San Francisco; MetaJure of Seattle; vTestify and Civvis of Raleigh, N.C.; Powernotes of Chicago and Documate of Los Angeles.
“Legal Tech for a Change gives LSC-funded legal aid programs early and free access to technology that can improve client service and enhance program efficiency,” LSC President James L. Sandman said. “We are grateful to the ABA Center for Innovation for leading this imaginative initiative to improve access to justice.”
Interested legal tech companies and LSC-funded grantees can indicate their interest in participating by signing up at www.legaltechforachange.org.
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