Macomb County takes steps to create public defender office
MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) — Michigan's third-largest county has taken steps to create a public defender office, which county officials hope will address concerns with representing those who can't afford attorneys.
Macomb County posted an administrator job for the office, which drew 51 applicants, according to The Detroit News.
Interviews were scheduled to begin next month and county officials hoped to fill the position in March. The size of the office was yet to be determined.
Currently, public defenders are assigned through a case manage committee. Attorneys are selected by rotation based on their eligibility and case complexity.
"I've always looked at it as kind of an unfair fight. You've got to protect people's rights, no matter who they are," said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. “Even if they are a bad guy, we still have to protect their
rights along the process, to ensure that we're not putting the wrong person in jail.”
The change comes as Michigan has been under criticism for the issue.
A 2008 study of 10 counties by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association said Michigan failed “to provide competent representation to those who cannot afford counsel in its criminal courts.''
State spends $4.6M to swap parolee ankle bracelets
LANSING (AP) — A technology change is forcing Michigan's corrections department to spend about $4.6 million to more than 4,000 parolees and others under state supervision with new ankle monitors.
According to Mlive, Michigan Department of Corrections Public Information Officer Chris Gautz said that it is necessary to swap out the ankle bracelets because Verizon upgraded its network from 3G to 4G, meaning the current 3G-enabled monitors won't work.
Cautz said that the new bracelets arrived early this month and that thus far only about 16 percent of the 4,050 people currently wearing the monitors have had their devices swapped out. He said the replacement process, which takes about 15 minutes for those wearing the bracelets, is expected to be completed within 45 days.
The monitors allow officials to track parolees and others under supervision and alerts the department whenever people wearing the devices violate any terms of their release, including requirements that they be home by a certain hour.
People wearing the monitors include convicted sex offenders and those convicted of domestic violence and drunken driving. Gautz said.
Passenger takes over airport monitor for video game
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A passenger waiting for a flight at an Oregon airport needed a bit more screen space for his video game so he plugged his Playstation 4 into a computer screen that had been displaying a map of the airport.
Kara Simonds, a spokeswoman for the Port of Portland, told KXL-AM radio in an on-air interview that Portland International Airport staff asked the man to stop gaming on the public map display.
He asked if he could finish his game. They said no, and the situation resolved peacefully.
“Apparently it was a very polite and cordial interaction,” Simonds said, calling it “a good reminder of what not to do at the airport.”
No word on whether or not the passenger made it to the next level.
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