University of Michigan’s gun ban will stand after court declines to hear appeal
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A ban on guns at the University of Michigan will stand after the state Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a man who said the policy violates the Constitution.
The 4-2 order Friday means a 2023 Michigan Court of Appeals decision in favor of the university stands.
The appeals court was asked to look at the university’s 2001 gun ban, after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 expanded gun rights.
“The efficacy of gun bans as a public safety measure is a matter of debate,” the appeals court said. “However, because the university is a school, and thus a sensitive place, it is up to the policy-maker — the university in this case — to determine how to address that public safety concern.”
The Michigan Supreme Court’s most conservative members, justices David Viviano and Brian Zahra, wanted to take the case. They said the appeals court wrongly analyzed it, leaving a “near total ban of firearms on a large section of Ann Arbor.”
The 4-2 order Friday means a 2023 Michigan Court of Appeals decision in favor of the university stands.
The appeals court was asked to look at the university’s 2001 gun ban, after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 expanded gun rights.
“The efficacy of gun bans as a public safety measure is a matter of debate,” the appeals court said. “However, because the university is a school, and thus a sensitive place, it is up to the policy-maker — the university in this case — to determine how to address that public safety concern.”
The Michigan Supreme Court’s most conservative members, justices David Viviano and Brian Zahra, wanted to take the case. They said the appeals court wrongly analyzed it, leaving a “near total ban of firearms on a large section of Ann Arbor.”
Guilty plea suddenly called off in major Detroit nonprofit theft
DETROIT (AP) — Lawyers for a man accused of stealing more than $40 million from a prominent Detroit nonprofit group suddenly postponed his guilty plea during a court hearing Monday.
William Smith, who for years controlled finances at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, told a judge that he was prepared to plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. A prosecutor then described key points in the plea agreement, including a possible prison term of more than 15 years.
But after a brief recess, and private discussions by both sides, Smith’s attorney, Gerald Evelyn, returned to court and said more time was needed. No one disclosed the reason, and no new court date was set.
Smith, 52, was arrested in June. Investigators said he routinely used money from the Riverfront Conservancy to pay credit card bills for travel, hotels, limousines, household goods, clothing and jewelry. U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison has said the fraud was “astonishing in scale.”
Before the hearing stopped, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal said Smith and his lawyers had agreed that the minimum loss was $44.3 million but “it could be higher.”
The Riverfront Conservancy’s mission is to transform miles of shore along the Detroit River into a place for recreation, with plazas, pavilions and green space. Its board of directors is composed of prominent people in Michigan business and government.
William Smith, who for years controlled finances at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, told a judge that he was prepared to plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. A prosecutor then described key points in the plea agreement, including a possible prison term of more than 15 years.
But after a brief recess, and private discussions by both sides, Smith’s attorney, Gerald Evelyn, returned to court and said more time was needed. No one disclosed the reason, and no new court date was set.
Smith, 52, was arrested in June. Investigators said he routinely used money from the Riverfront Conservancy to pay credit card bills for travel, hotels, limousines, household goods, clothing and jewelry. U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison has said the fraud was “astonishing in scale.”
Before the hearing stopped, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal said Smith and his lawyers had agreed that the minimum loss was $44.3 million but “it could be higher.”
The Riverfront Conservancy’s mission is to transform miles of shore along the Detroit River into a place for recreation, with plazas, pavilions and green space. Its board of directors is composed of prominent people in Michigan business and government.
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