Events Calendar - Event View

Last summer, ProPublica, the Detroit Free Press and Bridge Michigan co-published the story of Grace (her middle name, used to protect her identity), a 15-year-old girl who had been sent to a detention center in suburban Detroit. Her offense: failing to complete online schoolwork. Our reporting spurred calls from politicians for her release and a #FreeGrace social media campaign. Less than three weeks after we broke news of the case, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered her release. But there was more to the story. A ProPublica analysis of Michigan’s juvenile justice system found that judges are routinely locking children up for noncriminal offenses like disobeying their parents or skipping school. Join us for this live event moderated by ProPublica reporter Jodi S. Cohen. Other speakers include: • Grace • Elizabeth T. Clement, Michigan Supreme Court justice • Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica reporter • Sylvia Santana, Michigan state senator • Eli Savit, Washtenaw County prosecutor • Jason Smith, executive director of Michigan Center for Youth Justice • Frank Vandervort, University of Michigan Law School professor Panelists will explore the problems with and potential reforms for Michigan’s juvenile justice system, which ranks fourth in the nation — trailing only the much more populous states of California, Texas and Florida — in the number of minors held for noncriminal technical violations. We’ll also address your questions. See all stories in the series here: https://www.propublica.org/series/grace Supported by McKinsey and Company.