RESOURCES:
tool kits & fact sheets

While Clean Slate is a positive step forward, we believe that this bill package can still be expanded further to benefit Michigan’s most over-criminalized populations.

Wayne County has announced plans to build a $533-million dollar complex, including a new jail. Our fact sheet includes information on the jail project, data on the harms jails cause to individuals, families, and communities, and ideas for possible alternatives.

DJC and our partners at The Bail Project joined forces to address State Rep. LaGrand regarding our concerns with his proposed bail reform legislation. As the two organizations spearheading the first large-scale revolving bail fund in Michigan, we are uniquely positioned to understand this issue from our work on the ground.

As part of our Economic Equity work, we have compiled extensive resources on setting up a neighborhood advisory council and negotiating community benefits agreements. We’ve worked with our community partners to determine what the best practices are, and hope that this will be a useful tool for anyone interested in advocating for economic equity in their communities.

The Leadership Conference and the Civil Rights Corps created a platform that offers concrete solutions spanning every stage of the criminal-legal process, yielding a comprehensive framework for transformation. The Detroit Justice Center has signed on to this platform in hopes that it will contribute to a truly just vision of the future. Among other policy fixes put forward by this document, there is a call to end the war on drugs, which we believe is one of the things at the heart of the incarceration crisis in the U.S. Take a look at the platform to get a better sense of what is being called for.

Have you ever dreamed about what would you build instead of a jail? Since summer of 2018, when Wayne County announced they were partnering with Rock Ventures to build a $553 million jail, we have been asking our partners what they would build in its stead. We encourage you do do the same!

70% of working Detroiters travel outside of the city for work & 7% of Detroiters take public transportation regularly. These conditions are part of a recipe for wealth extraction and incarceration. Metro Detroit police and courts are engaging in what amounts to highway robbery of marginalized drivers.

A presentation put together by DJC and Detroit Community Wealth Fund on how to build a co-op in your community.

No Detroiter should be at risk of losing their home. Our Community Legal Advocates speak with our Digital Strategist about how to lower your property tax assessment in the city of Detroit. For anyone who thinks their property taxes are too high or are in danger of foreclosure, this video will walk you through what it takes to appeal your tax assessment and/or file poverty tax exemptions.

A set of resources from the Mapping Injustice series, which will help you better understand what to do if you or a loved one have been stopped by the police, arrested, or are awaiting a court date. There is a syllabus, a glossary of common terms, and links to resources to empower communities in fighting mass incarceration.

This PDF contains graphics about policing in Dearborn, Livonia, Sterling Heights, Warren, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Eastpointe, The Grosse Pointes, and Inkster. We put these graphics together following our Highway Robbery report, which showed how police and courts in Metro Detroit create an ecosystem that traps people in the cycle of fines and fees. We hope that our neighbors in Metro Detroit will find this information useful.