(WXYZ — A new group called Open MI Door says too many black inmates are locked up in solitary confinement in Michigan prisons.
They say it happens 71 % of the time. The group is asking for an oversight panel and more guidelines to determine when it happens.
Two bills have been introduced in the Michigan Senate and are overshadowed right now by reopening schools and COVID-19.
Still, the group wants to meet with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her administration as well as get the attention of other state lawmakers.
Danielle Dunn has gotten involved in these efforts. Her brother Jonny Lancaster died in a Michigan Prison last year before COVID-19. Medical records show he was having a mental breakdown and locked up in an isolated cell. He died of dehydration.
Her family has a lawsuit pending. The state won’t comment on pending litigation.
For more on this effort: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qd4f9H661baVlzlxKM7RzRXVn41CjuxjsEF7A2Fh9_I/edit
This group has started a petition drive online: https://www.change.org/p/governor-whitmer-end-solitary-confinement-in-michigan?fbclid=IwAR1q1F00krV52NU2nc1-q2D5jj7AUz86Ad75oTCT0MnBelbdqqV8D5XAi2w
