It came as little surprise that when a study was done back in 2015, Michigan ranked last on transparency and ethics laws among all 50 states.  While this does not automatically suggest that it is the most corrupt state, it does mean that our state has the laxest rules and rule implementations on the books in order to assess the systems intended to prevent corruption and expose it when it does occur.

This last-in-the-nation ranking came despite a multi-year effort to strengthen and reform the existing state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws in 2012 and 2013, which had very few improvements, and even a few setbacks for transparency.  Michigan remains one of only two states to make records of state legislators and governor expressly exempt from disclosure.

Yet despite these distinctions, our Michigan legislature and governor have done almost nothing over the three years since to remedy the problems inherent, which should suggest in itself that corruption has taken hold at the state level.  And that definitely filters down to local governments.

 

A case in point has recently gained some notoriety in Grand Traverse County and their sheriff (above).  Fortunately for the residents of that county, an attorney for an inmate who died at their county jail has not accepted the sheriff's office blockade of data relating to that tragic incident.  Unfortunately, the sheriff has fought desperately in order to keep most everything about that incident away from the public.  

More tragically, in Mason county, the attorneys and journalists seem to only advocate for the local government's acts of defiance with the FOIA when those issues present themselves in grandiose fees or unrealistic exemptions.  In GT County, however, they worked together to wrest records that the sheriff was holding, unlawfully thinking that they were his rather than the public's.  Here is that story.

In July 2017, a man named Alan Halloway was staying at the Grand Traverse County Jail and hung himself in his cell with his socks.  Halloway was within sight of cameras and due to his state of mind was supposed to be checked on at least once per hour.  He had been dead for three hours when they finally discovered the grisly scene.  Grand Traverse Sheriff Tom Bensley did the proper thing and had an investigative team from the Michigan Sheriff's Association (MSA) investigate the death.  

Their report (MSA Report on Halloway Suicide) led to the firing of the two correction officers that were negligent for hours at their duties, and will likely lead to a civil settlement of "collective negligence" with Halloway's survivors.  Sheriff Bensley did things properly in having a neutral investigator and weeding out the bad employees; if that was all he did, he would be a fine sheriff, but then he screwed it all up.  

The MSA report above was gotten for top dollar prices by the Traverse City Record Eagle (TCRE).  Last summer, they requested that record and others related to the death of Halloway.  They were given a response that said it would take $636 to fulfill the request, with their lowest paid clerical worker getting paid $30.18 per hour for around 21 hours to compile and edit the records.  Sheriff Bensley made some rather disparaging and odd comments towards the TCRE.  Such an amount launched outraged editorials at the TCRE, whereas a $2500 fee for one police report elicited a 'ho hum' from our local media in Ludington.  

After they paid that ransom and looked at the heavily redacted reports, the relatives of Galloway were still running into roadblocks and spike strips getting the same information and more.  They claim that the sheriff’s department failed to turn over details about the 41-year-old’s death, and they’re seeking records that would deliver some — namely, surveillance video footage from Halloway’s cell, emails sent between Sheriff Thomas Bensley and other officials following the discovery of Halloway’s body, and the names of other inmates who were bunked nearby.

Attorney Jesse Williams’ FOIA demands had been stonewalled. Bensley and attorneys for the county have maintained that those records are exempt from disclosure under FOIA because releasing that information would disclose security features of the jail, expose heat-of-the-moment discourse between officials, and intrude on the privacy of prisoners.  All are specious at best, none are considered ironclad exemptions by FOIA, where the sheriff has the burden of proof to show why they are.

This week, a mediated agreement has precluded a June court date and has been drafted between the attorney and the sheriff's counsel that has been described as giving 'essentially everything' being sought by the plaintiff.  This includes nearly $10,000 in legal fees to Attorney Williams.  

Considering the legal fees for the sheriff's office should exceed that figure, the sheriff's attempt at blocking the release of information has led to the county being over $20,000 poorer without even considering the upcoming civil liability suit likely to succeed. 

Rather than looking as a proactive sheriff for his initial actions, one must look at Tom Bensley and his unlawful acts in shielding these records and come to a conclusion that the failures in protocol made the day of the suicide may be systemic because they fail to follow FOIA protocol.  His failure to disclose records he doesn't own, should lead to his own career suicide.

"These are public bodies that are supposed to be transparent for this very reason", Attorney Williams said, "If they're not doing anything wrong, then they don't have anything to hide.  All of this was truly unnecessary."

And yet in Michigan, where our sacrosanct lawmakers have created a corruption crucible with their lack of permitting the public their proper right to public records and proper sanctions against public officials who hold the people's records captive, government secrecy will continue to go on and on unchecked, if the people do nothing.   

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Well researched an written article X. Very interesting reading. The chart on the link you posted showing all the F marks Michigan received is amazing.

I've heard before that Michigan lagged in ethics and don't know how to comment in any positive way on this article. It is depressing that Michigan ranks last in ethics in the nation. Is there any hope, any sunshine in our future? And our local government even worse than a similar incident in Traverse City? Even more depressing. Maybe the way to deal with it is to put more marketing spin on fighting truth with lies, cover up that we are millions in debt and getting deeper, focus on drinking more beer and look good to the tourist.  I really Do Love Ludington and Michigan despite that, mostly because of its unsurpassed natural beauty along the Lakeshore.  Unfortunately our natural beauty and peace is being overdeveloped and may even get too overcrowded for the tourists.

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