Michigan's new law resulted in no-gun orders for almost 300 people
Nearly 300 people in Michigan were barred from possessing guns in 2024 under a new law that empowers courts to intervene if there's evidence they could harm themselves or others, according to a report released Wednesday.
Michigan joined at least 20 states in passing a so-called red flag law, which allows police, health professionals, family members or roommates to ask local judges to ban someone from possessing guns for a year.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and supporters said the law could help prevent mass shootings or domestic violence. It took effect on Feb. 13, 2024, the one-year anniversary of a shooting that killed three students and wounded five more at Michigan State University, and was part of a broader gun safety package passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
There were 391 complaints filed in 2024, the State Court Administrative Office said, resulting in 287 no-gun orders. Orders were denied in 84 cases. In 14, complaints were dismissed or orders were rescinded after a hearing, according to the report.
Someone barred from having guns can ask a judge to reconsider during the one-year period.
At least 31 people covered by a no-gun order were subsequently charged with crimes, though the charges weren't related to complying with the order, the report said.
An Associated Press analysis in 2022 found that firearms were removed from people 15,049 times since 2020 in states with red flag laws, fewer than 10 per 100,000 adult residents.
The 43-year-old Michigan State gunman, who killed himself away from campus, was described as a loner. Writings that were left behind suggested he had mental health problems.
Fifteen months earlier, in 2021, four students were killed by another student at Oxford High School.
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Reports: Virginia Democrats outdoing Republicans in raising campaign contributions
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The only House primary next week in the Tri-City area is in District 75 where three Democrats are vying to oppose Republican incumbent Carrie Coyner. In that contest, Lindsey Dougherty continues to outdistance Dustin Wade and Stephen Miller-Pitts. For the reporting period, Dougherty raised $171,695, compared to $136,276 for Wade and $4,471 for Miller-Pitts. As of June 5, Wade showed more than $100,000 in cash on hand over Dougherty and five times more than Miller-Pitts. VPAP reported Dougherty raising the sixth-highest amount of contributions for the period, and Wade the 12th. Dougherty and Miller-Pitts ran against Coyner in the 2019 and 2023 elections, respectively. The 75th District covers all of Hopewell and portions of Chesterfield and Prince George counties. More: The primary menu for June 17: Heavy on the state races and a first time for Petersburg In the 82nd District [Petersburg, Surry County, portions of Dinwiddie and Prince George], Pope Adams continues to run away from GOP incumbent Kim Taylor in campaign contributions. For the latest reporting period, Pope Adams' total was more than four times that of Taylor, who listed receiving $64,489 in donations. Her cash-on-hand amount of $289,468 was eight times more than Taylor's $34,502. The race is a rerun of 2023's race, one of the top three most expensive contests in recent Virginia political history. Taylor squeaked out a victory over Pope Adams by only 53 votes following a recount, and Democrats are clocking the 2025 race as pivotal in holding their slim majority in the House for the next two years. Pope Adams' contributions included $25,000 from the Clean Virginia Fund on April 23, $7,500 from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC on May 14, and three $5,000 donations from Elizabeth Simons on May 29, The Next 50 PAC on April 30 and Fund Her PAC on April 29. Taylor's largest contributions for the period were $20,000 from the Dominion Energy PAC on May 8, $10,000 from the Wren Williams for Delegate campaign on April 24, and identical $7,500 amounts from Friends of Scott Wyatt on April 2 and Chris Runion for Delegate on June 5. The reports indicate Taylor getting three donations of $100 or less, and Pope Adams receiving 1,461. More: House GOP incumbent lauds endorsement from local Democratic group. Democrats cry 'foul' In the 75th District primary, Dougherty received two contributions totaling $80,000 from the super PAC Secure Progress and $35,000 from the campaign of Democratic Del. Dan Helmer. 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To see the latest donation data for any race this year, click on the VPAP website. Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia primary 2025: Campaign finance reports show money pouring in
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Condo bill passed to protect condo owners from rising costs. Will DeSantis sign HB 913?
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US Justice Department 'weaponization' reviews spark calls to drop prosecutions
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With the Deputy Attorney General's office poised to kill the case, prosecutors in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section pushed back, reviewing their evidence with the higher-ups, the sources said, adding that the Nashville U.S. Attorney's office and the Criminal Division also supported the case. The request was rejected the next week, according to court filings. Both Casada and the DOJ declined to comment. The case is among at least seven Reuters identified where defense attorneys or Justice Department officials have sought to have prosecutions reviewed for possible dismissal, citing Trump's "weaponization" argument or making other arguments about weaknesses in the cases. In a Tuesday speech, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti urged defense attorneys to be "conscientious about what, when and how" they appeal prosecutors' decisions. "Seeking premature relief, mischaracterizing prosecutorial conduct, or otherwise failing to be an honest broker actively undermines our system," Galeotti said. The increase in lobbying started not long after the Weaponization Working Group was created, and after the department's February decision to dismiss criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, six sources familiar with the dynamic told Reuters. To date, the Adams case is the only one to be dismissed over 'weaponization,' three of those sources told Reuters. The lobbying wave comes as the Trump administration has dramatically scaled back the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, reduced the size of its foreign bribery unit and advised department attorneys that tax enforcement is "not a priority," two of the people familiar with the matter said. A department spokesman said the DOJ will "continue to enforce our nation's tax laws." Trump has said the changes are necessary to root out Justice Department lawyers he derides as 'hacks and radicals' for prosecuting him and some supporters while he was out of power. NEW GROUP HAS BROAD REMIT The working group is empowered to review any 'civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States' exercised under Biden. A lawyer for Robert Burke, a former Navy admiral who was convicted in May on bribery charges, wrote to the department ahead of trial raising concerns about witness credibility, which failed to convince prosecutors to drop the case. Now the lawyer, Tim Parlatore -- a former Trump defense lawyer -- plans to seek a pardon. "I would be crazy not to at least inquire about a pardon," Parlatore said. Another example is a case involving billionaire Britannia Financial Group founder Julio Martín Herrera-Velutini, who is facing an August trial alongside Puerto Rico's former governor on bribery charges. Herrera-Velutini is represented by former Trump defense attorney Chris Kise, who has sought to convince the Justice Department to dismiss or reduce the charges, though the outcome of such efforts is unclear, three people familiar with the case told Reuters. Kise did not return requests for comment, and Reuters could not determine what arguments he has made to the department about the case. WEAPONIZATION REVIEW While many of the reviews of cases are spurred by aggressive lobbying, some requests are coming from within the DOJ. In early February, prosecutors in the department's Tax Division were ordered by senior Justice Department officials to write a memo explaining why the prosecution of Paul Walczak was not an example of "weaponization," two of the people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Walczak, of Florida, pleaded guilty in November to not paying employment taxes and not filing his individual income tax returns, and the trial team was preparing for his sentencing. Prosecutors were baffled, the people said, and only discovered after a few Google searches that Walczak's mother Elizabeth Fago was a Trump donor who, according to a New York Times report, hosted a political fundraiser where portions of a diary written by Biden's daughter Ashley were circulated. The department let the case proceed, and Walczak was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Trump in April spared him any prison with a pardon, which according to the New York Times, was handed down shortly after Fago attended a $1 million fundraising dinner for Trump. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the pardon. An attorney for Walczak said he was unaware of any interactions by the defense team with the Weaponization Working Group. In a statement, the Fago and Walczak families said media reports have painted an "incomplete and inaccurate" picture of the pardon application, and that Trump had "ample grounds to grant the pardon on the merits." Although no criminal prosecutions have been dismissed, prosecutors are bracing for impact since Trump in May named Ed Martin, a supporter of Trump's false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud, to lead the working group and serve as pardon attorney. Martin has already successfully encouraged Trump to approve pardons for some of the president's supporters, according to his social media posts. Casada, who was convicted at trial in May on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and bribery, is now expected to seek a pardon, a person familiar with the matter said. "We've also been getting more folks coming forward within the government as well as outside, saying, 'Can you look at this? Can you look at that?'" Martin recently told reporters. "It's a problem that seems to be growing faster than we can capture it."
