Dawn R. Wolfe Dawn R. Wolfe Dawn Wolfe is a freelance writer and journalist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. @dawnr_wolfe
Francesca Hong Wins A Seat In The Wisconsin Legislature. She’s Fighting For A Living Wage And Workers’ Rights. The chef and restaurant owner says she plans to support the fight for a $15 minimum wage and other reforms that will make ‘Wisconsin work better for more people.’ Dawn R. Wolfe Nov 04, 2020
Esther Agbaje, Fighting For Affordable Housing And Prison Reform, Becomes Minnesota’s First Nigerian-American Legislator “I have always had a focus on public service, always a desire to make sure that I’m using my skills and talents to help people and to make the community around me a little bit better,” she said. Dawn R. Wolfe
Athena Hollins Wins Seat In Minnesota State House, Pledging To Fight For Broad Police Reforms Hollins’s ‘very personal’ decision to run was sparked in part by the Trump administration ‘catching everything on fire.’ Now she wants to advocate for subsidized child care, police reform, and more. Dawn R. Wolfe
Omar Fateh Wins Chance to Bring ‘People Power’ to Minnesota’s State Senate Minnesotans, Fateh said, “should be able to access the folks that are representing us and make sure that they’re partnering with the community.” Dawn R. Wolfe
Armed Michigan Protesters Fueled Jon Hoadley’s Commitment To Run For Congress If he wins his bid to represent the state’s Sixth District, Hoadley says he would reallocate police funding, improve health care, and invest in rural communities. Dawn R. Wolfe Nov 02, 2020
Francesca Hong Wants ‘Wisconsin to Work Better for More People’ The chef and restaurant owner is running for State Assembly in part to fight for a $15 minimum wage and other pro-worker reforms from within the halls of government. Dawn R. Wolfe Oct 30, 2020
Raph Graybill Is Running To Be A Better Attorney General For Montana Graybill’s experience with suing the state’s current AG, Tim Fox, to protect a land easement program “really pushed me over the edge,” he told The Appeal. Dawn R. Wolfe Oct 27, 2020
Omar Fateh is Running to Bring a ‘Working-Class Agenda’ to Minnesota’s State Senate The current Democratic state senator, Jeff Hayden, lacks the progressive vision that Minnesotans seek, Fateh says. Dawn R. Wolfe Oct 26, 2020
Esther Agbaje Wants to Solve ‘The Million Dollar Question’ of Racial Disparities Across Minnesota If she wins at the ballot box in November, Agbaje would become the state’s first Nigerian American state legislator. Dawn R. Wolfe Oct 16, 2020
Athena Hollins Takes On Public Safety, Housing, And Affordable Child Care In Her Run For The Minnesota House When it comes to public safety, Hollins doesn’t want to stop with reallocating police funding. She’d like her state to track both proven and alleged instances of police misconduct. Dawn R. Wolfe
Thousands of Children On Probation Are Incarcerated Each Year for Nonviolent, Noncriminal Behaviors Experts say Black and Native children are disproportionately jailed either for status offenses or for technical violations of probation or parole—and that incarcerating them has far-reaching negative consequences. Dawn R. Wolfe Sep 04, 2020
Michigan Judge Ends Probation For Black Teen Who Was Jailed For Not Completing Her Homework Judge Mary Ellen Brennan jailed the 15-year-old, known as Grace, for violating her probation by not completing schoolwork. Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Grace’s immediate release, which Brennan said left her without the means to ‘issue consequences.’ Dawn R. Wolfe Aug 11, 2020
After 78 Days, Michigan Teen Who Was Jailed For Failing To Complete Her Homework While On Probation Is Released The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered her immediate release pending an appeal of a circuit court judge’s decision to jail the teen, known as “Grace,” in mid-May. Dawn R. Wolfe Aug 03, 2020
Arrests On Nonviolent, Concealed Carry Weapon Charges Are Soaring In Detroit Amid Pandemic Lawyers and activists are calling on prosecutor Kym Worthy to dismiss charges against those who have been arrested. As of July 29, 451 Detroiters had been arrested for violating Michigan’s concealed carry law, an increase of 190 percent compared to July 2019. Dawn R. Wolfe
Racial Disparity Among Prosecutors and Trial Judges Translates to Unequal Justice, Activists Say Studies show that 95 percent of the nation’s prosecutors are white and that the lack of Black and brown representation in courts negatively affect outcomes for people of color. Dawn R. Wolfe Jul 24, 2020
Michigan Judge Refuses To Release Black Teenager Who Was Jailed For Not Doing Homework Judge Mary Ellen Brennan sent the 15-year-old, known as Grace, to juvenile detention in May for violating her probation by not completing online schoolwork. On Monday, the judge said Grace was ‘blooming’ in the facility, despite arguments by Grace that she is falling behind. Dawn R. Wolfe Jul 21, 2020
Oakland County Jail Ordered To Identify Prisoners Who Should Be Released To Protect Them From COVID-19 A U.S. district court judge said the Michigan jail has demonstrated ‘deliberate indifference’ to the lives of ‘medically vulnerable’ prisoners who are at particular risk of the novel coronavirus. Dawn R. Wolfe May 21, 2020
Lawsuit Seeks The Release Of ‘Medically Vulnerable’ People Held At Oakland County Jail In Michigan A district court judge who issued a temporary restraining order in the case said jail officials had not ‘imposed even the most basic safety measures recommended by health experts.’ Dawn R. Wolfe May 15, 2020
Advocates Say Ohio’s Governor Is Failing To Protect Prisoners From Coronavirus Governor Mike DeWine, critics say, ‘is risking turning low-level prison sentences into death sentences.’ Dawn R. Wolfe Apr 16, 2020
Federal Judge Blocks Michigan From Enforcing State’s Sex Offender Registry ‘Until COVID-19 Crisis Has Ended’ Michigan was one of several states requiring registrants to report to local police stations in person despite the risk to public health from coronavirus. Dawn R. Wolfe Apr 09, 2020
Sex Offender Registry Requirements Leave Some Facing Stark Choices As Coronavirus Risks Grow Inconsistent rules nationwide mean some people are still registering and reporting in person despite public health directives meant to control COVID-19. Dawn R. Wolfe Apr 03, 2020
Michigan Agrees to Pay $80 Million in Prison Sex Abuse Lawsuit A complaint filed in 2013 on behalf of 500 currently and formerly incarcerated youth alleged that they were assaulted and harassed by incarcerated adults and corrections staff in adult prisons and jails across the state. Dawn R. Wolfe Mar 10, 2020
Study Finds Stark Racial Disparities for Low-Level Drug Offenses In Travis County, Texas The authors reported that 29.4 percent of the possession cases involved Black individuals in a county where Black people make up only 8.9 percent of the population. Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 21, 2020
Criminal Justice Group Drops Support For Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools As Ohio Justices Seek To Block Their Use Reform advocates say the risk assessments are racially biased and are not effective at their key tasks: predicting the likelihood someone will return to court. Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 12, 2020
Michigan Task Force Calls On State To Significantly Reduce Mass Incarceration In County Jails A bipartisan group has recommended substantive changes to the state’s legal justice system, including cash bail reform and proposals to divert people living with mental illnesses away from incarceration. Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 03, 2020
New Lawsuit Is Latest Example Of Residents Seeking Accountability For Wrongful Arrests In New York City Charges in each of four arrests of a city man were subsequently dropped. Now he has become one of a long line of New York City residents who have filed wrongful arrest lawsuits against the city. Dawn R. Wolfe Jan 14, 2020
Ohio Jail Faces $2.8 Million Lawsuit After Claims of Abuse Are Made By Dozens of Men The suit is the latest of at least three complaints filed against the Portage County Jail this year. Dawn R. Wolfe Dec 16, 2019
