LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation, introduced by Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville), that would abolish one-man grand juries in the state.
House Bill 4434 passed with a 74-35 vote on Wednesday, and will move to the Senate for further consideration. This legislation marks Meerman’s second attempt to ban the practice of one-man grand juries in the state.
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Michigan adopted one-man grand juries in 1917. According to the Michigan Law Review, in one-man grand juries:
- The judge performs the investigation, subpoenas witnesses, and issues arrest warrants.
- The judge issues a “presentment of findings,” rather than an indictment, or formal charge.
“One-man grand juries comprise an outdated and infrequently used legal maneuver that replaces civilian grand juries with a sitting judge,” Meerman said in a press release. “The one-man grand jury provision is antiquated and entirely inconsistent with the principles of fairness and impartiality that our court system was founded on.”
Most notably, Attorney General Dana Nessel used a one-man grand jury in her Flint water crisis prosecution.
“Due to the closed-door operations of the one-man grand jury, the defendants in this criminal prosecution were not allowed to know what evidence was presented against them,” the release said. “The Michigan Supreme Court refused to uphold the charges due to the defendants’ due process rights being violated, but one-man grand juries are still permitted under statute.”
A one-man grand jury’s use of the court system violates the principles of fairness and impartiality in court proceedings, according to Meerman.
“Removing this tool isn’t going to restrict the delivery of justice, and prosecutors will have all other tactics and tools available to them under the law to bring charges against criminals,” Meerman said on the House floor before the bill passed.