Sign on to demand Governor Gretchen Whitmer #FreeGrace NOW!

#FreeGrace & End the Criminalization of Black Girls!

Grace, a Black 15-year-old IEP student in Michigan, was separated from her family and sent to a youth prison during the pandemic by Judge Mary Ellen Brennan because she didn’t complete her schoolwork.

Grace is NOT a safety risk to others and not doing your homework is NOT a crime. Judge Brennan’s ruling to incarcerate a child, sending her away from her family during a pandemic is cruel, harsh, and highlights an alarming trend of Black girls being criminalized at alarming rates in comparison to their white peers.

In Michigan, Black youth are incarcerated at four times the rate of their white peers. In Oakland County, where Grace is currently detained, of the 4,800 cases juvenile cases referred to Oakland County Court since 2016, 42% of the cases involved Black youth, while the county is only 15% Black youth.

Grace has been detained and separated from her mother for 74 days, which is 74 days too long.

Please support Grace's mother as she fights to bring her home and protect Grace's right to privacy. Every day that Grace remains incarcerated and falsely portrayed by the judge and in the media, violates Grace and her mother and produces greater trauma.

END this toxic culture of criminalizing children, and of putting kids in prison, and we can start with Grace. Sign on to demand Governor Gretchen Whitmer #FreeGrace Now!

Dear Governor Gretchen Whitmer:

Prison is no place for a kid. The United States still incarcerates more young people than any other country. Our kids deserve a future free of criminalization, a future that supports their development and capacity to contribute meaningfully to society. Putting kids in prisons does the opposite of this. In fact they do little to improve community safety when compared to community based efforts that provide alternatives to incarceration by supporting young people, providing the services they need, and providing access to opportunities to address harm in meaningful ways.

Together we can END this toxic culture of criminalizing children, and of putting kids in prison, and we can start with Grace, a Black 15-year-old IEP student in Michigan, separated from her family and sent to a youth prison during the pandemic by Judge Mary Ellen Brennan because she didn’t complete her schoolwork. Grace has been detained and separated from her mother for 74 days, which is 74 days too long. Every day that Grace remains incarcerated and falsely portrayed by the judge and in the media, violates Grace and her mother and produces greater trauma.

We urge you to:

Release “Grace” from Children’s Village youth detention facility into her mother’s custody;
Request the immediate resignation of of Judge Mary Ellen Brennan from the Oakland County Family Court;
Drop all charges against “Grace” immediately;
End the racialized practice of arresting and prosecuting children, and ensure Michigan kids get the support they need including alternatives to incarceration and detention and trauma informed support and services.

We look forward to your response and welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss these issues further as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

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