Alyssa Harold, Wellness Court Specialist at TLPI, emailed Catherine Retana, Tribal Law Specialist at TLPI on 7/15/2024 about a TTA request from Little Traverse Bay Band in response to the October 2023 Supreme Court Memorandum on PSC Transfers indicating that state courts are no longer able to do shared supervision for treatment court cases, and jurisdiction must be fully transferred. The memo made no reference to Tribal Nations. Yet the Michigan Department of Corrections had already stated to LTBB that they will not do shared supervision under the memo despite the local circuit having informal agreements with this tribal nation, where eligible cases would be shared as a term of probation. They worry that this will cause a significant decrease in cases for tribal healing to wellness programs and an increase in incarceration for tribal citizens.
Catherine reached out to Judge Michael Petoskey at Pokagon Band of Potawatomi to know if he had time for a brief call to discuss whether he has seen an impact in his court from this memo and if not, if he would recommend a formal MOU as a response or if this could be a possible topic at the next Michigan Tribal State Court Forum Meeting. Catherine set up a call with Judge Petoskey and Alyssa Harold on 7/19/2024 to discuss the TTA request and recommendations. Alyssa agreed to draft a memo and get approval from LTTB on the memo so that Judge Petoskey could then submit the memo to the forum on behalf of LTTB. Catherine followed up with LTTB in October and November to see if they still planned to attend the Michigan Tribal State Court Forum meeting but unfortunately Matt Lesky informed her that Judge Cook would be unable to attend the meeting on 11/14-11/15 in Ann Arbor due to a death in the community. TTA request is on hold until further notice.
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