Prosecutor completes first week on the job
Karen McDonald eyeing policy reforms
Karen McDonald was challenged during her first week as Oakland County’s top prosecutor, but it’s something she was both expecting and prepared for.
Last month, McDonald was sworn in as county prosecutor, succeeding Jessica Cooper who had been in that position for 12 years. McDona ld is a former county circuit court judge in the family court.
Since being elected back in November, McDonald has been working to ensure a smooth transition, which includes personally reaching out to members of her staff in an effort to build strong relationships, make connections, and share ideas.
She has also been very vocal that changes will be coming to the office, which may include various policy changes to align with new state laws regarding jail and criminal justice reform. This includes addressing issues involving juvenile offenders and identifying alternatives to jail for those who commit low-level, nonviolent crimes.
“My immediate day one policy change has been to empower assistant prosecutors to have discretion to make a charge amendments when it’s appropriate,” she told The Oakland Press. “That is probably the first noticeable change...I want to do things right, not fast.”
When asked what her first week in office looks like, McDonald told The Oakland Press “it’s a combination of trying to institute policy reforms that I campaigned on” as well as tak
ing action on more immediate matters “that come up every hour.”
“It’s a combination of the long game and the short game,” she said. “What I’m finding is, even in every day decisions that I and my team make, we have opportunities to bring to light reformminded decisions such as whether or not to charge a juvenile or what to charge the juvenile with.”
She said this involves asking a lot of “really tough questions.”
“Is this the right thing to do? Does this makes sense rather than just automatically charging the convicted and asking for the harshest sentence?,” she said.
Last month, McDonald stood outside her office in Pontiac, swearingin her assistant prosecutors in groups who were all socially distanced. She said it’s a team “who really want to look at things in a different light.”
On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed over 40 bills into law that expand criminal justice and jail reforms.
The bills were crafted out of recommendations put forth in early 2020 by the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration Task Force.
The bills allow for expungement of traffic offenses for juveniles and automatic expungement for some other offenses committed by juveniles; prioritize alternatives to jail; reduce probation terms and tailor those terms to address needs and risk; expand police officer discretion to issue appearance tickets rather than make arrests; limit jail time for those who violate rule of supervision; and reshape penalties for traffic offenses among other things.
McDonald said she’s supportive of the new reforms and that many of them reinforce the same message that she campaigned on for months and that the voters supported by “quite a large margin.”
“People want to see us look at our criminal justice system, particularly the juvenile justice system, with a more common sense approach,” she said. “It’s just not enough anymore to charge the highest charge, speak the conviction, ask for the harshest sentence, and not ask the question about of what happens to this individual and the community they come from afterwards.”
She said that her office represents not just the victims of crime, but also the people charged with those crimes, adding “we have an obligation
“I am really supportive of what the governor is doing,” she said. “I’m really supportive of what the task force did, led by the Lt. Gov. (Garlin Gilchrist) and our chief (Michigan Supreme Court) justice ( Bridget McCormack). This is really not a political issue. This is a humanity issue. This is about being smart and wanting to problem solve rather than lock a lot of people up and not care what impact that has on our community and public safety.”
Eli Savet, the newlyelected Washtenaw County prosecutor, announced on Monday that his office would end the practice of seeking cash bail for people accused of crimes. He added that the “size of a person’s bank account should never determine their freedom.”
McDonald said she is supportive of this measure.
“I’m definitely supportive of cash bail reform,” she said. “I have not had the time to get into the weeds of what his specific proposals are because, you know, I’m trying to drink out of a fire hose over here. I’m supportive of the reform.”
Unlike her predecessor, McDonald told The Oakland Press she will be participating as an active member of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan.
McDonald was elected Thursday by her peers to the association’s board of directors.