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Criminal Law Commons

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State and Local Government Law

Michigan Law Review

Municipalities

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

The Municipal Pardon Power, Hayato Watanabe Feb 2020

The Municipal Pardon Power, Hayato Watanabe

Michigan Law Review

At the state and federal levels, the pardon power can be used to restore the dignity and legal rights lost by a criminal conviction. Unfortunately, those facing similar consequences from municipal convictions may not have access to a pardon. Although clemency is exceedingly rare at any level of government, municipal defendants face a unique structural problem that deprives them of the possibility of a pardon. Specifically, many cities have simply failed to create a local clemency power. This Note argues that the authority to grant pardons for municipal offenses is part of the toolbox of powers provided to cities through …


The Concurrent State And Local Regulation Of Marijuana: The Validity Of The Ann Arbor Marijuana Ordinance, Michigan Law Review Dec 1972

The Concurrent State And Local Regulation Of Marijuana: The Validity Of The Ann Arbor Marijuana Ordinance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The City Council of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has recently amended the City's "marijuana ordinance" so that it prohibits the possession, control, use, giving away, or sale of marijuana, and specifies a five dollar fine as punishment for violations of the ordinance. The State of Michigan has also legislated to prohibit marijuana-related activities, specifying a number of different offenses with penalties ranging as high as four years in prison, or a 2,000 dollar fine, or both. By enacting the ordinance, the City government has minimized the criminal sanctions for an activity it has found essentially benign, pursuant to certain local purposes. …