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Michigan has important new protections that ensure the language a person speaks does not limit their access to state services, including public benefits.

From April 16-18, 2025, the Michigan Poverty Law Program hosted the Committee on Regional Training’s Consumer Law training in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The training brought together 63 legal aid attorneys from four states—Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia—to learn how to protect low-income consumers from predatory and unfair practices.

Before COVID-19 entered into national prominence, “suitable work” in Michigan was determined by the Michigan Employment Security Act (MESA), an act created to address unemployment benefits in Michigan. The act, amongst many things, defined “unemployment” and “suitable work,” and established the Michigan Employment Security Commission (MESC).

Criminal justice does not end at the prison gates. Individuals with past convictions for drug possession can go the rest of their lives without access to public benefits that everyone is entitled to. Civil penalties continue to harm individuals even after they have served their sentences. These discriminatory penalties have far reaching effects on individuals and on the wider society.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) forbids courts to publish information pertaining to a personal protection order (PPO) online if that information will likely reveal the identity or location of the party protected by the PPO. The provision was enacted as an additional safety measure for victims of intimate partner violence and was intended to prevent abusers and others from gaining identifying information, including addresses, by scrolling online court records.