Local News

Suit filed to stop prison closure

A lawsuit is the latest development in the fight to save the Pontiac prison. AFSCME, which represents prison workers, filed the suit in Livingston County on Wednesday, seeking a court order to prevent the governor from carrying out his plan to close the Pontiac Correctional Center. AFSCME Council 31 Associate Director Michael Newman says the Pontiac prison is vital to the state’s prison system. AFSCME attorney Steve Yokich says the governor has less than two weeks to respond to the suit. Besides AFSCME, other plaintiffs in the suit include State Senator Dan Rutherford, Representatives Shane Cultra and Keith Sommer, and Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy. The suit argues that the governor and the Department of Corrections have no authority to close the prison. A state commission voted this week to keep the prison open, but the governor still has the final say.

Posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 (Archive on Wednesday, September 24, 2008)
Posted by WJEZ News Contributed by

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