Daily Briefs . . .

Wayne Law student awarded Straker Bar Foundation scholarship


Nicole Lockhart, a rising third-year student at Wayne State University Law School, was awarded the A. Kay Stanfield Spinks Law Student Scholarship by the D. Augustus Straker Bar Foundation.

This award is presented annually to African-American students pursuing a law degree. It honors the memory of Straker, who in 1890 became the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Michigan Supreme Court, and Spinks, who founded the Straker Bar Foundation and established the scholarship award.

“I am honored to be a recipient of the A. Kay Stansfield Spinks scholarship,” Lockhart said. “With the significantly low percentage of African-Americans in the legal field, scholarships such as this one encourage me and other minority students to keep striving for excellence.”

Lockhart of Westland was honored Thursday, June 9, at the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association’s annual Trailblazer Award and Scholarship Dinner.

At Wayne Law, Lockhart is active in the Black Law Student Association and Sports and Entertainment Law Society. She is interested in corporate law and is a summer associate with Sommers Schwartz PC, where she specializes in commercial litigation. From 2011 to 2014, she served as a summer intern to the senior defending attorney in Michigan’s 36th District Court. During summer 2015, she worked as a summer associate in the Office of the General Counsel for DTE Energy Co. During winter semester 2016, she completed an externship in WSU’s Office of the General Counsel.

Lockhart earned her bachelor’s degree in persuasive writing and rhetoric from Oakland University in 2014.

 

Calley: Jail diversion pilot programs show some positive outcomes
 

Progress is being made in efforts to provide crucial care to residents with mental health issues to help keep them out of the criminal justice system, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said.

In 2014, the Mental Health Diversion Council, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, launched jail diversion pilot programs that aim to prevent individuals with mental health issues from being incarcerated. The programs direct individuals to services they need before they come into contact with the judicial system.

The pilot programs have been operating in Barry, Berrien, Kalamazoo, Kent, Marquette, Monroe, Oakland and Wayne counties, helping enhance collaboration between community mental health providers and local law enforcement.

About 22 percent of those entering Michigan jails have a serious mental illness

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