A county official has been appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court’s commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Alize Asberry Payne has served as Washtenaw County’s Racial Equity Officer for five years. Now, she’s taking her skills to the state level.
The commission is focused on addressing systemic disparities in Michigan's judicial system, such as ensuring legal departments are communicating amongst each other, especially when it comes to enforcing fines.
<i>“Our criminal legal system's institutions are coordinating with each other to ensure that we’re not creating disparate impact for those without ability to pay, those who have been historically disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system—poor people, people of color, people in our rural communities...."</i>
Payne’s first meeting with the commission included outlining the strategic objectives of the board.
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